Advice on Maxi ISA please

Drinda · 31 January 2008 at 12:10PM

About 10 years ago my O/H and I took out Maxi ISA each and a joint investment of £6,000 with NationWide, a total of £20,000, we knew that was in for the long hall and the statement at the begining of this year was
Maxis £8,009.77 each and the joint investment was £6,828.09 which after 10 years was not very good so we were thinking of cashing them and look for somewhere else to put it, actually our ebanking would have given a much better return.
I have just phoned NationWide Investments to see what they are worth now knowing that the market had down turn and I was shocked that the Maxis are only £7,483.12 each and the joint one is only £6,379.14.

Now my question is would it be better to still cash them now or wait to see if the market bounces back soon. we are in our 70s if that makes a differance.
Also the investments are being transfered to Leagal & General tomorrow.

Drinda.

dunstonh · 31 January 2008 at 12:22PM

You have talked about the tax wrapper but you havent mentioned the investments. The investments are the most important thing.

Did you put all your investments in one basket? Was it totally stockmarket based? Was it all UK based or spread across the sectors? Was it a bog standard tracker?

I almost certainly know the answers to these before you answer (as will many of the regulars here). However, it would be useful for you to confirm it.

Also the investments are being transfered to Leagal & General tomorrow.

Thats a bit worrying as its probable that all you are doing is switching from one ftse tracker to another. That isnt going to change a thing.

Chances are you put all the money in one fund, probably a FTSE tracker. L&G dont offer many good funds but their most popular are also FTSE trackers.

Using the ISA for investments is a good thing but its the investments that make or lose money and you need to invest correctly to get decent returns over the long run and not just bung it into tied insurance company/bank funds and hope for the best.

stevedb11 · 31 January 2008 at 1:04PM

I like yourselves invested back in the late 90s the markets were high, most people agree over 10 years stockmarket Investments do better then savings, but I think the late 90s might count as an exeption.
I calculated my investments have only just beaten a Savings account, thats from 1999 to present, but if I'd have Invested 3 years later it would have been a different story,its known as peaks and troughs.
I think you may need to talk to as IFA regarding your personal situation, thats if you have'nt already signed any Documents,although I think there will be a cooling off period.
Hope this helps, Steve

The_Fiddler_2 · 1 February 2008 at 12:58AM

What the OP means is that NW is transfering its business to L&G, the OP is not doing it personally.

Drinda · 1 February 2008 at 11:15AM

Yes NW are transfering to L&G today, and yes they are tracker funds.
When we invested in the funds we were advised to do so by a NationWide finacial Adviser, we are not very wise when it comes to investments, but if we had left the money in a savings acc we would have earnd abt £6,ooo as it stands it is less than £1,ooo. We are none tax payers.
Drinda

dunstonh · 1 February 2008 at 11:42AM

Drinda wrote: »

Yes NW are transfering to L&G today, and yes they are tracker funds.
When we invested in the funds we were advised to do so by a NationWide finacial Adviser, we are not very wise when it comes to investments, but if we had left the money in a savings acc we would have earnd abt £6,ooo as it stands it is less than £1,ooo. We are none tax payers.
Drinda

So, in other words you are transferring from one tracker to another tracker because you are unhappy about the performance of the tracker.

The performance will be virtually identical with L&G as the investments are the same. Indeed, probably worse as the markets are up between 1-2% today at the moment so by transferring you are out of the market and have missed out on that.

Effectively what you have done is bought a Mars Bar from a shop. Eaten it and realised you dont like the flavour. You have then gone to a different shop and bought another Mars Bar hoping it tastes different. Changing the shop wont give you a different flavour.

If you are not happy with the investments, why put all your eggs into one basket (one fund) and why pick a medium/high risk investment when it appears you are more cautious? You certainly dont seem to have the investment knowledge to be medium/high risk.

Scrapper · 2 February 2008 at 12:24PM

The L&G All share Index Tracker (as opposed to the FTSE 100 tracker) has very low charges - 0.53% per annum and no initial charge or exit charge. The Fidelity tracker has similarly low charges.

Personally I wouldn't sell at the moment. As with all stockmarket investments you have to be in for the long haul and not put money in that you will have to cash in at a fixed date - that date could be when the market is down.

If you invest in the L&G Tracker via another organisation (eg Nationwide) it is possible they will add their own charges to L&G's. So if you are going to invest in the L&G tracker do it direct with L&G. You should be able to transfer an ISA from an existing provider to L&G.

I'm not an IFA or connected with L&G. I invest in this fund because it has low charges.

dunstonh · 2 February 2008 at 1:10PM

I'm not an IFA or connected with L&G. I invest in this fund because it has low charges.

You are letting the charges tail wag the dog. You should never do that with investments.

If you invest in the L&G Tracker via another organisation (eg Nationwide) it is possible they will add their own charges to L&G's. So if you are going to invest in the L&G tracker do it direct with L&G. You should be able to transfer an ISA from an existing provider to L&G.

Nationwide are tied agents and sell their own trackers. L&Gs funds are available on fund supermarkets and actually may be cheaper via the fund supermarket.

The point being made for Drinda is that by switching from a Nationwide tracker to an L&G tracker isnt going to make the slightest bit of difference. The investment spread has to change for that to happen and it isnt.

If she wants to stick with a FTSE all share tracker then she needs to accept she is only going to get sector average performance and it is a medium/high risk investment and will fluctuate in value a lot. It doesnt matter if it says Nationwide or L&G on the statement.

Advice on Maxi ISA please

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