Stocks & Shares ISA

cgzz

Hi Everyone,

I would like to use my ISA allowance of £10,200 and don't mind taking a bit of a risk. I would prefer to buy the ISA myself and not use an IFA. I had a look at Interactive Investor Ready-Made Selections 'Global Growth and Emerging'. Is it a good idea to use ready-made selections when the plethora and diversity of all available ISA funds is so daunting?

dunstonh

Is it a good idea to use ready-made selections when the plethora and diversity of all available ISA funds is so daunting?

Are you going to be a lazy investor or an active investor? These "packages" dont really fall under either tag as they are too limited in approach for a lazy investor whilst an active investor will prefer to pick their own.

I would prefer to buy the ISA myself and not use an IFA.

I just looked at the charges and they are quite expensive for DIY. Indeed, the option you mention can actually be more expensive than using an IFA (although it would depend on the IFA).

The whole point of DIY is to save money and do it yourself. The minute you start using packages or portfolio funds then you are going to end up paying more in charges because you are paying for someone to do the work. That cost can actually end up more than an IFA. That said, if you dont know what you are doing then you should be paying someone to do rebalancing and selection for you and if you dont want to use an IFA and you wont be doing the work yourself then that typically means using portfolio funds which control the sector allocation and rebalancing within them.

jimjames

Using a fund supermarket like iii or Hargreaves Lansdown means you can easily shift between funds should you so wish. It may be better to go for funds you choose yourself and save the additional fees.

cgzz

Thanks for the replies. I would like to be an active investor without reverting to an IFA but picking the funds myself is just a minefield - so many and so diversified. Might be better on this occasion to use an IFA.