Scottish Investment Trust transfers thousands of savings clients to AJ Bell

Thousands of Scottish Investment Trust investors, who hold around £183m of assets, are to be transferred, free of charge, to AJ Bell’s Youinvest platform.

AJ Bell will take over the running of 6,750 Isa and dealing accounts from The Scottish’s savings scheme.

The move has been forced upon The Scottish, which is a self-managed trust managing an £850m global portfolio of equities, after Halifax Share Dealing announced it was withdrawing from the business of administering investment trust savings schemes.

According to The Scottish’s website, AJ Bell’s platform was chosen after an extensive review of alternative providers, due to its competitive charging structure and because it offers a more flexible and comprehensive platform for investors in the trust.

James Will, chairman of the Scottish Investment Trust, said AJ Bell’s platform enables the trust to continue to communicate with its shareholders.

He said: “We see platforms, like AJ Bell Youinvest, becoming an increasingly important source of new investors in the trust and look forward to working with them in the future.”

Andy Bell, chief executive officer of AJ Bell, said that the company is pleased to have been selected by Scottish Investment Trust.

“ will have access to a much wider range of investments should they wish to consolidate their other investments onto our platform, as well as a range of tools and apps to help them get the most out of their investments,” he added.

The Scottish Investment Trust’s total dividend to shareholders hiked 40.6 per cent for the year ending 31 October, according to results published in January.

AJ Bell currently has 152,000 customers and £36bn of assets under administration.

In the first six months of the financial year, inflows at AJ Bell grew by 68 per cent to £3.6bn.