Inv Trust - Short(ish) List

Newbie2saving

Hi,

I wanted to use £5k of my ISA allowance this year and invest in blue chip shares or IT's. IT's were mentioned to me on MSE instead of buying a large chunk of a few companies, I could gain a better spread and lessen the risk. I have done a lot of research to date and I have shortlisted the long list to a number I still need to reduce, but could do with some pointers, experience, assistance etc. So the list looks like this;

Edinburgh IT
City of London IT
Merchants IT - this is a definite
Witan IT
Monks IT
JPM American
Aberforth Smaller Co's - this is a definite
Schroder Oriental - Like the look of this

How many should I purchase with the £5k - I was thinking 4 off? Are there any thoughts on the above? Reasons for not going for them, disc to nav etc?

Thanks all for your input

Neverland

I think spreading £5k across 4/5 trusts is just going to lead to hassle and costs

You would be much better off with one of the new low cost ETFs from Vanguard, have a look at their world market tracker or just the UK FTSE one

ITs can be fun if the investment policy suddenly starts working, the NAV rises and the discounts close, but really its all just down to luck

atush

Why not go with 5- a round 1K each. Will be easier to track what each is doing relative to each other and the market?

Looks a good list, if a bit Too UK for me in most, apart from Shroder/jpm i guess. I invest in aberdeen asian smaller companies and have done for years.

gadgetmind

What's your investment timescale?

Newbie2saving

Neverland wrote: »

I think spreading £5k across 4/5 trusts is just going to lead to hassle and costs

You would be much better off with one of the new low cost ETFs from Vanguard, have a look at their world market tracker or just the UK FTSE one

ITs can be fun if the investment policy suddenly starts working, the NAV rises and the discounts close, but really its all just down to luck

Well my strategy is (albeit a mixed one) to top up on a number of existing funds and then use £5k to buy the Vantage Lifestyle 80% or 60% then use the other £5k to fund this area.

PS. I don't want income from this, purely growth and to utilise my ISA allowance.

Newbie2saving

gadgetmind wrote: »

What's your investment timescale?

I am in my mid 30's. No set timescale, this is just for growth and to utilise ISA allowance. I won't need the money for >15years.

Newbie2saving

atush wrote: »

Why not go with 5- a round 1K each. Will be easier to track what each is doing relative to each other and the market?

Looks a good list, if a bit Too UK for me in most, apart from Shroder/jpm i guess. I invest in aberdeen asian smaller companies and have done for years.

Thanks, this is exactly what I want to know. Too much UK. I did have aberdeen asian income and aberdeen asian on my list along with Murray International & Lindsell Train.

BLB53

My 3 top picks fwiw would be Murray Intl., Aberforth and City of London - all have done well for me over the years. First bought CTY 1995 - wish I had bought a lot more at the time!

Good luck.

Newbie2saving

BLB53 wrote: »

My 3 top picks fwiw would be Murray Intl., Aberforth and City of London - all have done well for me over the years. First bought CTY 1995 - wish I had bought a lot more at the time!

Good luck.

I bet! If you don't mind me asking how do you go about purchasing them? Is it with a share dealing company or provider like HL? Now that I am near choosing my final lot I am seeing the costs building of purchase and holding as I am with HL. It may be better to use my ISA allowance for other cheaper areas and do this as a seperate monthly saving plan. Decisions, decisions....

BLB53

If you don't mind me asking how do you go about purchasing them? Is it with a share dealing company or provider like HL?

I hold in a S&S isa with online broker iii. You could go direct for CTY and Murray ( not sure about Aberforth direct).

Newbie2saving

BLB53 wrote: »

I hold in a S&S isa with online broker iii. You could go direct for CTY and Murray ( not sure about Aberforth direct).

Thanks for your response. I was thinking of using iii, now with the charges being applied, this doesn't sound a sensible option. Halifax do regular monthly investments, I suppose I could use this kind of vechile for purchasing. Selftrade also offer this option. I need to sit down and work out all the associated costs involved and calculate the cheapest options.