Woodford anyone?

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Discussion

Rick101

6,964 posts

150 months

Friday 14th August 2015
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Thank you,

Have just spoken to HL on the phone and they seem very helpful. Have completed my NISA transfer form and will get it in the post today.

Have requested my Cash ISA be transferred to Vantage Stocks and Shares ISA but to be held in cash pending instruction. Assuming that means it just sits in the account post transfer until I decide what I want to invest in.

Should give me a bit of time do do some reading and understand a bit more about what I'm doing. Initial thoughts are 90% over three managed funds and 10% for me to try buying individual shares and generally having a play with.


walm

10,609 posts

202 months

Friday 14th August 2015
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Rick101 said:
90% over three managed funds and 10% for me to try buying individual shares and generally having a play with.
I feel like a broken record and I know it is "only" £1,500 but I strongly suggest NOT picking stocks.

Source: I pick stocks for a living and it is effing hard.

Put it another way, if Santa Claus came up to you and gave you £1,500 in cash, would your first thought be "I am going to start a new hobby I know nothing about which is going to see me very likely lose lots of that money - woohoo! Let's go for it."?

R8Steve

4,150 posts

175 months

Friday 14th August 2015
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walm said:
Rick101 said:
90% over three managed funds and 10% for me to try buying individual shares and generally having a play with.
I feel like a broken record and I know it is "only" £1,500 but I strongly suggest NOT picking stocks.

Source: I pick stocks for a living and it is effing hard.

Put it another way, if Santa Claus came up to you and gave you £1,500 in cash, would your first thought be "I am going to start a new hobby I know nothing about which is going to see me very likely lose lots of that money - woohoo! Let's go for it."?
I would have to go with this statement as well. It's a lot easier to lose money than make money with individual stocks. I've made a lot of money on them granted but i've also lost a lot. Time it wrong and it's quite easy to see the lot wiped out especially if you start chasing losses. On the other hand if you pick the right one at the right time you can see multiple 100's percentage wise back but as long as you know 99% of the time it is a total gamble/good luck.

If you really must have a dabble at individual stocks you can open up a demo account with some share dealing companies and play with someone elses £1500 and keep yours safe until you have a good understanding of the risks.

BoRED S2upid

19,683 posts

240 months

Friday 14th August 2015
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R8Steve said:
I would have to go with this statement as well. It's a lot easier to lose money than make money with individual stocks. I've made a lot of money on them granted but i've also lost a lot. Time it wrong and it's quite easy to see the lot wiped out especially if you start chasing losses. On the other hand if you pick the right one at the right time you can see multiple 100's percentage wise back but as long as you know 99% of the time it is a total gamble/good luck.

If you really must have a dabble at individual stocks you can open up a demo account with some share dealing companies and play with someone elses £1500 and keep yours safe until you have a good understanding of the risks.
Agree with this. I've lost money in the past picking individual shares and not selling them fast enough. It's one thing buying them but are you clued up enough and have your eye on the ball to sell them quickly if anything unexpected happens? now I let the likes of Woodford pick them for me.

Rick101

6,964 posts

150 months

Friday 14th August 2015
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Noted gents. Thanks for the advice. I'll stick to picking my nose, prob have more successsmile

Ozzie Osmond

21,189 posts

246 months

Friday 14th August 2015
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Rick101 said:
....to be held in cash pending instruction. Assuming that means it just sits in the account post transfer until I decide what I want to invest in.

Should give me a bit of time do do some reading and understand a bit more about what I'm doing. Initial thoughts are 90% over three managed funds and 10% for me to try buying individual shares and generally having a play with.
I suggest,
  • Get on and invest while the market is off its peak. August is often a good time to get in. If you wait for the "right" time you'll wait forever. Otherwise just do half now and half in 6 months time.
  • Your suggestion of three managed funds sounds sensible to me.
  • I'd forget the 10% to fiddle with - just stick it in the funds with the rest.

Rick101

6,964 posts

150 months

Friday 14th August 2015
quotequote all
Ok thanks. I don't usually hang about with stuff, was quite happy with my 1.5% until yesterday when I spied my friend checking his share (losses) out!

Application gone in the post and will have it all in place before the next weekend I imagine.

Rick101

6,964 posts

150 months

Thursday 3rd September 2015
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Well, can't say I'm impressed with Hargreaves Lansdown so far.

Still waiting for my ISA transfer, phoned them for third time today to be told something was lost but the transfer request has been resubmitted, 'should' be sorted in up to 10 working days.


Laughable. Other money I withdrew as the same time has been since reinvested and already turning a profit.

walm

10,609 posts

202 months

Thursday 3rd September 2015
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Rick101 said:
Well, can't say I'm impressed with Hargreaves Lansdown so far.

Still waiting for my ISA transfer, phoned them for third time today to be told something was lost but the transfer request has been resubmitted, 'should' be sorted in up to 10 working days.


Laughable. Other money I withdrew as the same time has been since reinvested and already turning a profit.
Are you transfering cash or funds or equities?
Because if it is funds or equities then don't worry because they just hand over the relevant number of shares so you are still benefiting from any moves in the underlying.
If you need the cash to invest then fair enough, you are right to be narked.

Rick101

6,964 posts

150 months

Thursday 3rd September 2015
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Cashmad

Dave350

359 posts

118 months

Thursday 3rd September 2015
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walm said:
I feel like a broken record and I know it is "only" £1,500 but I strongly suggest NOT picking stocks.

Source: I pick stocks for a living and it is effing hard.

Put it another way, if Santa Claus came up to you and gave you £1,500 in cash, would your first thought be "I am going to start a new hobby I know nothing about which is going to see me very likely lose lots of that money - woohoo! Let's go for it."?
Works both ways, I started investing earlier this year and my £3k in Taylor Wimpey has performed fantastic! Just topping over into £4k now as well as the £150 dividends I received.

walm

10,609 posts

202 months

Friday 4th September 2015
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Dave350 said:
walm said:
I feel like a broken record and I know it is "only" £1,500 but I strongly suggest NOT picking stocks.

Source: I pick stocks for a living and it is effing hard.

Put it another way, if Santa Claus came up to you and gave you £1,500 in cash, would your first thought be "I am going to start a new hobby I know nothing about which is going to see me very likely lose lots of that money - woohoo! Let's go for it."?
Works both ways, I started investing earlier this year and my £3k in Taylor Wimpey has performed fantastic! Just topping over into £4k now as well as the £150 dividends I received.
Good for you. (Seriously, TW has been a rock star.)

However, as you say it goes both ways.
How have your other investments gone?

If picking stocks were a route to easy money then everyone would be doing it since it has virtually zero barriers to entry.
Guess what? Most retail investors LOSE money and even the professionals fail to beat the index on average.

An amateur picking stocks is simply gambling. (No offence.)

Mr Trophy

6,808 posts

203 months

Friday 4th September 2015
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Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought to invest in TW share. Interesting!

Dave350

359 posts

118 months

Saturday 5th September 2015
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walm said:
Good for you. (Seriously, TW has been a rock star.)

However, as you say it goes both ways.
How have your other investments gone?

If picking stocks were a route to easy money then everyone would be doing it since it has virtually zero barriers to entry.
Guess what? Most retail investors LOSE money and even the professionals fail to beat the index on average.

An amateur picking stocks is simply gambling. (No offence.)
C.10% since March which I'm happy with. I'm from a financial background and work in accountancy but certainly no expert on stock picking. There's an element of gambling regardless of amateur through to professional! No offence taken what so ever. Allowed me to apply some of my learnings through ACCA whilst money was making minimal gains in the bank. It was more out of interest than to make money in all honesty!

type-r

14,028 posts

213 months

Sunday 1st November 2015
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Have I missed the boat on the Woodford fund? Trading at around 122 and launched at 100. I see it was below 114 in Sept with the Biotech sell-off hitting the fund hard(ish) but has since recovered.

oldaudi

1,312 posts

158 months

Monday 2nd November 2015
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I wouldn't say you've missed out. They only thing you have missed is the launch price. I would suggest you pay in monthly and that way the price you pay will average out rather than put it all in on one go at 122p and see the price retrace to £1

Also look at his Patient Trust Fund, that launched at £1 less than a year ago and it still at 103p and did peak at 115 a few months back. Although with this one it does suggest be "patient" so Im guessing over 10 years. So if you are concerned about launch price v price today that one is closer, but be warned that it can drop well below launch price so don't think that £1 is the lowest it will drop.

DSLiverpool

14,733 posts

202 months

Monday 8th February 2016
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Boat now back in port !

Patch1875

4,894 posts

132 months

Friday 12th January 2018
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Thread bump!

I’ve a few quid in his fund I’m clueless about these things but he seems to have struggled the last couple of years worth sticking with it?

85Carrera

3,503 posts

237 months

Friday 12th January 2018
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Difficult one. I've had money with him for years and he underperformed before the dotcom crash but didn't suffer the same losses and then outperformed the market.

The wife and I have about 7% of our joint investments with him and I was thinking of reallocating some; however, given my memory of the dotcom years, it may be a good hedge against some of my other funds (which have done better, but may lose more in a crash). Or he may have just lost his touch but with his long term track record I'm prepared to take a view at least for the next six months.

PhilboSE

4,350 posts

226 months

Friday 12th January 2018
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About 9% of his Equity Income fund is invested in unlisted stocks so their performance isn't reflected in the day to day prices. Some of these will go to IPO in the next year which will give a boost to the fund.

He is very bullish about some of the stocks he has bought "greatly undervalued" and he does have a very good track record, and isn't swayed by trends. To that extent he is slightly contrarian so could have a part in a portfolio. The Equity Income fund yields about 3.5% so that's something.

On the other hand, he has taken big positions in Provident Financial, Eve mattresses and Purplebricks, all of which I think are bad investments. It may be that he has attracted too much investment into his funds and has to place it in second and third tier stocks and businesses.

I've got a decent chunk in Woodford, considered switching some out but have decided to give him a bit longer to deliver.