which shares to buy?

sheraz2

Can someone point me in the right direction of a one stop service of checking share prices and being able to do some reading up! :T

Paul_-C-

Check the boards at https://www.fool.co.uk for loads of info
For share info check out http://www.digitallook.com/

cheerfulcat

Try the Motley Fool. Digitallook is very useful as well; Hemscott is excellent but some parts are subscription-only.

LOST

don't do shares unless you know what you are doing - high risk

better of going for managed funds -unit trust, oeics or investment trusts

Paul_-C-

LOST wrote:

don't do shares unless you know what you are doing - high risk

better of going for managed funds -unit trust, oeics or investment trusts

I'd still suggest researching them. They aren't as scary as some people would like you to think.

LOST

Paul_-C- wrote:

I'd still suggest researching them. They aren't as scary as some people would like you to think.

Yes, but the MAJOR advantage of funds is that you can invest relatively little amounts of money, gain specific goals exposure (income and/or capital growth) and also assume less risk through DIVERSIFICATION! (and at little cost else you require a large portfolio of shares to diversify as much as funds do).

Also, managed funds can be used as part of passive investment strategies as the fund managers themselves make all of the decisions to buy and sell - so the less savvy investors don't have to be constantly worrying about the performance of their shares.

Another plus for funds is that most can be bought in PEPs and ISAs and you can therefore gain tax exemption from income (except 10% tax credit on UK dividends) and capital gains above your annual limit of £8,800.

cheerfulcat

Yes, but the MAJOR advantage of funds is that you can invest relatively little amounts of money, gain specific goals exposure (income and/or capital growth) and also assume less risk through DIVERSIFICATION! (and at little cost else you require a large portfolio of shares to diversify as much as funds do).

The first two points apply equally to shares. As far as diversification is concerned, a portfolio of 15-20 shares is adequate to mitigate investment risk. Obviously if you want to diversify into assets like property and corporate bonds, funds or ETFs are probably a better choice.

Another plus for funds is that most can be bought in PEPs and ISAs and you can therefore gain tax exemption from income (except 10% tax credit on UK dividends) and capital gains above your annual limit of £8,800.

The same goes for shares.

richgirl

sheraz2 wrote:

Can someone point me in the right direction of a one stop service of checking share prices and being able to do some reading up! :T

Buy the large caps in the top performing sectors

Paul_-C-

LOST wrote:

Yes, but the MAJOR advantage of funds is that you can invest relatively little amounts of money, gain specific goals exposure (income and/or capital growth) and also assume less risk through DIVERSIFICATION! (and at little cost)

If you have small amounts to invest you could use Halifax Sharebuilder to buy shares for £1.50 per transaction. This way you can build up a reasonable amount of shares to be well diversified. Also, with this approach you don't have fund managers taking a chunk of your money off you, even if the fund is making a loss.

Also, some say that fund managers are unable to take big risks, due to pressure to make sure they meet their targets without jeopordising the capital. Therefore their purchases could be easily replicated by an investor who has done enough research, but without the annual fees.

LOST

Fund managers do take annual commision charges regardless of performance - but I'm sure the rules are to change so that they are able to take performance related bonuses which were not available before.

Also, unit trusts and oeics have more strict guidelines in place for their ability to borrow upto only 10% of the value of the fund on a temporary basis (on known future cash inflows) whereas investment trusts can borrow upto 100% as is similar to indivual companies - thus the perceived risks are greatly reduced by the limitation on unit trusts and oeics' ability to gear!

Also, unless you have substantial funds and/or existing investments, sufficient diversification is only acheived via funds.

It all depends on individuals' perception of risk and how much risk they wish to be exposed to in order to see what they seem as viable investments.