Hargreaves Lansdown wealth 150

susie4747

I have opened a fund account with Hargreaves Lansdown. A friend has recommended some funds but they are not all in the wealth 150. What does this wealth 150 mean? and why are they chosen? Any advice gratefully received.

jem16

susie4747 wrote: »

What does this wealth 150 mean? and why are they chosen?

Supposedly the ones they might "recommend". However it's usually those funds they are often trying to promote as they get a better kickback from the provider for them.

Be wary of their Wealth 150 and do your own research.

Jake'sGran

I agree with Jem. I used to have one of their Wealth 150 funds, Jupiter Income, but it was not doing well and I sold it. I did ask them about it and received a long rambling explanation. I believe it is no longer a 150 fund. When I have chosen funds after doing my own research the majority have come good.

dunstonh

HL are paid by the fund houses to market funds. Think of it as a marketing list.

There are some obvious funds on the list but there are also some very strange selections too.

gadgetmind

I've just had a check, and we're about 50:50 regards which are/aren't "wealth 150".

A few observations -
1) HL still have some old fashioned unit trusts on there - look for any with bid/off spread (or flagged as Unit Trust rather than OEIC) and carefully think about whether to buy or not. I hold some but I went in knowing why I wanted them and knowing it was a long-term buy and hold.
2) The annual costs of UTs and OEICs are pretty high, typically 1.5% to 2%. Oh, and this doesn't include dealing costs. You can go for lower fee investments but HL stick 0.5% on most of them, however, the HSBC trackers don't (currently, but RDR might change this) attract this charge and are well worth considering.
3) Don't look at what's done well recently and assume this will continue. Look for long-term performance, particularly during difficult periods. Also look at areas that have perhaps done less well recently. Some of my best investments were made when everyone else was saying that holding anything other than cash/gold was madness.
4) Carefully consider your asset/sector/territory spread.

BTW, with Hargreaves Lansdown, you can create a virtual/dummy portfolio and use the analysis tools to check that your investments achieve my point (4) above.

Don't worry if this seems hard: it is hard, particularly at first, and it's not you!

jimjames

One example I've seen recently is the Lindsell Train Global fund. It was immediately on the Wealth 150 list despite only launching in March as the managers are highly rated and HL believe in their potential. However the Lindsell Train UK Equity fund that I hold is run by the same managers, has a good track record and very low fees for a managed fund, yet is not on the Wealth 150 list.

I am still very happy with the fund I hold but as above do your own research as the list doesn't always mean what you might think.

gadgetmind

Hmm, I just noticed that you say "Fund account". Is this a "HL Vantage Stocks and Shares ISA" or a "HL Vantage Fund & Share Account". The two of them have very different tax treatments, and HL have different rules regards changing for some investments in them, so it's important to be clear which you have.

For most people, it makes little sense to have anything other than the S&S ISA. We have both, but hold very different investments in the two, and for different reasons.

SeniorSam

I have also invested with HL but compared funds with Morningstar to obtain the highest ratings as not all 150 funds were rated

susie4747

SeniorSam wrote: »

I have also invested with HL but compared funds with Morningstar to obtain the highest ratings as not all 150 funds were rated

Thank you for the tip. I have had a look at Morningstar. Looks to be a very useful site.

sabretoothtigger

Trustnet has the most upto date info on a funds portfolio I think. Also Citywire are good and interview managers, HL are useful for giving the info but always decide yourself how to rate it

mr_fishbulb

sabretoothtigger wrote: »

Trustnet has the most upto date info on a funds portfolio I think. Also Citywire are good and interview managers, HL are useful for giving the info but always decide yourself how to rate it

Yeah H-L are good about emailing you saying that the fund manager for one of your funds has given an interview (strangely enough they usually say in the interview that they believe their fund will do well, they are never advising people to sell )