Help needed with a portfolio,

oceanobsession

Hello to everyone, after being quoted £300 for one hours worth of advice
from an ifa, i have decided to pick my own portfolio. which is hopefully,
where, you people might be able to help. ive got 18 years till im 65.
Having read standard lifes global perspective for the coming year, i feel that i should invest in
1. 30% in uk equites
2. 20% in us equites
3. 15% in commercial property
4. 20% in bonds/gilts
5. 5% global emerging markets
6. 10% europe
im going to pick from standard lifes stakeholder pension plan that im in with my company, im also going to pick maybe 3 mixed asset funds any
help with my direction would help cheers ocean

dunstonh

help with my direction would help

where is your specialist and asia sectors?
what risk profile are you trying to match the investments to?

im going to pick from standard lifes stakeholder pension plan that im in with my company

ahh, that explains the lack of specialist. However, asia should still be available.

oceanobsession

Thanks for youre help. because of the euro i could put

1. 5% asia
2. 5% europe
my risk profile would be between balansed and opportunity
cheers oceanobsession

theGrinch

out of interest are you thinking of a lump sum invested initially to which you add or no lump sum but phasing money in over time?

re uk and usa equities - are you going for managed funds, trackers, mid cap, smaller companies?

50% in UK and USA equities combined seems overweight. Anything to Canada?

5% in emerging markets seems a bit conservative over that timescale. China & pacific, india, brazil and russia will give a bumpy ride, but over 18 years or so 5% allocated seems thin.

re 10% europe - how is that allocated between developed and emerging europe?

are your gilts index linked? do you think bond prices will fall or rise? what are the returns on bonds and do you think they will outperform a high yield share portfolio?

will you be allocating anything to commodities?

standard lifes stakeholder pension plan is nothing extraordinary and quite limiting. they seem to be ready to take 1% per annum rain or shine. nice little earner for them!

what are you planning to allocate to cash - current accounts and fixed interest?

oceanobsession

Thanks the grinch. the annual management charge for 37 funds is 0.63 %
and 0.93% for another 7 funds i pay £69.95 tax relief is £19.73 and
my company pays £107.62 per month. i am currently invested in
1. managed fund 25%
2. uk equity fund 25%
3. property fund 25%
4. bgi uk equity index fund 25% numbers 2 and 4 are much the same.
ive been inveting like this for three years now this is why im changing my
portfolio.im going keep the managed fund pay less into the property fund
pick uk equity select and drop 2 and 4 then maybe pick 3 other mixed
asset funds run by fund managers hope this helps cheers oceanobsession

theGrinch

there is no right or wrong way, as long as you are comfortable with what you are doing and importantly UNDERSTAND the products. Its surprising how many people dont.

my points were merely points for thought rather than change and I hope to that end they have been helpful.

one point I would stress is 25% in a property fund seems a pretty heavy sector bet, especially, but not exclusively if you already own (have an interes) in a property. Personally, I would not put more than 10% in any fund (thats an absolute maximum and more likely given the choice and range of available investments Im at a max of 5%) and a basic modus operandi.

phasing the money is sensible and its good your company is augmenting the fund.