investment advice

utab007

Hello,

I have around £300K to invest and would like some advice. It's currently in a savings account which gives me a monthly income of approx 2.9%, but would like to consider other options.

May consider high risk returns on up to 10%, but no more.

Thanks

planemad

I wound not be risking 30k - you already have 300k.
How much more do you need.

Then again you are already risking your cash if its with one institution.

No offence mate, but with £300k I would be speaking with a financial adviser not a internet board.

utab007

planemad wrote: »

I wound not be risking 30k - you already have 300k.
How much more do you need.

Then again you are already risking your cash if its with one institution.

No offence mate, but with £300k I would be speaking with a financial adviser not a internet board.

I haven't had a chance to discuss this with a financial adviser, but was planning to do so. I thought would be good to get other opinions and just see what others are doing.

Thanks

utigers

Lend some to Danny Carter

Kohoutek

You have no other financial assets apart from this sum? No ISAs for example?

Are you basic rate or higher rate?

utab007

utigers wrote: »

Lend some to Danny Carter

I already donate to charities.

utab007

Kohoutek wrote: »

You have no other financial assets apart from this sum? No ISAs for example?

Are you basic rate or higher rate?

Yes, I have some equity in my house and another buy to let. The buy to let generates a healthy return, but when interest rates go up that will come down. But this is in joint names with my wife.

I currently have approx £11k in an ISA and will be looking to add another £5100 from April 2011.

ahh ok. Basic rate

soulsaver

utab007 wrote: »

I currently have approx £11k in an ISA and will be looking to add another £5100 from April 2011.

ahh ok. Basic rate

Why not go the whole hog and have £5340 from April 2011.

utab007

soulsaver wrote: »

Why not go the whole hog and have £5340 from April 2011.

Ohh ok, I will be using my full allowance. I just assumed it was £5100

Loughton_Monkey

It is almost impossible to get any sensible feedback with so little information, which is probably why you probably need to see an IFA. To make my point, you could be either:

1. Unemployed, no income, living in 1-bed rented bedsit, having just received £300K inheritance which you plan to use to live off for the next X years...

Or

2. Own your own house, earn £40K a year, no pension scheme, age 25, and looking to put the money away for your retirement.

These situations would require two completely different answers.

You post implies (but we can't be sure) (a) that you want to 'invest' but currently 'save', (b) that you have saved in an account for which £215K of your money is totally unprotected by FSCS, which would tend to indicate you are a 'newbie'. And yet you are so precise as to wanting 'high risk' up to £30K.

[Quality of your responses will depend upon quality of your questions and information given.]

Rollinghome

utab007 wrote: »

I haven't had a chance to discuss this with a financial adviser, but was planning to do so. I thought would be good to get other opinions and just see what others are doing.

Thanks

Talk to an adviser, better still two or three, without losing sight of the fact that unless they are working on a true fee basis, that's either by the hour or per transaction, they are likely to be more interested in what they can make for themselves.

With commission soon to be banned by the FSA, a lot of the old commission-based salesmen are now calling themselves "fee-based" but are charging a percentage of how much they can persuade you to invest and so there remains the problem of bias. Expect to have all commission they receive including trail commission refunded back to you. Biased advice is worse than no advice.

There's a useful article by Martin Lewis on how to find a decent adviser here http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/how-to-pay-for-financial-advice

He makes the important point:
"Sadly it's a catch-22 situation: you need to know your subject to know that the IFA's talking rubbish but the reason you're going to an IFA in the first place is because you don't understand the subject!"

Unless you have some understanding of investment there's a risk of being ripped off. Spending a few pounds on a book such as The Financial Times Guide to Investing http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/027372374X might be the best investment you make.