Investment ideas needed as money in the bank is pointless

fizio

Wobblydeb wrote: »

A few thoughts spring to mind

- specialist investments such as antiques / wine / modern art? Have you got an interest you could expand into this type of area?

- Some form of trading e.g. currency / commodities - again only suitable if you've got the time to dedicate to understanding it properly.

- P2P lending like Zopa?

Thanks for the suggestions...

I have actually got a few art pieces but small beer really (maybe £5k's worth) and i'm not sure i have the skills to do much more. Plus i have various other specialist collectable type things and old comics etc but its more as a hobby rather than an investment.

i've excluded all trading as i just don't have the time to dedicate to that sort of activity

the P2P lending is interesting and I am looking into it a bit more to see how work-able it is.

fizio

Linton wrote: »

You could look at the Prudential with profits bond. Most with-profits bonds have been poor, but the Pru is an exception and had (possibly still has) a policy of exceeding building society interest rates. It is free of basic rate tax.

Perhaps you could discuss your predicament with an IFA.

I haven't really thought about 'with profits bonds' as thought that was all 'old' ways of investing but maybe worth a quick bit of investigating..

Your right in that I probably need to see an IFA but last time I saw one he didn't really tell me anything i didn't already know - though it was a freebie many tears ago.

fizio

calypso_rhapsody wrote: »

what are you saving for? if for your retirement why not put more into your pension and get the tax relief benefit? presumably your AVC arrangement offers some lower risk investment choices? or you could think about a SIPP?
if they are still available, a CITRA (charity investment ... account) might be of interest - mine pays the equivalent of over 8% to a higher rate tax payer and is FSCS protected. But not sure if there are any still available - and you have to tie your money up for 5 years (with very limited early withdrawal options to qualify for the tax relief).
No one has mentioned EIS or VCT - personally i don't touch them but i believe there are some that are marketed as being low risk ... do your research though!

Its a long term investment but i'd like the option of getting my money out if i need to in 5-10 years. I agree that AVC is the best way to invest if investing in a variety of 'standard' funds but I think I'm very heavily invested already in AVC's and close to my companies limit. I have a partial 'defined benefits' company pension so don't think I am allowed SIPP as well

I have never heard of CITRA/EIS/VCT so will need to do some research

Many thanks for your suggestions

fizio

DiggerUK wrote: »

You could try explaining to yourself what you mean by "missed the boat"....with no other boat in the harbour worth catching, you need to ask why price of gold has risen.
Some will say, it's because there are a lot of people out there who are bonkers.
Me, I see absolutely no risk putting all your spare money in to gold.
But you may be happy to consider a conservative 10%, and watch it from here on in.
..._

I guess I'm just going by the general view that commodities such as silver/gold/mining/oil etc have been doing really well so may be at their peak and I'd rather not get into the market near the top. This is just my initial reaction but I am considering some form of investment into commodities as one of my options - just a case of trying to work out what and how.
I will definatly have another look at gold specifically

fizio

Having done some more research over the last couple of days I'm thinking I have loads of uk/global stock market investments via my AVC's but they are all very general funds across the globe. Plus my ISA's are mainly trackers (uk+). I've got some property investments as well so I'm thinking my gap is investing in specific sectors/products eg gold/oil/commodities/property/etc. I'd do it via an ISA obviously

Ark_Welder

calypso_rhapsody wrote: »

No one has mentioned EIS or VCT - personally i don't touch them but i believe there are some that are marketed as being low risk ... do your research though!

EIS and VCT should not be seen as low risk - whatever the marketing says. The ones that are touted along these lines are the limited-life, or planned-exit, ones that expect to pay out at the end of the term. This 'return' usually amounts to the upfront tax relief that is available on the initial investment.

However, the return still relies upon the underlying investee businesses remaining solvent and being able to repay the loan back to the VCT. If a loan cannot be repaid during the lifetime of the VCT, or not repaid at all, then the return to the investor could be lower than projected.

HMRC is consulting over whether to ban new schemes from operating in this way because they are not taking sufficient risk with the investments to justify the tax relief that is given.

Rosemary_Jane

Are REITs worth considering?

I think they are regulated commercial property thingies, that have to issue a certain proportion of their rents as 'dividends'.

Land Securities changed to a REIT when they were regulated for. Certainly commercial shops are suffering, but LAND owns big shopping centres, and the likes of Next, M&S, Boots etc are fairly certain rent payers.

I expect the yield is down a bit though.

R

fizio

Rosemary_Jane wrote: »

Are REITs worth considering?

R

I hadn't really looked into REITs but they do sound like a good way to get into the commercial property sector and in the current climate it may be a good entry point.. hard to say.
I assume they can be held in an ISA etc.
definatly worth looking into a bit more for me

gadgetmind

haf63 wrote: »

I hadn't really looked into REITs but they do sound like a good way to get into the commercial property sector

REITs tend to behave a bit more like equities, and they can be held in an ISA. In fact, the tax situation is complex outside an ISA.

Have you considered infrastructure trusts such as HICL, 3IN, INPP or JLIF? Or even an OEIC like First State Global Listed Infrastructure?

There are also ITs like Personal Assets and RIT that pride themselves on capital preservation. They pay out very low dividends, which works for you as you don't want the income and would prefer capital gain.

fizio

gadgetmind wrote: »

REITs tend to behave a bit more like equities, and they can be held in an ISA. In fact, the tax situation is complex outside an ISA.

Have you considered infrastructure trusts such as HICL, 3IN, INPP or JLIF? Or even an OEIC like First State Global Listed Infrastructure?

There are also ITs like Personal Assets and RIT that pride themselves on capital preservation. They pay out very low dividends, which works for you as you don't want the income and would prefer capital gain.

Thats a fairpoint and I'll have to look into REIT versus infrastructure investment trust. I assume REIT will be more risky as its one company versus a spread in the trust