Many small accounts cost more than one large one

Accounts accumulate across a working life without anybody deciding to collect them. The resulting spread carries a cost structure nobody chose and that is easy to overlook.

Some charges do not scale with size

Fixed account fees, minimum charges and administration costs are levied per account. Holding five accounts means paying five times for a service that would otherwise be bought once.

These are the charges least visible on small balances, because a fixed annual amount looks trivial in isolation. Multiplied across several dormant accounts it stops being trivial.

Percentage charges behave differently and are broadly neutral to the split. It is the fixed element that is duplicated, and small accounts are where fixed elements weigh most.

Tiered pricing rewards concentration

Many providers reduce their percentage rate above certain balance thresholds. Assets split across providers may sit below every threshold while their total would clear several.

The tiers are usually applied per account rather than per customer, though some providers aggregate across accounts in the same name. Which applies is a detail worth checking.

Where tiers exist, the saving from consolidation comes from the rate rather than from removing duplication, and it can be the larger of the two effects.

Fragmentation has costs beyond the fees

A portfolio spread across providers is hard to see whole. Allocation drifts unnoticed because no single statement shows the combined position.

Duplication follows from that. Similar funds get held in several places, producing concentration that would be obvious if the holdings appeared on one page.

Administration multiplies as well. Each provider needs its own address updates, its own login and its own paperwork, and each is a separate point at which something can go stale.

Consolidation is not automatically an improvement

Older accounts sometimes carry terms unavailable on current products, including guarantees, protected features or charging structures that were withdrawn. Transferring gives those up permanently.

Exit charges apply in some cases, and assets that cannot transfer in their existing form must be sold and repurchased, which creates a period out of the market.

The rules governing transfers, protections and any tax consequences vary by jurisdiction and change, so the specifics belong with the providers concerned and, where relevant, a professional.

The count is worth knowing even if nothing changes

Most people cannot state how many investment accounts they hold. The number is knowable in an afternoon and is the input every other decision here depends on.

Once listed, the fixed charges can be totalled and compared with what a single account would cost. That comparison is arithmetic rather than judgement.

Even where the answer is to leave things alone, the list has value. It converts a vague sense of scattered money into a specific position that can be reviewed annually.