Discussion
I'm looking to put some money into a fund. Ideally I would like a fund that has total annual costs below 1% and has a low (relatively, anyway) initial charge.
I was after two particular kind of funds: one that covers emerging markets (specifically Asia), and one that uses the value investing approach.
I have done a bit of research myself and have found funds like Jupiter - which have several funds, including of the kind I am after, but they have quite high costs.
I'm pretty new to this stuff, and am pretty young, so am happy for a LONG term fund investment (10-20 years).
So my question is...am I asking too much by looking for the above criteria whilst also wanting around a 15% gain annually?
Are there any good funds (maybe less known, but rather good) funds you could suggest and I could research more into?
Also, with the dollar being quite weak at the moment, is it a feasible idea to buy a fund based in US dollars in order to benefit from this?
Sorry if I sound totally unrealistic, and I know the amount I would be investing (a couple thousand £'s with regular monthly top ups) is pretty small, but like I said, I'm young (and a student!) so would like to get a good fund and put money in it regularly for several years (obviously increasing top ups when I am employed).
Any help and suggestions would be greatly appriciated!
Thanks
I was after two particular kind of funds: one that covers emerging markets (specifically Asia), and one that uses the value investing approach.
I have done a bit of research myself and have found funds like Jupiter - which have several funds, including of the kind I am after, but they have quite high costs.
I'm pretty new to this stuff, and am pretty young, so am happy for a LONG term fund investment (10-20 years).
So my question is...am I asking too much by looking for the above criteria whilst also wanting around a 15% gain annually?
Are there any good funds (maybe less known, but rather good) funds you could suggest and I could research more into?
Also, with the dollar being quite weak at the moment, is it a feasible idea to buy a fund based in US dollars in order to benefit from this?
Sorry if I sound totally unrealistic, and I know the amount I would be investing (a couple thousand £'s with regular monthly top ups) is pretty small, but like I said, I'm young (and a student!) so would like to get a good fund and put money in it regularly for several years (obviously increasing top ups when I am employed).
Any help and suggestions would be greatly appriciated!
Thanks
Suggest you spend £60 on a sub to MoneyWeek or a similar weekly financial journal, read it every week, and make notes of the ideas you like, then after about 6 months start to think about actually investing.
They reglarly recommend SE Asian and Emerging Market funds as well as strategies aimed to benefit from the $ moving.
HTH.
Tim.
They reglarly recommend SE Asian and Emerging Market funds as well as strategies aimed to benefit from the $ moving.
HTH.
Tim.
There are thousands of funds out there to choose from, and although you're looking for one with low fees, usually there are discount houses which can obtain the fund at a discount on their quoted fees. Also, it's kind of like you get what you pay for.
Visit Hargreaves Lansdown, they offer pretty much all the funds you'd need to look at, they also allow you to hold most funds as ISAs or SIPPS too.
I find Jupiter good, I two funds with them, Jupiter China and Jupiter Emerging European Opps. Although these are on the riskier side of things.
ETA
How old are you? Do you have a pension?
If not, a SIPP would be a really good idea IMO. Say you pay £39 out of your account, within a SIPP it gets tax relief at 22% (20% next year) to make your contribution to any fund £50.....surely that makes sense. However, you won't have access to your money until you're ancient.
Visit Hargreaves Lansdown, they offer pretty much all the funds you'd need to look at, they also allow you to hold most funds as ISAs or SIPPS too.
I find Jupiter good, I two funds with them, Jupiter China and Jupiter Emerging European Opps. Although these are on the riskier side of things.
ETA
How old are you? Do you have a pension?
If not, a SIPP would be a really good idea IMO. Say you pay £39 out of your account, within a SIPP it gets tax relief at 22% (20% next year) to make your contribution to any fund £50.....surely that makes sense. However, you won't have access to your money until you're ancient.
Edited by thewave on Tuesday 20th November 09:17
LeTim said:
Suggest you spend £60 on a sub to MoneyWeek or a similar weekly financial journal, read it every week, and make notes of the ideas you like, then after about 6 months start to think about actually investing.
They reglarly recommend SE Asian and Emerging Market funds as well as strategies aimed to benefit from the $ moving.
HTH.
Tim.
Tim,They reglarly recommend SE Asian and Emerging Market funds as well as strategies aimed to benefit from the $ moving.
HTH.
Tim.
Thanks for the advide. I've checked out MoneyWeek before, and they did seem quite informative. I've signed up to their free 4 week trial and will see how it goes....
Thanks again
Usman
thewave said:
There are thousands of funds out there to choose from, and although you're looking for one with low fees, usually there are discount houses which can obtain the fund at a discount on their quoted fees. Also, it's kind of like you get what you pay for.
Visit Hargreaves Lansdown, they offer pretty much all the funds you'd need to look at, they also allow you to hold most funds as ISAs or SIPPS too.
I find Jupiter good, I two funds with them, Jupiter China and Jupiter Emerging European Opps. Although these are on the riskier side of things.
ETA
How old are you? Do you have a pension?
If not, a SIPP would be a really good idea IMO. Say you pay £39 out of your account, within a SIPP it gets tax relief at 22% (20% next year) to make your contribution to any fund £50.....surely that makes sense. However, you won't have access to your money until you're ancient.
thewave,Visit Hargreaves Lansdown, they offer pretty much all the funds you'd need to look at, they also allow you to hold most funds as ISAs or SIPPS too.
I find Jupiter good, I two funds with them, Jupiter China and Jupiter Emerging European Opps. Although these are on the riskier side of things.
ETA
How old are you? Do you have a pension?
If not, a SIPP would be a really good idea IMO. Say you pay £39 out of your account, within a SIPP it gets tax relief at 22% (20% next year) to make your contribution to any fund £50.....surely that makes sense. However, you won't have access to your money until you're ancient.
Edited by thewave on Tuesday 20th November 09:17
Thanks for the info - that website is pretty good - will check it out in more detail later.
I was also interested in the Jupiter China fund but am slightly put off by its high annual fees - but like you said, it my be high for a reason..
I'm 19, and dont have a pension. I would start thinking about a pension as soon as I start full time employment (Still a couple of years to go).
If you don't mind me asking, how has Jupiter performed for you? Are the charges ok relative to the gains? How's there reports? Do they give break downs of what they have bought and, more importantly, WHY they bought it?
Sorry for the million questions!
Thanks
uzzi said:
LeTim said:
Suggest you spend £60 on a sub to MoneyWeek or a similar weekly financial journal, read it every week, and make notes of the ideas you like, then after about 6 months start to think about actually investing.
They reglarly recommend SE Asian and Emerging Market funds as well as strategies aimed to benefit from the $ moving.
HTH.
Tim.
Tim,They reglarly recommend SE Asian and Emerging Market funds as well as strategies aimed to benefit from the $ moving.
HTH.
Tim.
Thanks for the advide. I've checked out MoneyWeek before, and they did seem quite informative. I've signed up to their free 4 week trial and will see how it goes....
Thanks again
Usman
Too many people leave it far too late in life to start investing.
Oh and one other good place ( I expect you go there already ) is www.bloomberg.com
Edited by LeTim on Tuesday 20th November 11:40
uzzi said:
thewave said:
There are thousands of funds out there to choose from, and although you're looking for one with low fees, usually there are discount houses which can obtain the fund at a discount on their quoted fees. Also, it's kind of like you get what you pay for.
Visit Hargreaves Lansdown, they offer pretty much all the funds you'd need to look at, they also allow you to hold most funds as ISAs or SIPPS too.
I find Jupiter good, I two funds with them, Jupiter China and Jupiter Emerging European Opps. Although these are on the riskier side of things.
ETA
How old are you? Do you have a pension?
If not, a SIPP would be a really good idea IMO. Say you pay £39 out of your account, within a SIPP it gets tax relief at 22% (20% next year) to make your contribution to any fund £50.....surely that makes sense. However, you won't have access to your money until you're ancient.
thewave,Visit Hargreaves Lansdown, they offer pretty much all the funds you'd need to look at, they also allow you to hold most funds as ISAs or SIPPS too.
I find Jupiter good, I two funds with them, Jupiter China and Jupiter Emerging European Opps. Although these are on the riskier side of things.
ETA
How old are you? Do you have a pension?
If not, a SIPP would be a really good idea IMO. Say you pay £39 out of your account, within a SIPP it gets tax relief at 22% (20% next year) to make your contribution to any fund £50.....surely that makes sense. However, you won't have access to your money until you're ancient.
Edited by thewave on Tuesday 20th November 09:17
Thanks for the info - that website is pretty good - will check it out in more detail later.
I was also interested in the Jupiter China fund but am slightly put off by its high annual fees - but like you said, it my be high for a reason..
I'm 19, and dont have a pension. I would start thinking about a pension as soon as I start full time employment (Still a couple of years to go).
If you don't mind me asking, how has Jupiter performed for you? Are the charges ok relative to the gains? How's there reports? Do they give break downs of what they have bought and, more importantly, WHY they bought it?
Sorry for the million questions!
Thanks
Gain/loss % 45.13
As of this minute
Initial lump in January, I contribute a further £50 a month, and it's been as high as 60% gain, so on a bit of a dip, but that's expected, it means you're purchasing units at a lower price, one of the advantages of investing monthly. The charges are all part of funds, and basically, say you get a return of 6%, after charges, that return may be reduced to an effective 3%, but when something is performing very well, it's worth paying.
Be careful though, investments can go up as well as down, and as a newbie, i'd suggest a more 'sensible' fund, HL do 'fund of funds' which gives you exposure to all the different funds, probably including Jupiter. I've only just started putting my money abroad, having most invested in UK.
A diverse portfolio is essential. Good luck, and well done on getting interested at an early stage
Here's where my money is
Nationwide ISA 8%
Various Shares 71%
Funds investing abroad 14%
Share Club (various shares) 7%
Uzzi
It sounds like you want some advice - in that case you will need to speak to a regulated investment adviser, as it's against FSA regulations to give financial advice over the internet. However, here are a few pointers for more info:
There are various online fund and ISA supermarkets that offer discounts, even 0% initial commission. Some have risk profilers leading to a model portfolio ( e.g. www.easy-funds.co.uk ), some have a range of model portfolios for you to choose from ( e.g. www.chelseafs.co.uk ), and some are simply self-service ( e.g. www.myinvestmentcentre.co.uk ).
The only platform that allows you to invest online with a debit card is Cofunds - all of the above use the Cofunds administration as their back end, but have difference discounts depending on their relationships with the fund managers. Therefore if you know of a specific fund you want, shop around for the best discount.
If you want to do regular investments, you'll be prompted to download and sign a form, as a Direct Debit instruction needs a wet signature for this kind of transaction.
Not sure about how you might be able to benefit form the weak dollar - If it's an ISA or non-ISA UT or OEIC bought in the UK, then of course it's gotta be STG.
You can use Trustnet.com to research fund performance, quartiles, etc.
It sounds like you want some advice - in that case you will need to speak to a regulated investment adviser, as it's against FSA regulations to give financial advice over the internet. However, here are a few pointers for more info:
There are various online fund and ISA supermarkets that offer discounts, even 0% initial commission. Some have risk profilers leading to a model portfolio ( e.g. www.easy-funds.co.uk ), some have a range of model portfolios for you to choose from ( e.g. www.chelseafs.co.uk ), and some are simply self-service ( e.g. www.myinvestmentcentre.co.uk ).
The only platform that allows you to invest online with a debit card is Cofunds - all of the above use the Cofunds administration as their back end, but have difference discounts depending on their relationships with the fund managers. Therefore if you know of a specific fund you want, shop around for the best discount.
If you want to do regular investments, you'll be prompted to download and sign a form, as a Direct Debit instruction needs a wet signature for this kind of transaction.
Not sure about how you might be able to benefit form the weak dollar - If it's an ISA or non-ISA UT or OEIC bought in the UK, then of course it's gotta be STG.
You can use Trustnet.com to research fund performance, quartiles, etc.
Have a look at www.citywire.co.uk for past fund performance.
Invesco High Income worth a look, watch how it doesnt loose when other funds do and the FTSE did.
Invesco High Income worth a look, watch how it doesnt loose when other funds do and the FTSE did.
Thanks for the information guys - I really appriciate it and it really helps!
thewave,
as you said, I also believe in a diversified portfolio. I've been investing for over a year and a half (from the tender age of 17!) and have a couple of grand invested in shares and bonds (around 60% in shares and 40% in bonds) - in an attempt to implement the advice of Benjamin Graham (Intelligent Investor - brilliant book!)
Unfortunatly, due to university commitments, I cant devote enough time to research a large amount of stocks and therefore think that it's a good idea to invest in a fund with a diversified approach.
haworthlloyd1 - thanks for the advice. yeah, I've been looking out for the total expense ratio (again, as recomended by Mr. Graham!)
jacobyte - Oh, I didn't know it was against regulations - sorry! But thanks for the advice anyway!
Work-Shy-Wanabe - that websites pretty useful - thanks!
NoelWatson - index tracker? I presum these are Index Funds? I am also very interested in these. Whats your opinion on these compared to actively managed funds?
LeTim - Yep, I agree that people leave it too late to invest for the "future", but I suppose its better late than never!
For me, this is my contingency plan to be able to afford that beautiful supercar by the time I'm 40! lol
So, just a few more q's:
1) Is it good to look at relatively smaller funds rather than larger funds (by large, I mean funds with an excess of £250m)?
2) Whats your opinion on Index funds?
Thanks again guys...
thewave,
as you said, I also believe in a diversified portfolio. I've been investing for over a year and a half (from the tender age of 17!) and have a couple of grand invested in shares and bonds (around 60% in shares and 40% in bonds) - in an attempt to implement the advice of Benjamin Graham (Intelligent Investor - brilliant book!)
Unfortunatly, due to university commitments, I cant devote enough time to research a large amount of stocks and therefore think that it's a good idea to invest in a fund with a diversified approach.
haworthlloyd1 - thanks for the advice. yeah, I've been looking out for the total expense ratio (again, as recomended by Mr. Graham!)
jacobyte - Oh, I didn't know it was against regulations - sorry! But thanks for the advice anyway!
Work-Shy-Wanabe - that websites pretty useful - thanks!
NoelWatson - index tracker? I presum these are Index Funds? I am also very interested in these. Whats your opinion on these compared to actively managed funds?
LeTim - Yep, I agree that people leave it too late to invest for the "future", but I suppose its better late than never!
For me, this is my contingency plan to be able to afford that beautiful supercar by the time I'm 40! lol
So, just a few more q's:
1) Is it good to look at relatively smaller funds rather than larger funds (by large, I mean funds with an excess of £250m)?
2) Whats your opinion on Index funds?
Thanks again guys...
uzzi said:
NoelWatson - index tracker? I presum these are Index Funds? I am also very interested in these. Whats your opinion on these compared to actively managed funds?
http://www.fool.co.uk/news/foolseyeview/2002/fev020322c.htmhttp://www.thisismoney.co.uk/investing/article.htm...
AS stated in the article (and there are hundreds others - this was the first that came up on Google), over five years, only 30% of active funds outperform the median tracker. How do you know in advance which of these funds will be among the 30% - unfortunately you don't.
Having said this, I manange my own investments, not because I think I can beat the market but because I enjoy it and have only myself to blame if it goes wrong.
Edited by NoelWatson on Wednesday 21st November 11:20
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