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Cash interest explained |
You will receive interest on balances in your platform cash account at the prevailing rate.
Embark Investment Services Limited acts as the custodian for investments on the Willis Owen platform and is one of our strategic partners that provides our Willis Owen ISA, GIA, Junior ISA and SIPP.
Embark places cash with a number of banking partners for safekeeping and to provide the potential for you to earn interest on money in your platform cash account. By managing cash in this way, it aims to provide better protection and a higher overall level of interest than if all funds were placed with a single bank.
The rates of interest paid by banks will vary. Embark retains a portion of the interest earned to cover its costs in managing platform cash.
Current Interest Rate
The table below shows the current customer interest rate payable on cash balances along with the amount of interest retained by Embark. The customer interest rate shown is that after accounting for interest retained by Embark:
| Date From | Customer Interest Rate | Interest retained by Embark |
|---|---|---|
| 25th March 2024 | 2.46% | 1.75% - 2.00% |
Embark can change the rate of interest at any time and it reviews the position at least quarterly. Interest is calculated and accrued daily and is credited to your account on the first of each month. If you transfer out, accrued interest is applied at the point of transfer. We will inform you if and when the interest rate changes as soon as is practicable.
Interest retained
The table below shows the yearly equivalent rates of interest Embark expects to pay based on a range of possible yearly interest rates it may earn.
| Interest Embark expects to earn | Customer Interest Rate | Interest retained by Embark |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1% | 0 – 0.46% | 0 – 0.54% |
| 1-2% | 0.46% – 0.94% | 0.54% – 1.06% |
| 2-3% | 0.94% – 1.46% | 1.06% – 1.54% |
| 3-4% | 1.46% – 2.02% | 1.54% – 1.98% |
| 4-5% | 2.02% – 2.61% | 1.98% – 2.39% |
| 5%+ | 2.61%+ | 2.39%+ |
Historic Interest Rates
To see details of historic customer interest rates, along with the amount of interest retained by Embark, click here.
Charges are an important part of the relationship between our customers and the services that we provide. Willis Owen will always endeavour to be as transparent as possible with its charging structures and provide easy access to the rates that are applicable to individual investors.
When you invest in Funds there are three types of charges which you may see quoted, the Fund Manager Charge being the most comprehensive:
Annual Management Charge (AMC) - the internal costs of running the fund the AMC typically comprises the investment management fee plus any other charges for its own services, such as administration or marketing. It usually excludes any fees or charges paid to 3rd parties.
The average AMC is around 0.75% in most actively managed funds but can vary depending on what is included. A few providers now quote the same figure for AMC and OCF.
Ongoing Charges Figure (OCF) - incorporates the AMC, as well as a number of additional costs and expenses, that are taken directly out of the fund in the previous 12 month accounting period to its financial year end. It includes 3rd party costs such as: audit fees; custody fees; financing costs; custodian fees; shareholder reporting costs; regulatory fees; director’s fees (where applicable) and bank charges.
Research costs may also become part of on-going costs unless the Fund Provider states they will absorb them into their own operating costs. The OCF excludes: performance fees (where applicable) and portfolio transaction costs, except in the case of other collective investments held (for example, by a multi-manager fund).
Fund Manager Charge (FMC) - is presented in the ex-ante costs document, comprises the OCF plus all costs related to transactions. It also includes incidental costs which are primarily performance fees. It captures all transaction costs for the product over the last 3 years, incurred as a result of the acquisition and disposal of investments, and works out an average. This covers: broker charges, mark- ups included in the transaction price, stamp duty, and foreign exchange costs.
Transactions costs can be divided into explicit and implicit costs. Explicit costs relate to the tax and commission charges added to the transaction settlement amount. These costs can be clearly identified and quantified. Implicit costs, also called slippage costs, are more complex calculations which work out the difference between the price when a trade is placed and the price it is dealt.
Then there are broadly 3 levels of charges which include a Service fee to Willis Owen, this fee is typically between 0.25% to 0.50%, dependent on your choice of provider/platform, such as a:
Service fee ISA/GIA/SIPP
| Tier | ISA |
GIA |
SIPP |
|---|---|---|---|
| £0 - £50,000 | 0.40% |
0.40% |
0.40% |
| £50,001 - £100,000 | 0.30% |
0.30% |
0.40% |
| £100,001 - £250,000 | 0.20% |
0.20% |
0.25% |
| £250,000 + | 0.15% |
0.15% |
0.15% |
These costs are for each ‘tier’ of your overall Account. So, as an example on the Willis Owen platform for ISA or GIA or combined ISA and GIA, for the first £50,000 invested you pay 0.40%, which equates to £200 per annum, then for the next £50,000 you pay 0.30%, which equates to £150 per annum and so on.
The first £50,000 invested in a SIPP, you pay 0.40%, which equates to £200 per annum, and then for the next £50,000 you pay 0.40%, which equates to £200 per annum and so on.
Likewise, if you invested £120,000 split equally between an ISA and a SIPP you would pay 0.33% for the ISA which equates to £198 per annum and 0.38% for the SIPP which equates to £228 per annum. The blended rate takes into account your total portfolio value across your ISA, GIA or SIPP.
Service fee JISA
| Tier | Junior ISA |
|---|---|
| £0 - £50,000 | 0.40% |
| £50,001 - £100,000 | 0.30% |
| £100,001 - £250,000 | 0.20% |
| £250,000 + | 0.15% |
These costs are for each ‘tier’ of your Junior ISA only.
Tier and fee calculations are based on Funds, Share, Investment Trusts, ETFs and Cash balances.
Our fee covers:
If you do not agree to the charging structure(s) applied by Willis Owen or its partners then services will be terminated at the company’s discretion.
There is currently no additional fee for using income drawdown under our SIPP product.
We arrange your investments on either a commission basis, or fee basis. Where an investment is arranged on a commission basis, we are paid commission by the Product Provider and we will not apply any other charge in respect of that investment. These charges will usually have been built into the Annual Management Charge of your investment.
Where the provider of an investment which we have arranged for you does not pay us commission, you will usually pay a lower Annual Management Charge for your investment. Our fees will be deducted by the Platform or Product Provider from your Cash Account, or by unit cancellation from your investment(s), and paid to us directly. This is our preferred method of administering fees but is usually only available when you invest through Platforms or life companies. These charges are usually calculated daily, but levied on a monthly basis.
We reserve the right to amend our fee model(s) and collection process at any time. If we do so we shall seek to give you no less than fourteen business days’ notice in advance, but where this is not practicable we shall notify you as soon as possible.
A full list and summary of all charges can be found within our website.
Willis Owen may receive an annual commission from a Product Provider which varies from 0.1%-1% of the value of your investment, depending upon your Fund choice. For example, if your Fund value averages £4,000 over a one year period and the Funds in which you invest generate an average commission to Willis Owen of 0.5%, Willis Owen will typically receive a commission of £20.00 over the year.
Financial Conduct Authority rules have been designed to make sure it's clear to you what charges you pay, and to whom, when purchasing Funds through a Platform. Historically, your charges have all been bundled into one Annual Management Charge (AMC), typically 1.5% per Fund, split between your Fund Provider (e.g. Jupiter), your Intermediary (e.g. Willis Owen) and your Platform (e.g. Willis Owen Platform, Aegon/Fidelity FundsNetwork). Going forward, these charges will need to be applied separately.
The Retail Distribution Review brought with it a new share class ‘commission excluded’ or ‘clean’ share class with a typical equivalent average AMC charge of 0.75%. These Fund charges do not include Platform or Willis Owen fees.
