Intelligent Money - your investment questions answered

[JulianPH]

PJ RS said:

Hi all, I am considering transferring a junior sipp to IM after having a problem with my current provider and I just want to check that this problem will be resolved by using IM.

I set up the junior sipp around 5 years ago shortly after the birth my son and pay in £240 net per month so it gets grossed up to £300 by the £60 from the taxman. I wanted to just set this up and forget about it so I chose the cheapest global equity tracker they had for the contributions.

I then did forget about it until recently. I logged on recently and there was a large chuck of the funds left in cash. After querying it, it was explained to me that despite my instructions, only the net amounts have been invested each month, with the tax rebates all being left in cash. Apparently the only way I could have invested these funds each month would have been to log on each month and set up a trade which isn't very practical for the sake of £60.

I am going to raise a complaint with them about this as this wasn't explained at outset and I expect I have lost out on some investment returns. But my question for IM is, if I set up an instruction for the gross contribution to be invested in a certain fund or funds, do IM invest both the net amount and the tax rebate without me having to do anything further?

Thanks for your help.

Phil

Hi Phil

Yes, all contributions to IM go into whatever investment(s) you selected at outset (unless you tell us otherwise) including the pension tax rebates.

I have never come across this before, but I am sure many of my colleagues will have.

Please feel free to get in touch with Nik ([e-mail]) or Coops ([e-mail]) or just PM me and we will look into the contractual terms, calculate any investment loss (if due) and assist you with a compensation claim.

Cheers

Julian

[PJ RS]

Thanks Julian, that's good to know. I'll get in touch with one of you soon. Cheers

[Phooey]

Jockman said:

If there is vat involved then you would need to get your Sipp registered for vat.

Cheers

[Jockman]

PJ RS said:

Thanks Julian, that's good to know. I'll get in touch with one of you soon. Cheers

I have 8 additional pensions running with IM.

The rebate instruction has always reflected the net instruction, without any input from me.

[Muck Dodge]

Thanks Julian, I have sent an email to Nik.

Also thanks to Mike.

[Kingdom35]

Hi Julian

Another question here on Pensions. My partner is a carer she has about 4 old small pensions. Is there a way of moving over to IM and her still using her company pension (the government initiative employee contribution one) and moving the other old ones from various other care companies to IM? Would she need to provide all details or is it a case of IM can search all existing pensions under her details?

I hope the above makes sense

[CoopsIM]

Kingdom35 said:

Hi Julian

Another question here on Pensions. My partner is a carer she has about 4 old small pensions. Is there a way of moving over to IM and her still using her company pension (the government initiative employee contribution one) and moving the other old ones from various other care companies to IM? Would she need to provide all details or is it a case of IM can search all existing pensions under her details?

I hope the above makes sense

Good morning

I can offer some helps with this, as I do chase quite a few providers in regards of pensions. If you email me at [e-mail] , I can discuss looking at the existing pensions. There is also www.pensiontracingservice.com (this is a free service) or https://www.gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details which is HMRC's website.

Hope that helps

[Kingdom35]

CoopsIM said:

Kingdom35 said:

Hi Julian

Another question here on Pensions. My partner is a carer she has about 4 old small pensions. Is there a way of moving over to IM and her still using her company pension (the government initiative employee contribution one) and moving the other old ones from various other care companies to IM? Would she need to provide all details or is it a case of IM can search all existing pensions under her details?

I hope the above makes sense

Good morning

I can offer some helps with this, as I do chase quite a few providers in regards of pensions. If you email me at [e-mail] , I can discuss looking at the existing pensions. There is also www.pensiontracingservice.com (this is a free service) or https://www.gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details which is HMRC's website.

Hope that helps

Thanks Coops, il be in contact asap.

Thats great.

[B9]

Do people typically invest what they can to their ISA at the start of the FY and then trickle, or 'average' by contributions over the 12 months?

Does this also depend on what the market is doing?

Edited by B9 on Monday 8th March 13:36

[Gallons Per Mile]

For me I average it across the year, because I'm not powerfully built enough to put it in all at the start

[B9]

I updated my post as I sounded like a bit of a tt!

IM opened my eyes to options other than premium bonds, so I'm slowly moving things around as and when I can

[Simpo Two]

B9 said:

Do people typically invest what they can to their ISA at the start of the FY and then trickle, or 'average' by contributions over the 12 months?

Does this also depend on what the market is doing?

I've done both. If I have no strong view on what to invest in I do the monthly version across multiple funds; if an opportunity arises I might put the whole lot into one or two.

[CoopsIM]

I am the same. I have been adding to my ISA monthly over a number of years now, since I started at IM actually. Like others have mentioned I may change the risk allocation if an opportunity comes up, I don't check my portal that often, maybe once a month.

[Bear-n]

CoopsIM said:

I don't check my portal that often, maybe once a month.

Pfft. Amateur.

[paralla]

I popped my IM cherry on Friday and went all in with two maxed ISA's. I've checked my dashboard about every 20 minutes since. I'm guessing (hoping) this obsessiveness passes after a few days and I just leave it to do it's thing.

Edited to add: Should I be looking for a nice A8L in a dark metallic?

[JulianPH]

B9 said:

Do people typically invest what they can to their ISA at the start of the FY and then trickle, or 'average' by contributions over the 12 months?

Does this also depend on what the market is doing?

Edited by B9 on Monday 8th March 13:36

There is no set answer for this, as everyone is different.

I look at my ISA as a long term investment where I drip feed the maximum in each year.

For others, spreading it over all 12 months of the year can make more sense.

Neither is right or wrong. In falling markets you can buy more for the same money (pound cost averaging) and in rising markets you lose out.

A balance could be a good thing until you know which option you prefer.

Send me a PM if you would like to chat over this.

Cheers

Julian

[CoopsIM]

Bear-n said:

Pfft. Amateur.

Absolutely

[renmure]

B9 said:

Do people typically invest what they can to their ISA at the start of the FY and then trickle, or 'average' by contributions over the 12 months?

Does this also depend on what the market is doing?

Edited by B9 on Monday 8th March 13:36

Myself and Mrs R look to put the full ISA amount in at the start of the year on the basis that we can't really judge what's likely to happen over the course of the year and with the hope that there's generally more upside than downside to it all over time.

[pingu393]

I hope CCL's cruises aren't as bumpy as their share price .

Last five days...

-1.21%
+7.04%
-0.97%
-11.58%
+6.35% (so far today) - [edit - it ended at +8.20%]


A good day for PHR, so far. All 9 shares are +ve by a couple of % or more .

Edited by pingu393 on Monday 8th March 18:03

[Simpo Two]

paralla said:

I popped my IM cherry on Friday and went all in with two maxed ISA's. I've checked my dashboard about every 20 minutes since. I'm guessing (hoping) this obsessiveness passes after a few days and I just leave it to do it's thing.

Eventually you'll realise that the dashboard only updates once a day

Generally when an investment is going well I check in often, because it makes me feel happy, and when it isn't, I hide...

Seriously though, I think that the more volatile something is the more often you should check on it, because you can miss buying and selling opportunites. Or you can put your feet up and enjoy the ride, it's up to you

renmure said:

Myself and Mrs R look to put the full ISA amount in at the start of the year on the basis that we can't really judge what's likely to happen over the course of the year and with the hope that there's generally more upside than downside to it all over time.

All things being equal that's good logic IMHO.