monitoring investments and funds

marrioa

I have finally made some real investments and would like some advice about how, and how often, to monitor them. Also, what am I looking for?

Investments are supposed to be long term, although some people do make regular changes. I know that there will be ups and downs, but have heard conflicting opinions on whether to stick with a fund or switch to something else if it is not performing well.

MoneySavingSpender

I too was looking for a website to monitor my shares, I found https://www.moneyam.com but am not convinced a better free altenative does not exist, you can make a custom stock watch list which will be updated live (albeit delayed unless u pay)

As for funds, the "seem" to me to not be much better than the top end reg saver accounts, FTSE went up 16% in 2005, which is 1 of the best performing years in a while I think not to mention all the horrible stories of the last few months cos of how poorly the FTSE has tracked overall the last 5 years, as for more accurate world market information I suggest you read a paper as I'm merely a novice.

cheerfulcat

Hi, marrioa,

There are a few sites which offer a portfolio tool. My favourite is ADVFN because it allows you to see all of your transactions. The link to the portfolio is at the top. If you want to track unit trusts you can find the tickers here. I like Marketwatch as well, especially the detachable portfolio. Marketwatch is a US-based site, so you need to put "UK:" in front of the stock ticker.

Investments are supposed to be long term, although some people do make regular changes. I know that there will be ups and downs, but have heard conflicting opinions on whether to stick with a fund or switch to something else if it is not performing well.

It depends on why the performance is poor. If it's just a downturn in the particular sector, and you expect the sector to do well long-term ( or you want the diversification it offers you ) then it's probably worth staying with the fund and even adding to your investment. If it's more serious, like a new, worse manager, or a sudden ( or imminent ) bursting of a bubble, it's worth reconsidering your position. This all assumes that you put plenty of thought into your initial selection, of course

HTH

Cheerfulcat

al_yrpal

marrioa wrote:

I have finally made some real investments and would like some advice about how, and how often, to monitor them. Also, what am I looking for?

Investments are supposed to be long term, although some people do make regular changes. I know that there will be ups and downs, but have heard conflicting opinions on whether to stick with a fund or switch to something else if it is not performing well.

I invest in funds and usually manage to have a look at my portfolio every day by logging into https://www.trustnet.com. I do a bit of a review every month and I 'change horses' ie change funds every 3 months or so if necessary. But... it depends what you are doing - are you a buy and holder, or are you like me looking for an exciting ride?

What do I look for? I look to see how well the fund and its sector are doing, are the managers changing their major holdings or strengthening their position in financials, energy or industrials and compare that with what I think. I form my investment decisions by just looking briefly at the financial section of my paper every day!

The very worst thing you can do is be a 'lazy investor', its a recipe for disaster. In the dot com crash and subsequent withering away, lots of people lost it and still haven't got it back. Personally I am absolutely intolerant of poor performance and will sell anything that is looking sick and re-invest in something that is going somewhere. This strategy continues to provide excellent returns.

Best of luck

Al