Investing advice needed

rw05

Hi I am new here, nice to meet you all.

Im just after a bit of advice about investing.
I have £4000 in an ISA at Santander and had a letter from them saying the reward period has come to an end so I am looking to transfer this into a higher rate account. I'm looking to invest this for about 3 - 5 years.
I was thinking of an investment ISA, I've seen a few companies like Fidelity that have ready made funds options. What are your opinions on these? Is Fidelity a good company?
I am new to this type of investing and have a lot to learn so any advice would be much appreciated

Many thanks

Jegersmart

Hi

I use Fidelity for fund management and have no complaints so far - I have been using them for over 5 years for ISA's and non-ISA holdings as well as a SIPP. They have a good selection of funds which would cover most of my needs - I haven't found many yet that I cannot get access to.

However, I feel you should bear in mind that investing in a non-cash ISA is very different both in terms of risk and volatility to a Stock and Shares ISA if that is what you are lookign at. In order to make good selections I would look into as much education as you can get access to whilst bearing in mind whether you are likely to need this cash at short notice at any point.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

J

dunstonh

I'm looking to invest this for about 3 - 5 years.

Too short for investing. A typical economic cycle is 8-10 years. So, you would just be in for a part of it. Plus, a stockmarket crash occurs on average every 5 years. So you would be ripe for a crash in there without chance of recovery.

Is Fidelity a good company?

You wouldnt be investing with Fidelity so it doesnt matter. Personally, their contract, being bundled (commission based) is looking a little dated compared to others but I think you are jumping the gun as you are looking at an administrator without knowing what you want to invest in and its still unclear whether investing is right for you.

What are your opinions on these?

Which ones? There are over 2000 unit trust/OEIC funds.

psychic_teabag

For an introduction to investing you might want to take a look at other sites such as http://www.candidmoney.com/ - MSE tends to be more focused on savings and debt-reduction (and the forums have some, err..., very strongly opinionated people).

There are many investment companies with thousands of ready-made funds (aka unit trusts and OEICs).

The most important to be aware of is that investment should be for the long term - 3-5 years is a bit short, because the markets can fluctuate wildly and if you were to put all your money in now, it might be worth 10% less in 3-5 years time. Or it might be worth 20% more. On a long timescale (15 years or more) the fluctuations even out and you do, on average, get a better return than cash.

rw05

Thank you for your quick responce and your great advice.

I will now be investing for over 5 years.

I will continue with my research before making any decisions

Thanks again.

atush

Do continue to save into Cash ISAs in the meantime as the newarrangement won't be liquid in case you have shrt term needs.