News

**MSE Dan** · 22-04-2008, 6:49 PM

The updated Discount Brokers: Get more investment for less money article has a new Question and Answer section, which hopefully addresses some of the most regularly asked questions about buying investment funds.

If anything you want to know isn't covered in the Q&A, please reply here and let us know, and we'll do out best to get it included in the article

Cheers

Dan

jfdi45 · 23-04-2008, 7:20 PM

Simple question. can I buy unit trusts through discount brokers in the name of minors?

dunstonh · 23-04-2008, 9:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jfdi45

Simple question. can I buy unit trusts through discount brokers in the name of minors?

Yes. Designations in the name of the child can be added through unit trusts purchased via IFAs (discount or otherwise) or by buying direct.

kcaley · 24-04-2008, 5:36 PM

Is there a league table which shows you how well your unit trust pot is performing. I'm concerned that the funds I'm in are only giving poor returns but can't find out how best to research it. I have a s&s isa with Co-Op.

earlgrey · 24-04-2008, 6:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcaley

Is there a league table which shows you how well your unit trust pot is performing. I'm concerned that the funds I'm in are only giving poor returns but can't find out how best to research it. I have a s&s isa with Co-Op.

Several to compare how unit trusts have done over various periods in the past. Easiest is probably http://www.trustnet.com/

Aegis · 24-04-2008, 6:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by earlgrey

Several to compare how unit trusts have done over various periods in the past. Easiest is probably http://www.trustnet.com/

I have to second that recommendation. Trustnet's virtual portfolio is excellent, and their fund research is right up there too. I find Citywire slightly better for looking at the relative performance of funds in the same sector, but that may just be a personal preference.

dunstonh · 24-04-2008, 7:43 PM

"league tables" is certainly not the way to buy funds. You would almost certainly end up buying too high risk funds in periods of growth and too low risk in periods of decline. You would miss the buying opportunities of the funds that have gone down and now look value and end up in the ones which are at the top of a bubble.

Quote:

I'm concerned that the funds I'm in are only giving poor returns but can't find out how best to research it. I have a s&s isa with Co-Op.

Dont need any tables to tell you that co-op isnt the best place to be

Quote:

have to second that recommendation. Trustnet's virtual portfolio is excellent, and their fund research is right up there too.

I pay for the advanced tools and reporting from Financial Express. Trustnet is a cut down version of that and for consumers that is great. Financial Express data is by far the most accurate and they have the widest coverage.

MissNic · 04-08-2008, 5:40 PM

I would like to invest some money in the stock market (ie buy some shares on the LSE) in an ISA.

Do you know who is offering the most competitive online ISA share trading account?

I've been looking into this, and while I have spotted a few with low share trading costs, there is often a £50 annual management fee levied on these accounts (which I think is quite high).

TD Waterhouse's Self Select ISA seems to be leading at the moment - it has £0 charge if the account balance is > £3,600 pa (otherwise it charges an annual fee of £30 + VAT).

Thanks

lizziebreath · 29-10-2008, 12:14 PM

Can anyone recommend a discount broker with whom I can set up a regular ISA investment account, incorporating a range of unit trusts? The ones I have looked at all require lump sum payments up front as far as I can tell. Any advice welcome.
Thanks

dunstonh · 29-10-2008, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lizziebreath

Can anyone recommend a discount broker with whom I can set up a regular ISA investment account, incorporating a range of unit trusts? The ones I have looked at all require lump sum payments up front as far as I can tell. Any advice welcome.
Thanks

HL are probably your best option for a DIY provider. minimum is £50pm

cornerstone13 · 10-11-2008, 1:59 PM

I want to invest in a share ISA and have done so in the past through bestinvest and intend to do so again.

I'd like to know about the history of unit prices, to see how much a particular fund's unit price has changed over the past 3 or 6 months. I don't think there is a direct correlation between the value of the fund and the price of a unit, is there ? In other words, if the value of the fund has dropped 50% in a year, would that mean that the price of a unit today would be 50% lower than a year ago.

Is there a website which shows unit prices historically - most of them seem to only show the fund performance.

Ad if I'm looking for a completely irrelevant piece of information, please tell me so.

Thanks

Blah99 · 10-11-2008, 7:19 PM

From that article:

Quote:

plus websites like ADVFN and iii.co.uk have large forums discussing shares and funds.

Don't listen to a single word anyone says on the ADVFN or iii bulletin boards. They're full of trolls, idiots and fakers - people claiming to have caught the top and bottom of a peak and made £10billion in 37 seconds. If you're inexperienced in investing it will be almost impossible for you to sort the genuinely smart posters from the blithering idiots, so don't even try!

orcadian · 27-05-2009, 10:08 PM

My daughter's Child Trust Fund has been in Selftrade which was fee-free. From 1 July they are charging £40.25 annually in advance. Seems like a rip-off to me. Due to my concerns about today's stock market her CTF is directly invested in a 5-year government gilt, plus Kent Reliance building society permanent interest bearing shares (PIB). Hargreaves Lansdown is not an option as they charge a 1% annual portolio fee if you don't invest in commission-charging unit trusts. (You don't see this fee if you have UTs but you still pay it, it's deducted annually as a hidden commission from the capital sum invested - check out the Total Expense Ratio (TER). I managed her CTF entirely myself online to save charges. Percentage fees add up over the years and eat up your investment (20 years > 20%). I'm not sure what options are left.

dunstonh · 27-05-2009, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Seems like a rip-off to me.

Actually, it seems like common sense. They would have seen their income drop significantly but are still required to provide services that they did not previously charge for. So, charging people may lose them some business (most of which will be unprofitable) but the rest will bring them an income.

Reaper · 28-05-2009, 9:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cornerstone13

I don't think there is a direct correlation between the value of the fund and the price of a unit, is there ? In other words, if the value of the fund has dropped 50% in a year, would that mean that the price of a unit today would be 50% lower than a year ago.

There is a direct correlation. If the unit price halves overnight the fund will have lost half its value. However Accumulation funds reinvest their dividends which slightly boosts the unit price.

Quote:

Is there a website which shows unit prices historically - most of them seem to only show the fund performance.

It's the same thing as the graph will be the unit price over time. I use Google Finance which has an option to show unit price figure instead of a graph if you want, though it has many gaps in its coverage of the market. If your fund is listed then I'd start there.
eg Fidelity Asian Values