My AXA investments have went down £3K, should I cash in?

dunstonh

Five years ago I wish I'd originally put the whole lot in my Building Society which is the Nationwide. They seem to have been untouched by this slump and are advertising yearly investments with interest as much as 6% on higher investments.

5 years ago interest rates were half what they are now. You cannot look at options today and assume they were available then.

geoffring

Thanks dunstonh,

Can I asume that you agree that leaving my money with Axa and wait for the good times is the most viable option. What ever happens the decision rests with me so please be totally honest with your personal views.

Cheers :beer:

geoff

aqueoushumour01

i think you should seek professional advice rather than take people's opinins on here at face value. this site is fantastic but this is your money we're talking about and you should ensure you're fully informed. It's my opinion that a couple of the above posts have got it spot on - if you are willing to invest for the long term you should ignore short-term volatility. if you are willing to take the risk of further falls then keep it invested, otherwise disinvest and switch into safer investments i.e. cash, more standard bonds.

jamesd

geoffring, the professional advice from your IFA was correct. Take the money out now and you lose the chance to recover it during the next upturn. It'll probably take at least two years for most of it but you might get back as much as 25-50% within a year. Might.

Taking the money out when prices are lowest is the classic mistake that consumers make, effectively giving their money to the pros who buy from them and profit from the next upturn.

Those who are more inclined to be bold would be taking the cautious investments that you seem to have and gradually selling some of them to buy the more volatile investments that are currently at very depressed prices. Some and gradually mean no more than 25% total and spread out in even amounts over two years.

Then wait for some sign of the next market peak and start the same slow shift back into the cautious investments from the more volatile ones, so you keep much of any gain during the next downturn.

It's a gentle version of buy low, sell high.

Say you have mostly corporate bonds and gilts now, you might sell 1% each month and buy some in say a UK equity index fund and a global growth fund.

There's absolutely no guarantee that prices won't drop more or that they will ever recover, though. So you do have to be willing to see lower prices and the chance that it can take a long, long time to do well. Think of Japan, which ten years after its financial crisis ended is still at about 1/3 of its peak stock market value. We're not at a peak any more, but still, that could happen in more markets around the world.

sunni

Hi everyone, well I didn't cash my Axa funds and they now are at the initial investment with no profit over the 5 years. I know it would probably be a mistake to sell now as the saying is buy low but I'm worried of losing some of my initial investment at this stage, anyone have any advice for me?

jamesd

Just accept that investments go up and down. It's just a fact of life. Now is one of the down times, it's natural not to be particularly happy at looking at the numbers during them.