Advice on stocks & shares ISAs?

flashf

I've been searching round for an hour now - I can find lots of valuable advice from Martin on which is the best cash ISA to buy, but I can't find any advice on how to choose a stocks & shares ISA. Can someone tell me where to look please?

Deemy

squaregain.co.uk

self select isa

Get it then invest in say 3 Investment trust stocks if your commiting £4k or 5 Investment trust stocks if your committing £7k

See earlier posts for recommendations.

rangers_fc

I would also be interested in a Investment trust ISA however I dont have a clue what companies would be worth holding and investing in with a average risk rating for a core holding. I no this group is against individual recomendatrions and most would advise seeking proffesional advice, however there must be 3 or 4 holdings one could select to be considered? Why invest through a broker rather than the investment trust companies own share savings plans? What is the advantage in holding these stocks in a ISA dont you have to earn a substantial profit before this would be liable for tax? Any help appreciated

cheerfulcat

flashf wrote:

I've been searching round for an hour now - I can find lots of valuable advice from Martin on which is the best cash ISA to buy, but I can't find any advice on how to choose a stocks & shares ISA. Can someone tell me where to look please?

As discussed yesterday here.

rangers_fc wrote:

]I would also be interested in a Investment trust ISA however I dont have a clue what companies would be worth holding and investing in with a average risk rating for a core holding.

Incademy is an invaluable starting place for learning about investment. TMF's Fool School here and here also has some good beginner's lessons. The Association of Investment Trust Companies also has a wealth of information here. To be honest I think that anyone who knows nothing about stockmarket investing but wishes to gain some exposure would be better off starting with a regular monthly contribution to an index-tracking fund. It means that you are in the market while learning how to choose more specific investments.

What is the advantage in holding these stocks in a ISA dont you have to earn a substantial profit before this would be liable for tax?

The profits on an individual year's investing may be below the CGT allowance but after ten years' worth of contributions and returns one could easily become liable for CGT. There is also the fact that records don't have to be kept for ISAs - bear in mind that even if you aren't liable for CGT, if your proceeds from sales in any tax year exceed 4 times the allowance you still have to report them, which can be a real pain, especially if you trade a lot. And any income from an ISA is free of income tax...

Deemy

cheerfulcat wrote:

if your transactions in any tax year exceed 4 times the allowance you still have to report them, which can be a real pain, especially if you trade a lot. And any income from an ISA is free of income tax...

Where does it say that ?

cheerfulcat

Deemy wrote:

Where does it say that ?

I meant sales of course.

whiteflag_3

Deemy wrote:

squaregain.co.uk

self select isa

Get it then invest in say 3 Investment trust stocks if your commiting £4k or 5 Investment trust stocks if your committing £7k

See earlier posts for recommendations.

Deemy , running a severe risk of getting boring, any chance you could post why you favour investment trusts , yet you wouldnt touch funds "with a bargepole"

al_yrpal

There is a difference between a self select shares ISA, and an ISA in which a Fund or Trust manager selects the shares ie a Managed Investment. If you are a novice investor be confident about your ability to select shares before going down the former route. If you have a small amount of money, and one of your small portfolio of share selections goes bust...... i.e. Railtrack, Marconi etc

I think this is what you meant, but others seem to have assumed otherwise.

Martin doesn't recommend anything because he says he doesn't know very much about invesment. He also doesn't like anyone on this forum recommending specific investments.

A good read on Fund investment is a book just released called Fundolgy.

Personally, I wouldnt recommend share purchases by novices with no other investments. In the past, I found it too technical, too time consuming and unprofitable. I don't like investment trusts because they seem too technical too. I like Funds. I currently have less than half my investment portfolio in UK, and the rest spread around the world in faster growing investment funds. It works for me with a very satisfactory growth where the fund charges are insignificant.

If you want to have a go with shares, join an investment club first.

cheerfulcat

al_yrpal wrote:

There is a difference between a self select shares ISA, and an ISA in which a Fund or Trust manager selects the shares ie a Managed Investment. If you are a novice investor be confident about your ability to select shares before going down the former route. If you have a small amount of money, and one of your small portfolio of share selections goes bust...... i.e. Railtrack, Marconi etc

I think this is what you meant, but others seem to have assumed otherwise.

No, I assumed funds. In fact I specifically *mentioned* funds :-). But you can hold funds perfectly well within a self-select shares ISA.

Deemy

whiteflag wrote:

Deemy , running a severe risk of getting boring, any chance you could post why you favour investment trusts , yet you wouldnt touch funds "with a bargepole"

You insult me and want me to help you
Buggger off and do your own research

flashf

Thanks for all the advice so far... still a bit confused but I can start doing my homework.
:beer: