SIPP, Hargreaves Lansdown and Funds

eegg7777

The NS&I website says that its index linked savings certificates can be invested in a SIPP. I asked them which SIPP, but they directed me to an IFA.

I asked my IFA, but he is not too keen in me going to a low cost SIPP, so he keeps offering me alternatives rather than answering my question.

Do you know of a low cost SIPP that includes NS&I index linked savings certificates in its portfolio? I asked HL; they replied they don't.

Many thanks in advance for your help.

purch

I doubt very much that any Low Cost SIPP would let you use that product, as there is no way they can 'grab' any commission.

You will be able to buy Index Linked Gilt stock in most SIPPs.

dunstonh

Low cost SIPPS is a phrase used by marketing departments to make people think that SIPPs are low cost. They are not for most people.

Most people dont need a SIPP and you would expect a good IFA to put you off it if he/she doesnt think its right for you.

sabelu

Can you invest your SIPP in property you intend to rnt out?

Aegis

sabelu wrote: »

Can you invest your SIPP in property you intend to rnt out?

Residential property in a SIPP isn't something you can do, so no.

jamesd

sabelu wrote: »

Can you invest your SIPP in property you intend to rnt out?

Yes, provided it is commercial property like shops and offices. It's perhaps most often used by owners of a small business buying their own business building within their SIPP and renting it to the business, so the rent gets paid into the SIPP.

Residential property, like common BTLs, is prohibited.

Ginger_Red

I've currently got my pension pot invested invested in a SIPP with HL, although I'm just organising it into sectors and funds, before looking into switching to a cheaper option like a personal pension.

I'm looking at the Global Growth league table in Citywire and the fund which is top of the table by a huge amount is the UBS Global Optimal Thirds J Acc (sorry, I know I'm not allowed to post a link).

This isn't offered by HL for some reason, so my question really is in two parts:

This fund performance looks too good to be true, so is it ? (I'm not asking for specific investment advice, just whether someone can point something out that I'm missing).

And if it is as good a performer as it seems, why don't HL offer it ?

Maybe I'm just naturally cynical, but I'm looking for a Global Growth to invest in, and this looks too obvious...

Thanks anyone

jamesd

I don't think that it's too good to be true. If you look at the description it says that it looks to split into thirds between Europe, North America and Asia. If you compare it to Asia Pacific Excluding Japan and look at the charts for some funds there you'll see that this one follows them very closely. Many of those do better over three years than most Global Growth funds but if you look at Emerging Markets and Specialist you can find better results.

Weaknesses of this fund include it being North America but not South America. You're also taking a bet that the Asia-Pacific region will continue to outperform, since that's what has generated the outperformance of this fund so far.

Alternatives include using an Asia-Pacific and/or Latin American fund to increase exposure to those areas with you controlling the mix.

While it's not available for online dealing at HL you may find that they will deal it over the phone, for which you would probably pay dealing costs in addition to the fund charges.

Ginger_Red

Thanks for that jamesd - very helpful.

To be honest, I'd shied away from the specialist markets simply because I knew nothing at all about them (good enough reason...). I have been researching and trying to learn about the UK and bond markets & funds first.

At the moment I'm just trying to reassign the last of the money that I initially transferred into two HL MM funds (Balanced Managed and Special Situation) from another underperforming pension before I started my learning curve. The HL MM funds aren't great, so I've been redistributing the money.

I'd like to keep some of it in something long-term but interesting, like global growth, but as I said, my lack of knowledge was hindering me. I'm liking the look of the Aberdeen Emerging Markets as a way of spreading my bets with a likely long-term decent return, so I'll do a bit more research first.

One final question you may be able to help with - I've now got my money split between mainly UK equities, some bonds, and hopefully now a bit in the emerging markets, but is there any value in holding some in a better performing balanced multi-manager fund (just for a bit of "backup"), or would this always be bad value in a SIPP ?

Thanks for your help for a newbie - much appreciated .

jamesd

You shouldn't have a need for a balanced managed fund when you're choosing bond funds and equity funds yourself. You can do a better job of picking the ratio of equities and bonds that you think is right for you than the manager of the balanced managed fund and you can change that based on economic outlook.

There is one exception, if you simply want to put a big chunk of your money under one or two managers and use your views for the rest. With this way of working the balanced managed funds could be viewed as providing the relatively safe core holding. But since you can do that yourself and with better managers of bonds and equities, there's not really a lot of point.