CTF discussion area

Kallisti

lost wrote:

Halifax claim that their Halifax ftse 100 tracker ctf is ethical??? anyone????

I'd have thought by definition that tracking the FTSE100 would exclude a fund from "ethical" status. I'm not sure what ethical standards might have to be met to claim it, but having a fighter jet manufacturer, drugs company, a few oil companies amongst others would likely exclude it.

Kallisti

Someone asked what funds people were likely to invest in. I'd considered F&C, but I'm no longer sure what their charges are likely to be at all. Given that all the other tracker stakeholders are overcharging (trackers simply don't cost 1.5%!), I'm going to shove it in the britannia @ 6% for a couple of years and worry about it in 2007.

cloud_dog

If you go with Childrens Mutual, non-stakeholder option, you can choose from a list of about 9 funds), two of them from Insight Investments are ethical (or at least have 'ethical' as part of their name).

cloud_dog

Ickle_Steve

Budget throws property open to CTFs

I wonder if any of the fund providers will offer a property fund option as part of their Child Trust Fund.

davidjwest

Ickle_Steve wrote:

Budget throws property open to CTFs

I wonder if any of the fund providers will offer a property fund option as part of their Child Trust Fund.

I'm sure I read somewhere one or two of the current providers that they invest in property, let me try to remember who it was and I'll come back to you.

Thought so, the Liverpool and Victoria does, their Bonus Builder CTF.

Liverpool and Victoria "Bonus Builder" Non-Stakeholder CTF

The Bonus Builder Child Trust Fund invests in the Liverpool Victoria With Profits Fund, provided by Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society. The Fund is managed on a day-to-day basis by our professional investment management team with the aim of producing strong growth over the long term. It spreads your money across a wide range of different investment types including UK and overseas shares, property, cash, fixed interest securities (mainly UK Government “Gilts”) and other securities.

So there's one at least, any more?

What a memory! Pity I've nothing better to remember!

carpool72

I think I'm with kallisti - at 6% I don't think I'll be far behind a share-based account, and then I can pick an equity account based on performance over the next 2 years. There should be more info on charges by then as well!

lost_2

You see, its okay for you guys, you all know what you're talking about. I am still as lost and confused as ever.

Should i go for a stakeholder ctf, i thought that would be the best way to go because they start to transfer funds to a safer account (or whatever) when the child reaches 13. But it seems most of you are not going to go down the stakeholder route........why??

In regards to the ethical question i am still aware of just the two Co-op with Childrens Mutual and Foresters. Anyone know of any others or why one out of these two would be better than the other???

This is just all above and beyond me!!

davidjwest

To be honest I don't see much difference between the CTFs you mentioned and most of the Stakeholder offerings are very similar too.

I think the stakeholders are generally quite "boring", charging for what I think will be fairly modest returns, but hey, what do I know! I don't have a crystal ball and so don't know what the markets will do.

I would either go for a straightforward savings type CTF if contributions are likely to be small as there are no charges to eat into the fund, or if contributions are generous a non-stakeholder where you can pick your own stocks, you'd need a fair amount of cash invested to pick a reasonable spread of different shares to avoid "putting all your eggs in one basket".

This one is quite interesting (stakeholder) 4 The Kids as you can invest in one CTF but split the amounts between savings (not sure what the rate is though) and a tracker. Because you only get charged for funds in the tracker, if you put 50% in both options your total charges will be 0.75% which isn't bad and you are hedging against the market falling.

Ultimately I wouldn't worry too much, even the most financially astute could pick the wrong CTF as there is a large slice of luck involved.

I'm not an IFA so take what I say with a pinch of salt and do your own research!

This weekend is judgement days for me as I finally decide to put my (your) money where my mouth is and pick a CTF.

Kallisti

An interesting email just came into me. A broker was offering a 75% rebate of initial fee, and 75% rebate on annual charges on children's mutual and liverpool victoria. I'm going to put together a "commentary" page on the site to try to encompass this kind of offering into what I've already tried to document. See sig!

cootuk

One thing that people keep mentioning with CTFs is whether you can trust your child with £££ when they are 18.
After reading around I'll start a non-stakeholder account (with ComDirect) and put in the max for the first couple of years. Probably invest in high yield (like United Untilities), but also have some riskier stocks with the chance of a higher capital gain.
We may also start an ISA so that we have control of the money, though this has implications on benefits if I'm made redundant.
Just another thought for people.