Got this far with my investments, what now?

mr_fishbulb

Hi All,

I've been fairly happy with my investments over the last couple of years. All funds seemed to recover quite well, but now that everything has stopped riding the recovery wave I should probably take another look.

Here's what I have:

S&S ISA (I tweek this one quite frequently)

Currently Pay An Equal Amount Per Month Into:
Skandia Ethical 11%
AXA Framlington Global Technology 9%
First State Global Resources 8%
CF Ruffer European 2%
HSBC American Index 0% (Start paying into this one next month)

Currently Holding But Not Paying Into:
CF JM Finn Global Opportunities 29%
Invesco Perpetual High Income 16%
Baillie Gifford Emerging Markets 15%
Investec Emerging Market Debt 10%

Pension (Only change this maybe twice a year)

M&G Global Basics 16%
CF Macquarie Global Infrastructure 14%
Invesco Perpetual High Income 14%
Old Mutual UK Select Mid Cap 12%
Fidelity South East Asia 11%
Schroder Global Emerging Markets 10%
Ignis Argonaut European Alpha 9%
Ignis UK Property 6%
Threadneedle American Select 5%
Schroder Tokyo 3%

Here's what I'm thinking:

Not much change for the S&S ISA, although I should stop paying into the Technology and Ethical funds soon as they are getting pretty weighty. Instead I'll switch my regular monthly payments into a US and maybe a Latin America Fund.

On the Pension I'll reduce my contributions into Global Basics, Global Infrastructure, South East Asia & Emerging Markets. Then increase them in America and Japan.

Does this all sound sensibe for a 30-year old? No plans for the money in the ISA yet. I do plan to buy a house in the next couple of years, but will not touch the ISA money (if I can avoid it).

No gold and silver please

DavidHayton

Hi Mr FB,
My first impression is that it's an adventurous mix weighted towards EMs and basic materials. But at your age and with a long term outlook, no problems with that as long as you properly understand the risk and could stomach a 50% drop if things turn sour.

Your changes seem sensible enough. I have also recently bought into HSBC American Index. Over the years I have been consistently disappointed with managed funds in the US market so I have given up on them and gone for the tracker with the lowest TER that I could find ... HSBC.

Japan has been a disappointment for me over the past ten years. People keep saying that recovery will come. I still have some money in Japan but I am beginning to wonder if it is worthwhile.

I do think Latin America is a good long term bet. Look for a good investment trust. The trouble with open ended funds is that they have to dump stock at rock-bottom prices when your fellow investors take fright.

Finally have you thought about healthcare? The baby boomers are getting older and they seem to prefer spending money on themselves rather than handing it down to the younger generations.

Best wishes
David

mr_fishbulb

Cheers David.

Yup EMs and basics were what I was aiming for. Coincidentally these are the areas that are starting to dip now.

The US funds I've seen were poor against the benchmark too. The one I have in my pension has actually done quite well, but choosing that one was down to the lack of options available from my pension provider rather than any wisdom on my part.

Japan - yes I am in 2 minds about, but I've got such a small portion at the moment that I might take a risk.

Haven't really looked into healthcare, but I will do.

Also thanks for the info on the IVs. I have read a lot about them, and seem to be favours of some. I'm not too sure what Hargreaves Lansdown charge to keep these in my pension but I'll look into it.

Thanks again

DavidHayton

mr_fishbulb wrote: »

Also thanks for the info on the IVs. I have read a lot about them, and seem to be favours of some. I'm not too sure what Hargreaves Lansdown charge to keep these in my pension but I'll look into it.

HL don't get any commission from Investment Trusts so they charge you 0.5% p.a. to hold them. With funds, they make far more in trail commision than they ever rebate in loyalty discounts. Their stockbroking charges are also generous (for them).

That said, I do use HL for all my (open-ended) funds ... but not for ETFs, Investment Trusts and other stocks.

David

mr_fishbulb

DavidHayton wrote: »

HL don't get any commission from Investment Trusts so they charge you 0.5% p.a. to hold them. With funds, they make far more in trail commision than they ever rebate in loyalty discounts. Their stockbroking charges are also generous (for them).

That said, I do use HL for all my (open-ended) funds ... but not for ETFs, Investment Trusts and other stocks.

David

Thanks again. I was thinking it might be something like that as they charge for ETFs in the ISA.

I'll have to look for a non-ISA share account which do cheap, monthly buying of ITs (just seen I called them IVs before - been watching too many medical programs!).

bendix

DavidHayton wrote: »

Japan has been a disappointment for me over the past ten years. People keep saying that recovery will come. I still have some money in Japan but I am beginning to wonder if it is worthwhile.

I'm pretty bullish on Japan, largely because I like the contrarian view. The fact it's delivered poor returns for the last decade increases the chances that the next decade are more likely to be more profitable.

I'm overweight Japan at the moment. I started ramping up last autumn and have done pretty well as a result.

Asheron

No Gold or Silver ? Oh

mr_fishbulb

bendix wrote: »

I'm pretty bullish on Japan, largely because I like the contrarian view. The fact it's delivered poor returns for the last decade increases the chances that the next decade are more likely to be more profitable.

I'm overweight Japan at the moment. I started ramping up last autumn and have done pretty well as a result.

I've seen Japan as a very long term thing (buy over a long term when it's cheap and hopefully when it starts to go up then you'll have a big holding). But saying that, I've been drip-feeding into Japan over the last 2 years and I'm 19% up overall

That's why I was looking to put more in per month - increase my holding whilst it's rising (and hopefully will continue to do throughout the year).

mr_fishbulb

Asheron wrote: »

No Gold or Silver ? Oh

Already got plenty of mining exposure which covers PMs