Shares are risky how about Unit Trusts, investment trusts
Discussion
I have been part time buying and selling shares for a few years but after broker fees tax implications bad share choice I can honestly say I have not made much money over the last 10 years but my M&G unit trust recovery fund be it performing badly has made me 21% over five years ,I have checked out other M&g funds and class A Japan Small Company fund has returned 168% over the last five years so I think fund managers know best ? what are your thoughts! and any fund tips from a novice investor!
I decided to go for funds, rather than individual shares, as they are already diversified (depending on what you choose obviously). Look for low fees - I went for Vanguard Life Strategy.
It may also be worth looking at roboinvesting, where funds are chosen for you, based on profiling.
It may also be worth looking at roboinvesting, where funds are chosen for you, based on profiling.
fishseller said:
I have been part time buying and selling shares for a few years but after broker fees tax implications bad share choice I can honestly say I have not made much money over the last 10 years but my M&G unit trust recovery fund be it performing badly has made me 21% over five years ,I have checked out other M&g funds and class A Japan Small Company fund has returned 168% over the last five years so I think fund managers know best ? what are your thoughts! and any fund tips from a novice investor!
In 1997 i cashed in a load of unit trusts to use as the deposit for my first house. They had made a fair return.There was about £2.5k left over to reinvest and £1,250 went into that fund (it had a slightly different name then iirc.)
For more sentimental reasons than anything else I still have that investment and got my annual statement in the last 14 days saying that it was worth (iirc i only glanced at it) between £1200 and £1299. it was worth just under a grand at the start of the year and i can recall it dropping to less than £600 a few times.
not sure this tells you any answers but perhaps gives you some ideas....
I found some good tips on the money saving expert forums when it came to researching funds etc, there seem to be a couple of pretty knowledgable people on there. Monevator which someone else recommended was really useful too. You might also want to have a play about on nutmeg if you want someone making the decisions for you, or the obvious Trustnet and Hargreaves Lansdown to research your own. I spent hours on HL when I was getting to understand what's what, there is some really helpful content on there.
I too avoid individual shares as I would be tempted to trade too often, and the diversity of funds makes you feel your money is relatively safe (I have a portfolio of 10 funds covering different geographical areas etc).
I too avoid individual shares as I would be tempted to trade too often, and the diversity of funds makes you feel your money is relatively safe (I have a portfolio of 10 funds covering different geographical areas etc).
Rude-boy said:
In 1997 i cashed in a load of unit trusts to use as the deposit for my first house. They had made a fair return.
There was about £2.5k left over to reinvest and £1,250 went into that fund (it had a slightly different name then iirc.)
For more sentimental reasons than anything else I still have that investment and got my annual statement in the last 14 days saying that it was worth (iirc i only glanced at it) between £1200 and £1299. it was worth just under a grand at the start of the year and i can recall it dropping to less than £600 a few times.
not sure this tells you any answers but perhaps gives you some ideas....
Not sure you're recalling that correctly, the recovery fund at the start of 97 was around 85p a unit, it's now around £2.90....There was about £2.5k left over to reinvest and £1,250 went into that fund (it had a slightly different name then iirc.)
For more sentimental reasons than anything else I still have that investment and got my annual statement in the last 14 days saying that it was worth (iirc i only glanced at it) between £1200 and £1299. it was worth just under a grand at the start of the year and i can recall it dropping to less than £600 a few times.
not sure this tells you any answers but perhaps gives you some ideas....
ellroy said:
Rude-boy said:
In 1997 i cashed in a load of unit trusts to use as the deposit for my first house. They had made a fair return.
There was about £2.5k left over to reinvest and £1,250 went into that fund (it had a slightly different name then iirc.)
For more sentimental reasons than anything else I still have that investment and got my annual statement in the last 14 days saying that it was worth (iirc i only glanced at it) between £1200 and £1299. it was worth just under a grand at the start of the year and i can recall it dropping to less than £600 a few times.
not sure this tells you any answers but perhaps gives you some ideas....
Not sure you're recalling that correctly, the recovery fund at the start of 97 was around 85p a unit, it's now around £2.90....There was about £2.5k left over to reinvest and £1,250 went into that fund (it had a slightly different name then iirc.)
For more sentimental reasons than anything else I still have that investment and got my annual statement in the last 14 days saying that it was worth (iirc i only glanced at it) between £1200 and £1299. it was worth just under a grand at the start of the year and i can recall it dropping to less than £600 a few times.
not sure this tells you any answers but perhaps gives you some ideas....
Impossible to advise either way.
At the moment, we're experiencing a post Trump wave of uncertainty and a Global bond sell off - both conditions are generating volatility which looks set to continue for a bit. We've had low volatility for quite a while, so finding Alpha (the additional return above and beyond what the indices are showing us) has been very tough. It's in times like this that value funds/hedge funds come into their own and enjoy a few moments in the sun.
I like your fund, it's certainly eeking out the Alpha (value) that's out there, but that doesn't automatically make it suitable for you. It's doing ok, the numbers suggest a return of 30% over five years, but it's very high on the risk scale. If you're concerned about the volatility, is it the right fund for you anyway, regardless of return?
At the moment, we're experiencing a post Trump wave of uncertainty and a Global bond sell off - both conditions are generating volatility which looks set to continue for a bit. We've had low volatility for quite a while, so finding Alpha (the additional return above and beyond what the indices are showing us) has been very tough. It's in times like this that value funds/hedge funds come into their own and enjoy a few moments in the sun.
I like your fund, it's certainly eeking out the Alpha (value) that's out there, but that doesn't automatically make it suitable for you. It's doing ok, the numbers suggest a return of 30% over five years, but it's very high on the risk scale. If you're concerned about the volatility, is it the right fund for you anyway, regardless of return?
Is it also time to get out of a bond fund?I've heard something to that effect but don't know enough to make the call as I have a few thousand in Morgan Stanley sterling corporate bond as a fairly stable investment but I'm thinking of switching to Fundsmith or Woodford and topping up what I have in them before the bond market goes south.
Any thoughts gratefully received.
Any thoughts gratefully received.
Personally I use a online stockbroking account and stick mostly with the shares that historically have paid good dividends. A bit of research will reveal the best ones currently, but I am achieving annual returns in the order of 2-6% just on dividends, excluding capital growth.
I appreciate you can wipe the whole lot out if the share price plummets, but for a long term proposition I think they are ok. As they're big blue chips, they are not particularly volatile.
Just my take on things.
I appreciate you can wipe the whole lot out if the share price plummets, but for a long term proposition I think they are ok. As they're big blue chips, they are not particularly volatile.
Just my take on things.
As someone who has been hugely unimpressed by his managed funds this year in comparison to the low cost index trackers held, I read the Tony Robbins book 'Money, master the game' and while it's massively US biased (and appears to have been written for those with the attention span of a plum tomato) there is a lot of good advice in it.
After looking at how to implement the wisdom contained therein, I went for the Vanguard retirement 2030 fund and the Vanguard 80 fund as the structure of them replicated the main lessons of the book.
Lets see where it takes me.
After looking at how to implement the wisdom contained therein, I went for the Vanguard retirement 2030 fund and the Vanguard 80 fund as the structure of them replicated the main lessons of the book.
Lets see where it takes me.
I think individual shares are good if you have the time to research what you are doing rather than just take a punt.
Personally I'd rather back sectors or regions, for which funds make more sense. I have 1 tracker fund which is just to balance exposure to that market. Most of what I have is with either Fidelity, BlackRock or Invesco Perpetual. I have a couple of specialised funds outside these.
Frankly for small amounts I'd stick with funds as these offer the diversity you need whilst still giving flexibility.
Personally I'd rather back sectors or regions, for which funds make more sense. I have 1 tracker fund which is just to balance exposure to that market. Most of what I have is with either Fidelity, BlackRock or Invesco Perpetual. I have a couple of specialised funds outside these.
Frankly for small amounts I'd stick with funds as these offer the diversity you need whilst still giving flexibility.
I've a handful of OIECs (yeh, more anagrams!) in ISAs. In various markets and various levels of risk from China to real return funds. Including a tracker or two but mostly managed stuff. For 15-20 years. They can all lose money at any time. In the long run you'll very likely gain.
Just because a fund has done well recently it doesn't mean it'll do well tomorrow.
When you make your choice keep an eye on it but don't rush into a change. Say 5 years. I only change if a fund consistently performs out of the top two quartiles for the sector.
Spread your risk, eggs in several baskets,
regards,
Jet
Just because a fund has done well recently it doesn't mean it'll do well tomorrow.
When you make your choice keep an eye on it but don't rush into a change. Say 5 years. I only change if a fund consistently performs out of the top two quartiles for the sector.
Spread your risk, eggs in several baskets,
regards,
Jet
jet_noise said:
I've a handful of OIECs (yeh, more anagrams!) in ISAs. In various markets and various levels of risk from China to real return funds. Including a tracker or two but mostly managed stuff. For 15-20 years. They can all lose money at any time. In the long run you'll very likely gain.
Just because a fund has done well recently it doesn't mean it'll do well tomorrow.
When you make your choice keep an eye on it but don't rush into a change. Say 5 years. I only change if a fund consistently performs out of the top two quartiles for the sector.
Spread your risk, eggs in several baskets,
regards,
Jet
Just because a fund has done well recently it doesn't mean it'll do well tomorrow.
When you make your choice keep an eye on it but don't rush into a change. Say 5 years. I only change if a fund consistently performs out of the top two quartiles for the sector.
Spread your risk, eggs in several baskets,
regards,
Jet
GT03ROB said:
I think individual shares are good if you have the time to research what you are doing rather than just take a punt.
Holding a small number of individual shares is massively risky and the private individual has a massive information / resource disadvantage compared with the institutional managers.GT03ROB said:
Personally I'd rather back sectors or regions, for which funds make more sense. I have 1 tracker fund which is just to balance exposure to that market. Most of what I have is with either Fidelity, BlackRock or Invesco Perpetual. I have a couple of specialised funds outside these.
Frankly for small amounts I'd stick with funds as these offer the diversity you need whilst still giving flexibility.
Indeed - low cost tracker funds for low cost, diversified exposure.Frankly for small amounts I'd stick with funds as these offer the diversity you need whilst still giving flexibility.
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