Columbia Threadneedle Investments Reviews 

A chat line that actually works! Quick response and got the answer to my questions.

After the death of my mother I was sole beneficiary of her trust funds. My case involved an extraordinary amount of paperwork to have these funds released..no fault of threadneedle!!
I found them to be helpful and considerate.
Special mention to the manager of Retail Escalations Susan H. As my case was complicated it was elevated to head office. She was brilliant.

I used the Chat facility to make an inquiry, it was answered immediately & professionally. The information was just what I needed.

I wanted to buy and sell some shares, I needed to know what was happening and I got through straight away for an answer

A new experience for me in that I had to download a tax voucher but didn’t know where it would be sent to. Luke carefully guided me through where it would go, why it might not download and told me what steps to take to ensure that it would download. Listed the steps to take, worked first time with no issues to follow up. Luke certainly knows his stuff!

Companies like this should no longer exist. Dinosaur. Their digital systems do not work properly. Broken identity verification, broken functions like add a bank account. Error messages popping up everywhere. Eventually I spoke to a human who sounded completely disinterested and said someone would look into these problems over the next 10 days!

This company will do everything they can to give you the run around and keep your money in their accounts for as long as possible. I have been trying to liquidate money from an UTMA account for 3 months, and there is no way to do this process online. It must be through documents you have to pay to mail to them (with your SSN and SSN of a relative if your account was made by the relative), and they take their sweet time to review the documents. If there is an issue, they leave it up to you to get impatient and call them back, as they don't want to call you themselves, and they refuse to do anything through email for "security" reasons. For my account, I have been given exception to use a notary stamp for my documents instead of a medallion stamp, since I'm unable to acquire a medallion stamp unless I drive a 2500 mile round trip to the nearest location of my bank. Despite having this exception, my documents have been rejected TWICE due to having a notary stamp. There is a clear lack of communication between people in this company that give the exception and the people that check the paperwork and mail the checks. Once I am able to voodoo magic my money out of this company, I will be telling everybody possible to keep their money away from this company, as it will take many months and a hundred phone calls to get it back.

Like many of the other reviewers, I have found this company very difficult to deal with when it comes to closing a CTF.
On the phone, when I asked if a senior social worker could verify the ID document, they said they would consider each one on an individual basis. Of course, when they received the verified document, we were told, no - it had to be someone on their accredited list. They could have told us that on the phone beforehand!
I can see that 90% of their reviews are 1 star but they do not seem to care.
Communication is generally poor, though it does depend on who picks up the phone: some of the operators are better trained than others.
When it comes to getting the funds from the CTF, my advice would be: contact them early, and start compiling and sending the ID documentation way ahead of time - several months before your child's 18th birthday if you can. Follow the information on how to verify the documentation to a 'T' - there is absolutely no wriggle room allowed - read the whole anti-money laundering page through and take copious notes. They tell you what to do in 2 separate places on this webpage, both descriptions contain slightly different information, so read both thoroughly. Don't wait for Columbia Threadneedle to get back to you - ring them to see if things have been received/checked/ processed etc. Get the name of everyone you speak to.
In contrast, my partner recently had such a straightforward experience getting documents verified via an online system with a different company, for a property purchase... it feels as though Columbia Threadneedle are making things deliberately as complicated and convoluted as possible.
Good luck - once you do receive the funds, the relief that you will not have to deal with this company again is at least as rewarding as your child receiving their money :-D

Columbia lacks the ability to upload forms. Forms cannot be completed online and must be mailed. These are forms requiring social security numbers. Antiquated!

My daughter has a child trust fund which has matured. We have updated all records and requested a liquidation. So far they have lost bank account details sent by email once (and then asked us to write to them!). Then we passed security twice and then third time they don't know why we didn't passed security. Online they can't answer questions about the accounts even though we have been through 2FA. Columbia Threadneedle is the worst of all the fund managers our family have dealt with just because they score own goals. Our complaint to them has been answered by snail mail - do they realise that the internet is not an inconvenience for them. At least they pick up the calls we make - but we wish they could answer ANY questions on why we can't get her money out.

Sadly trying to deal with my mother's estate and transfer investments as the executor. This has been the most difficult process by a company with call centre staff showing little empathy or willingness to facilitate the process. Other companies have far superior processes in place, but Columbia Threadneedle need to look at staff training and proper procedure for people dealing with a death.

I'm not one to usually write reviews and truthfully, the only reason that I got to this forum is because I Have had two horrendous experiences with Threadneedle. I am no stranger to the world of banking or investment companies and I have been shocked by Columbia Threadneedle. I truly hope somebody sues them in the future for the trials and tribulations they subject people to when you try to get your funds out.

If you haven’t invested with them yet I implore you to stick with Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab or one of the the other firms that play by industry rules.

I see Columbia reply to the all the one start reviews with

Columbia Threadneedle Investments logo
Reply from Columbia Threadneedle Investments
5 days ago
Good morning, sorry to hear of your experience. Can you please ask your daughters to contact us on …and we will get this sorted for them both. Thanks

When you do respond to their email address nothing happens, they just do the same thing. They flat out refuse to accept any form of ID to allow my daughters to close their CTF. We’ve sent driving licences and passports and they simply say they aren’t acceptable forms of ID despite the fact these are the forms of ID they request we are note going to the FSA.

They clearly don’t want to allow people to withdraw their money so they can keep charging management fees.

I'm 65 years old; never heard of Columbia Threadneedle in my life. I was contacted out of the blue to verify my address and personal details in writing. Scam was the only thing that came to mind..I contacted them by phone and, apparently, 22 years ago I invested a small sum of money with a financial institution that I totally forgot about; it was transferred to C/T., hence the correspondence.
After verifying personal details, the sum was disclosed to me.. I made it clear to them I wanted to cash in the whole amount, several thousand pounds.
Same procedure as mentioned by others in their reviews...a little old fashioned maybe, but that's how they do it, I suppose... Bank details rejected on the phone, so proof of original recent bank statement was sent by post.
After 10 working days or so, the full amount was transferred to my bank account and the documents sent by post returned
So, maybe I was just lucky, but I found the service impeccable

After reading negative reviews of the company I held low expectations after I was contacted out of the blue to inform me that they held an investment of my cousin who had died two years ago and for whom I was executor. After speaking to the help desk to confirm my identity I sent a copy of the Grant of Probate and received a cheque within 4 weeks of the initial letter therefore my experience was very positive.

My son is trying to close his CTF account with hardly anything in it due to them taking annual management charges and now they are asking for a certified copy of his passport to withdraw the cash! Ridiculous. Criminal for charging these annual management charges on a CTF in the first place.

Don't, I repeat DON'T invest with this HORRIBLE company! Trying to get money from these people is like trying to get blood out of a stone! Send in the paperwork after my father passed away. Ooops you didn't send in this paper. I send it in, Oooops you need this other paper! I finally lost it on the phone and somehow my share was deposited the next business day. Now I'm fighting for my disabled sister who has been trying to get her share for a month and a half. She sent in every paper under the sun. She paid $30 for a certified death certificate AFTER I had already sent one in. She sent a cc of her birth certificate, a cc of her marriage license, a cc of her drivers license, a cc of her original social security card and a cc of her current social security card. She's gone to 4 DIFFERENT banks, she went to hers 4 different times and keeps getting rejected for the MSG signature. I am currently on the phone with them now as I write trying to help her. Another sister was planning on using the money to open an account with Columbia. When I get finished talking to her I'll make sure that she doesn't put a penny in any account associated with this place. Boy they don't mind taking your money but come time to get a distribution and you'll died before you get your money and then the process will start over with your beneficiary and god only knows what paperwork they'll need!

*** Update to my review - I contacted the email address mentioned in the review and an excellent lady called Susan.P picked up my sons case and had it all resolved in a week. She was very good and I wish she had been involved from the start****

Awful antiquated company. My son turned 18 and they are making it impossible to take your money out of his fund. Their online login is a technical joke and they want documents certified as if you are applying for a mortgage or a new passport. Of course they don't have any systems in place to do it electronically as they just want to put you off long enough to put you off withdrawing your money. And of course every delay means they charge more of a pro-rata management fee. I will be reporting this firm to the ombudsman.

I had to liquidate two accounts which belonged to my late Mother. Columbia Threadneedle delayed and obstructed every attempt to settle the affair. I thought at first it was just plain incompentence, but it seems as though the real reason is more dishonest. I had to make an average of two phone calls a week over two months to get them to release the funds. They prefer the money sit in their accounts earning interest rather than releasing them. I am glad I will never have to deal with them again.

Initially faced similar difficulties as other reviewers when trying to withdraw my money after turning 18. The online verification for ID was easy, but my bank details repeatedly got rejected. After multiple unsuccessful online attempts, I called customer service. Turns out they use a separate company for verifying bank details, making online verification unreliable. However, calling them directly to manually verify your details resolved the issue quickly and smoothly.

Regarding performance, after just under 18 years invested by my parents, I made around 75% profit—decent, but notably lower compared to broader markets like the S&P 500.

Overall, the service was solid once I spoke directly to them. I'd recommend just picking up the phone if you encounter issues online.