Which tracker to use?

marlowko

Yello,

Asked similar question few days ago, however this time it's more specific, hopefully that will help :-)

I'd like to invest £100 / month into 2 index trackers through H-L (min. 5 years, will leave the money in for longer without topping up after that)

Need to choose 2 out of the following:

BlackRock Continental European Equity Tracker Class A
BlackRock Emerging Markets Equity Tracker Class A
BlackRock North American Equity Tracker Class A
BlackRock UK Equity Tracker Class A

I know nobody can really predict which one will do best in 5-10 years and it's a small amount of money, but still - which 2 would you choose?

Thank you!

M

Totton

Tough call but thankfully not one I have to make :-) If I did then I would go for -

BlackRock Emerging Markets Equity Tracker Class A
BlackRock North American Equity Tracker Class A

I would choose the EM fund as I would expect it to also track frontier markets as they become more prominent, perhaps switching out of or reducing exposure to some of the emerging mkts.

I would choose the NA fund as although Europe is awful but should recover long term, I just think the NA region is so big that any global recovery should include improvement to that region also.

HTH,
Mickey

marlowko

Totton wrote: »

Tough call but thankfully not one I have to make :-) If I did then I would go for -

BlackRock Emerging Markets Equity Tracker Class A
BlackRock North American Equity Tracker Class A

I would choose the EM fund as I would expect it to also track frontier markets as they become more prominent, perhaps switching out of or reducing exposure to some of the emerging mkts.

I would choose the NA fund as although Europe is awful but should recover long term, I just think the NA region is so big that any global recovery should include improvement to that region also.

HTH,
Mickey

Cheers Mickey , was thinking along the same lines... I guess these trackers won't make me much money (esp. considering the small amounts that will be invested), I'd just like to have some sort of investments along the cash savings...

Perelandra

Just out of interest, why did you choose those trackers specifically?

When I was deciding which trackers to invest in, the questions I asked myself were:


Which countries/regions do I want to invest in, and how do I want to allocate my investment between those regions?

Having decided that, which trackers will enable me to buy into those markets most cheaply, taking into account TER and tracking error?


I really didn't spend much time on the Blackrock ones, since Vanguard and HSBC seemed to me to give better answers to the second question.

dunstonh

The class A trackers are the commission paying ones. The Class D trackers from Blackrock are the ones you want.

marlowko

Perelandra wrote: »

Just out of interest, why did you choose those trackers specifically?

When I was deciding which trackers to invest in, the questions I asked myself were:


Which countries/regions do I want to invest in, and how do I want to allocate my investment between those regions?

Having decided that, which trackers will enable me to buy into those markets most cheaply, taking into account TER and tracking error?


I really didn't spend much time on the Blackrock ones, since Vanguard and HSBC seemed to me to give better answers to the second question.

Hey Perelandra, thanks for that!

[EDIT] Oh sorry missed the first line. I'd like to have some sort of investment alongside my cash savings, both of which won't be a huge amount. As I'd prefer just to put money away every month and not to care much I read that index trackers are a better option for a passive investment compared to other funds... H-L offer the BlackRock trackers without any platform fee as opposed to the HSBC ones, where they charge £2 / month.
And in another article I've read that the difference between the HSBC and BR ones it's negligible to approx. £8000 invested...

marlowko

dunstonh wrote: »

The class A trackers are the commission paying ones. The Class D trackers from Blackrock are the ones you want.

Thanks Dunstonh, I was looking at the ones H-L offers (and I chose BR mainly because they don't charge the platform fee for these), however can't find the Class D!
Would I need to invest through somebody else than H-L to get the Class D?
And if you don't mind, what's the main difference between the Class D and A?

Thanks again, appreciate the help

dunstonh

Thanks Dunstonh, I was looking at the ones H-L offers (and I chose BR mainly because they don't charge the platform fee for these), however can't find the Class D!

The reason they dont charge the platform fee is HL get the extra 0.3% p.a. that the funds cost. The class D version dont pay anything to the platform.

And if you don't mind, what's the main difference between the Class D and A?

about 0.3% p.a.
Class A is retail and includes commission to the platform
Class D is clean and pays no commission to platform

Would I need to invest through somebody else than H-L to get the Class D?

I dont know if any of the DIY platforms offer the class D version.

marlowko

That's very helpful Dunstonh, thank you!

I guess with the small amounts I'm going to be investing I'm pretty much stuck with H-L at the moment, but it might come really handy for future investments...

Totton

marlowko wrote: »

Cheers Mickey :)I guess these trackers won't make me much money (esp. considering the small amounts that will be invested), I'd just like to have some sort of investments along the cash savings...

I think the hardest part is getting started and keeping those monthly amounts going into savings and investments, once you have the saving / investing bug you are on the right road imho.

Best of luck with it,
Mickey

Perelandra

marlowko wrote: »

Hey Perelandra, thanks for that!

[EDIT] Oh sorry missed the first line. I'd like to have some sort of investment alongside my cash savings, both of which won't be a huge amount. As I'd prefer just to put money away every month and not to care much I read that index trackers are a better option for a passive investment compared to other funds... H-L offer the BlackRock trackers without any platform fee as opposed to the HSBC ones, where they charge £2 / month.
And in another article I've read that the difference between the HSBC and BR ones it's negligible to approx. £8000 invested...

Fair enough indeed,

With low values, paying a %age fee (which you effectively do with those) is better than a £absolute fee, which you seem to be taking into account.

Good luck!