The purpose of this page is one overlooked mechanic: whether a general investment account moves as holdings (in-specie) or as cash decides whether the switch is a paperwork exercise or a taxable disposal. Four costs hide in the move; here they are, worked.
The illustration: a general investment account (not an ISA or pension, which transfer without tax consequences) worth £100,000, holding £30,000 of unrealised gains, owned by a higher-rate taxpayer moving platforms to save on fees.
| Hidden cost | The arithmetic | Avoidable? |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · The tax trap | Transferring as cash means selling everything, which crystallises the gains: £30,000 gain, minus the £3,000 exempt amount, leaves £27,000 taxable. At 24% that is £6,480, for changing where the same funds sit. | Yes: an in-specie transfer moves the holdings without a sale, so no disposal and no CGT event. |
| 2 · Out of market | A cash transfer can take weeks. A 2% market move while waiting is £2,000 on £100,000, in either direction. | Mostly: in-specie keeps the money invested throughout, at the cost of a slower process. |
| 3 · Transfer fees | Some platforms charge per holding for in-specie transfers, and the process is slower than cash. | Partly: many receiving platforms refund exit fees; worth checking before, not after. |
| 4 · The new fee structure | The comparison that motivated the move: 0.45% on £100,000 is £450 a year against a flat £120, an illustrative £330 annual saving. | This is the prize. It deserves the same scrutiny as the move itself: percentage fees and flat fees cross over as the balance grows. |
The shape of the decision: an illustrative £330-a-year fee saving against a potential one-off £6,480 tax cost if the transfer goes the wrong way. Done in-specie, the tax cost is zero and the fee saving is clean. Done as cash for convenience, the saving takes twenty years to repay the tax. The method is the decision. ISAs and pensions sit outside this trap entirely: transfers within those wrappers are not disposals, though the in-specie versus cash timing question still applies.
Information and guidance only. Not personal advice. This page explains how transfers work, not whether any switch is right for a given household. Investment values can fall as well as rise. CGT positions depend on individual circumstances, including other disposals in the year. Verify decisions with a qualified FCA-authorised adviser before acting. Arithmetic machine-checked: (£30,000 − £3,000) × 24% = £6,480.
Sonuswealth is pre-launch. The app tracks unrealised gains per holding, so the tax cost of a move is visible before the transfer form, not after.