Vanguard Asset Management, Ltd · DRN-5615328

The complaint Mr K is unhappy that Vanguard Asset Management, Ltd (‘Vanguard’) delayed the closure of his account with them and the transfer of his residual balance to a new provider. What happened Mr K decided to move his stocks and shares ISA from Vanguard and invest in an ETF with Company A. Vanguard received a valid transfer request from Company A on 16th December 2024. Vanguard completed the sale of funds on 27th December 2024 and transferred the proceeds to Company A on 23rd January 2025. Mr K complained about the time the process took. He felt the transaction should have been completed quicker and said the delay had caused him financial loss, as his new investment was purchased at a higher price than if he’d been able to invest sooner. Vanguard accepted both that there was a delay in completing the transfer process and also that they were responsible for this delay. They calculated the financial loss caused to Mr K as £341.17. This amount was sent to Company A for Mr K. However, even after the sale and transfer of funds process had completed, a residual amount of £13.65 remained in Mr K’s Vanguard ISA. On 20th March 2025, he received confirmation that it had finally been sent to Company A. Vanguard apologised for the delay and offered Mr K £150 compensation. Mr K was unhappy with this as he felt the compensation was insufficient, so he brought a complaint to our service where it was considered by an investigator. The investigator thought that £150 was fair and reasonable compensation, but Mr K disagreed, so the case has been passed to me. What I’ve decided – and why I’ve considered all the available evidence and arguments to decide what’s fair and reasonable in the circumstances of this complaint. For clarity, this complaint is solely about the delay in transferring the residual balance in Mr K’s ISA to Company A. Mr K has raised other complaint points regarding the delay of the transfer process and the calculation and payment of the financial loss caused by that delay. Those points form part of separate complaints and therefore I won’t be considering them here. I agree with Mr K that after the initial transfer had completed, any remaining balance in the account should have been transferred over to Company A promptly. Vanguard have explained that there were delays at the time due to the volume of transfers they were dealing with. This is understandable – sometimes delays do happen and are unavoidable. But I also think there were opportunities to highlight this potential delay to Mr K in advance, particularly

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given the delays/errors that had already occurred with his request to transfer. Having said that, I recognise that the residual amount in question was small, £13.65, and that Vanguard did offer Mr K the option of withdrawing it himself in order to expedite the process. I’ve also considered that the residual balance was transferred within 2 months of the initial transfer completing. Taking everything into account, including the total compensation awarded to Mr K for linked complaints in relation to this series of events, I consider £150 to be fair and reasonable compensation in this case. So I won’t be asking Vanguard to do anything more. My final decision Vanguard Asset Management, Ltd has already made an offer to pay £150 compensation in this complaint and I think this offer is fair in all the circumstances. My decision is that Vanguard Asset Management, Ltd should pay this £150 to Mr K if it has not done so already. Under the rules of the Financial Ombudsman Service, I’m required to ask Mr K to accept or reject my decision before 17 April 2026. Artemis Pantelides Ombudsman

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