Pension split question......
Discussion
Just started with HSBC and will be joining their employee pension scheme. I have options as to how my money will be invested and have narrowed it down to the 4 following funds (out of a possible 10). I have an idea as to how to split amongst the 4 but thought I'd throw it open to you guys (an gals)...
1)Threadneedle pensions property fund (uk commercial property)
2)Merrill Lynch 70/30 global growth fund
3)HSBC Pacific (ex Jap) Equity
4)Merrill Lynch Pre-retirement fund (long term gov bonds)
thinking
1) 40%
2) 20%
3) 20%
4) 20%
bearing in mind I'm only 23 so prepared to take on a bit of risk and can make 2 fund changes per year FOC.
1)Threadneedle pensions property fund (uk commercial property)
2)Merrill Lynch 70/30 global growth fund
3)HSBC Pacific (ex Jap) Equity
4)Merrill Lynch Pre-retirement fund (long term gov bonds)
thinking
1) 40%
2) 20%
3) 20%
4) 20%
bearing in mind I'm only 23 so prepared to take on a bit of risk and can make 2 fund changes per year FOC.
Thats the thing, there are 10 possible funds going from low to high risk and you can decide how many funds you want your pension invested in and in what percentages. So it's possible to pick a few high risk and a few low risk.
My thinking was the Threadneedle property fund and the ML pre-retirement gov bond fund are pretty low/med risk whilst the ML Global and HSBC pacific are med/high.
My thinking was the Threadneedle property fund and the ML pre-retirement gov bond fund are pretty low/med risk whilst the ML Global and HSBC pacific are med/high.
gasblaster said:
Don't mean to be mean, but do you really think this is the best place to obtain financial advice on fund selection? HSBC has an in-house IFA business, why not ask them?
haha, yeah I'll ask in work tomorrow. I'm just at home filling out the paperwork and thought I'd try and tap the knowledge on here...thought there may be a few working in the industry.
Vixpy - Your right on the property fund, it's listed in the brochure in the 'risky' section, I just (wrongly) assumed property was pretty safe.
I would invest very little in the property fund. Do you own your own house, or intend to buy in the future? If so then that is more than enough exposure to the property market for most people.
Why would you put any money into the pre-retirement fund at age 23? Govt bond yields are barely keeping up with inflation at the moment.
Why Pacific when this is probably included in the global fund? I think that Japan is probably the most promising market yet the fund you've chosen doesn't include it.
You're young, take some risks. If I was you I would concentrate on equity funds in the major markets (don't forget UK) and then a bit of emerging markets as well.
Why would you put any money into the pre-retirement fund at age 23? Govt bond yields are barely keeping up with inflation at the moment.
Why Pacific when this is probably included in the global fund? I think that Japan is probably the most promising market yet the fund you've chosen doesn't include it.
You're young, take some risks. If I was you I would concentrate on equity funds in the major markets (don't forget UK) and then a bit of emerging markets as well.
My tuppence is to go to these companies websites, say you're an adviser and look at the fund factsheets. Will give you an idea about current and previous performance, as well as current fund holdings and outlook.
Also of the following i would dismiss the ML Pre-Retirement if you want a bit of risk. It will be very low rate return, and the type of fund that is used for the last few years before retirement to stabilise a fund, not gain growth.
Also of the following i would dismiss the ML Pre-Retirement if you want a bit of risk. It will be very low rate return, and the type of fund that is used for the last few years before retirement to stabilise a fund, not gain growth.
hmmm, true on the ML pre-retirement.
ok, the funds to pick from are...
1)HSBC global 60/40 equity index tracker (60% uk)
2)HSBC uk fixed interest (over 15yrs) index tracker
3)HSBC cash plus (short term money market)
4)ML 50/50 global growth
5)ML pre-retirement (long term gov bonds)
6)ML cash fund (short term money markets)
7)ML 70/30 global growth (70% uk)
8)ML uk growth fund
9)HSBC pacific (ex jap)
10)Threadneedle comercial property.
No I don't own my own house and can't see myself doing so for 2-3yrs.
ok, the funds to pick from are...
1)HSBC global 60/40 equity index tracker (60% uk)
2)HSBC uk fixed interest (over 15yrs) index tracker
3)HSBC cash plus (short term money market)
4)ML 50/50 global growth
5)ML pre-retirement (long term gov bonds)
6)ML cash fund (short term money markets)
7)ML 70/30 global growth (70% uk)
8)ML uk growth fund
9)HSBC pacific (ex jap)
10)Threadneedle comercial property.
No I don't own my own house and can't see myself doing so for 2-3yrs.
You have no hope of getting a balanced portfolio out of that lot, but I guess that most firms (like mine) don't give you any choice with your pension.
Out of that lot I'd choose no.1 over everything else. It's a tracker so charges should be low and it takes the reviewing and monitoring of fund manager performance out of the equation. Just the kind of thing you want so that you can forget about it. Do as Fiddlemestick suggests and look at the Fund Fact sheets just to confirm the charges, how the tracker works and past performance against their benchmarks etc.
I'm not a fund manager, IFA or anything like that, just an investor and not a very good one TBH.
Out of that lot I'd choose no.1 over everything else. It's a tracker so charges should be low and it takes the reviewing and monitoring of fund manager performance out of the equation. Just the kind of thing you want so that you can forget about it. Do as Fiddlemestick suggests and look at the Fund Fact sheets just to confirm the charges, how the tracker works and past performance against their benchmarks etc.
I'm not a fund manager, IFA or anything like that, just an investor and not a very good one TBH.
cannedheat said:
Thats the thing, there are 10 possible funds going from low to high risk and you can decide how many funds you want your pension invested in and in what percentages. So it's possible to pick a few high risk and a few low risk.
My thinking was the Threadneedle property fund and the ML pre-retirement gov bond fund are pretty low/med risk whilst the ML Global and HSBC pacific are med/high.
My thinking was the Threadneedle property fund and the ML pre-retirement gov bond fund are pretty low/med risk whilst the ML Global and HSBC pacific are med/high.
you'd be mad at 23 to invest in low risk anythings planning for a long term return.
although this is my game, i'm not prepared to offer advice without proper prep and as this is not possible on here i'll second that you go see the in house Financial Planning Counsultants that you have in branch
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