Newbie to Investing ISA

blu3jay5

First of all I will be saving my first £5100 a year in cash isa but the rest will be going to share isa's. Obviously this is a total minefield and so have spent a little time reading and need to do more before investing. However the two questions I do have at this point is if I invest in some funds and then they start to fall I assume like the stock market I can sell these and move to another fund that will hopefully perform better? Further to this if I move from one fund to the other do I pay the initial commision etc each time I move ( I assume I do)?

Reaper

blu3jay5 wrote: »

if I invest in some funds and then they start to fall I assume like the stock market I can sell these and move to another fund that will hopefully perform better?

Yes

Further to this if I move from one fund to the other do I pay the initial commision etc each time I move ( I assume I do)?

You would, but if you go through a discount broker you can normally avoid the initial commission on funds.

Loughton_Monkey

blu3jay5 wrote: »

However the two questions I do have at this point is if I invest in some funds and then they start to fall I assume like the stock market I can sell these and move to another fund that will hopefully perform better? Further to this if I move from one fund to the other do I pay the initial commision etc each time I move ( I assume I do)?

Yes, you can usually move the money around funds as much as you like. But look in the small-print for any 'switching charges'.

As to the initial commission question, it depends very much on who you deal with. With some companies, you could be paying 5% or even more every time you buy a new fund.

Many of us deal with a discount provider, some of which rebate the entire up-front costs for most funds, and will also rebate some trail commission as well.

Names that frequently crop up in this context are Hargreaves Lansdown, and Cavendish.

dunstonh

if I invest in some funds and then they start to fall I assume like the stock market I can sell these and move to another fund that will hopefully perform better?

Yes. However, trying to chase returns like that is often futile. What goes up comes down. What goes down comes up. (generally). So, if you keep moving every time it does down into something else that has gone up in the past then you could end up moving into funds that are ripe to go down.

If you dont have the risk profile to invest in the stockmarket (which on a 1-10 risk scale is typically around 7) then use lower risk investments or better still, a spread.

urther to this if I move from one fund to the other do I pay the initial commision etc each time I move ( I assume I do)?

Not necessarily. Typically the amounts range from zero to 0.25%. That is unless you go direct to fund house. In these cases, it can be more.

blu3jay5

Thanks for your replies. So if I'm going to spread my investment what would be a good spread (percentage wise) i.e. bonds, unit trust, investment trusts, gilts

Reaper

blu3jay5 wrote: »

Thanks for your replies. So if I'm going to spread my investment what would be a good spread (percentage wise) i.e. bonds, unit trust, investment trusts, gilts

Everybody has different ideas, but here is a Fidelity tool that makes suggestions:
https://www.fidelity.co.uk/investor/guidance-planning/plan-portfolio/myplan-portfolio-quickstart.page?

blu3jay5

Thanks for all your advice - got a bit of reading to do now.