help... hargreaves lansdown

honeyprimrose

Hello
I have invested a substantial amount of money into H&L 2 years ago, and in that time ive lost 30,000. Im now wondering what to do as the financial practitioner keeps telling me to "ride it out" and im now feeling very worried about the whole thing as im not overly well off, and this investment was for my later life and children. I have heard about turning my investment to cash, although im not to sure what this entails or means.. could i turn it to cash then when the market recovers put it back into shares?.
any advice welcome.

dunstonh

I have heard about turning my investment to cash, although im not to sure what this entails or means

It means selling the investment (cashing it in) and putting it in the bank.

could i turn it to cash then when the market recovers put it back into shares?.

You would be cystallising a paper loss and then re-entering the market after is has gone back up. Therefore missing the recovery.

I have said a few times that stockmarket crashes occur once every 5 years on average. Actually, since 1956 its once every 7 years on average. So, this is not a new event. It was always going to happen and it will happen again. The reasons will be different every time and the timescale and degree of impact will be different but you should expect these. The decline 8 years ago was bigger than this (so far).

Now is a time to be looking to buy rather than to sell. If you have held on this long then you have probably held on to the point where you just ride through it. If its your first crash then it can be unnerving. Especially given the media coverage.

All that said, you havent told us what you are investing in. I have just assumed stockmarket for some or all of the money (doubt it would be all with a recommended portfolio as good advice never sees you put all your money in the stockmarket).

honeyprimrose

hello thank you for your quick reply
the investment has been in a low risk portfolio management scheme.

Jake'sGran

I have six different fund investments (i.e. bought at different times) being administered by Hargreaves Lansdown and have not yet checked the current value but it is bound to have dropped a lot. In my opinion Dunstonh's advice
is sound. It is best to ride it out.

Meltrix

Jake'sGran wrote: »

I have six different fund investments (i.e. bought at different times) being administered by Hargreaves Lansdown and have not yet checked the current value but it is bound to have dropped a lot. In my opinion Dunstonh's advice
is sound. It is best to ride it out.

I'm in the same boat and my HL portfolio is currently 20% down at yesterday's valuation so will be more today - i'm overweighted in emerging markets as i was prepared to take a risk with a longterm punt (although am also sat on 40% cash waiting for the bottom ). Don't forget you haven't technically 'lost' anything until you sell so if you don't need the money for a while then you may wish to ride it out. I think it depends on your timeframe, i started 4 years ago and am prepared to take the rough with the smooth and see what happens in 20yrs, like dunstonh said the market tends to go in cycles of boom and bust so it's a matter of knowing where you're prepared to draw the line. Of course no one can predict the best time to do anything but you can take a view as to your thresholds and timeframe. If you've a substantial amount of money then i'd definitely take advice from an IFA.

I'm just wishing i'd listened to my dad who advised me to take profits when he liquidated his portfolio in June last year :mad:... (and not to touch Iceland with a barge pole :rolleyes: ).

earlgrey_3

dunstonh wrote: »

Now is a time to be looking to buy rather than to sell.

Honeyprimrose, please, please, don't rely entirely on the advice of financial advisers and especially on the sales patter from outfits like Hargreaves Lansdown.

They earn commission from you staying invested and will always give you a sales line on why now is a great time to invest.

Here is what Dunstonh was saying a couple of weeks ago when the FTSE 100 stood at 5311 and before it fell another 25%. http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=14867553#post14867553 He's been encouraging people to invest despite all the adverse signs throughout. The livelihood of advisers depends on keeping clients invested and buying the products they sell regardless of the effect on clients.

I'm not suggesting that you should get out now, it may well be too late, I don't know. Experienced investors always have a "stoploss". You should also be aware that after the Japanese Nikkei collapsed almost 20 years ago it never recovered. It was at nearly 40,000 then and is at 8300 today, still just a fraction of its former value. No one knows if that will be repeated here.

I still hold shares but have reduced to minimised loses. Unfortunately only a salesman will pretend he knows what will happen from here. Your guess may be a good as anyone's. Now is a good time to find out which financial advisers are honest and genuinely put their client's interests first.

honeyprimrose

thanks for your replies

dougz_2

I saw an advert from HL about their "financial practitioner" service, but it was not clear exactly what that involves. Is it just a pompous name for an IFA? Out of interest what products did they recommend?

Day_Trader

earlgrey wrote: »

Honeyprimrose, please, please, don't rely entirely on the advice of financial advisers and especially on the sales patter from outfits like Hargreaves Lansdown.
They earn commission from you staying invested and will always give you a sales line on why now is a great time to invest.

I would listen more to financial advisers as they know more than Joe Public (most do check qualifications/experience). Tell me why now isn't a good time to invest?

earlgrey wrote: »

Here is what Dunstonh was saying a couple of weeks ago when the FTSE 100 stood at 5311 and before it fell another 25%. http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=14867553#post14867553 He's been encouraging people to invest despite all the adverse signs throughout.

He stated it was a bear market which by definition it was. Your knowledge of the economy is scant as there is more to the world than the FTSE 100 and shares.

earlgrey wrote: »

The livelihood of advisers depends on keeping clients invested and buying the products they sell regardless of the effect on clients.

This is rubbish. Advisers need to match investments appropriately and see the client do well. As the FSA brought in the 'Treating Clients Fairly' rule many firms align their interests to the client so if the client does well the firm prospers more. If the investments perform poorly then the clients will likely leave. So if an adviser recommends NSI products they prosper?!

earlgrey wrote: »

I'm not suggesting that you should get out now, it may well be too late, I don't know. Experienced investors always have a "stoploss". It was at nearly 40,000 then and is at 8300 today, still just a fraction of its former value. No one knows if that will be repeated here.

So you don't even know. Good job your vague grasp of economics from Robert Peston has come in handy. :rolleyes:

earlgrey wrote: »

I still hold shares but have reduced to minimised loses. Unfortunately only a salesman will pretend he knows what will happen from here. Your guess may be a good as anyone's. Now is a good time to find out which financial advisers are honest and genuinely put their client's interests first.

This is the difference. A good advisor will not be a salesman. Please take care not to confuse the two. Retail banks and tied Financial Advisers = Salesmen. True IFAs do not. Your last comment should take precedence here as a good Financial Adviser is worth his weight in gold.

IPP-Believer

earlgrey wrote: »

Unfortunately only a salesman will pretend he knows what will happen from here. Your guess may be a good as anyone's. Now is a good time to find out which financial advisers are honest and genuinely put their client's interests first.

Not just salesmen I see a lot of economists and journalists on tele at the moment giving their suggestions.

I would agree that its probably best to ride it out now If it does not cause you any ill health.

We all need to get a lot better at finding the time to get more defensive during the good times.

The fact is the greatest gains are to be made when things look their bleakest. I hope we are there now.

IPP-Believer

Earlgrey I had a look at the post your pointed out and dunstonh suggested investing monthly.

Surely thats a good strategy at this time.