Portfolio

MarcoM

Hi,

I have just invested 11k in an 20 80 vanguard fund within an isa with my wife.
I have another 20k i would like to invest in a medium to higher risk strategy.
I have other cash reserves with ing direct and virgin isas (tot and index linked saving certificates). I do not wish to invest this cash reserve at this time but I have decided to invest a further 20k in the stockmarket.
Would the invesco high perpetual income be suitable or should I venture into something more asian or southamerican ie brazilian property funds.
I do not want to be an active share dealer so something like an index tracker would also be ok.

thanks

darkvader

Have you looked at investing in Investment Trusts? Aberdeen and Baillie G have many top performing fund while Templeton have the well renowned Templeton Emerging Markets. Aberdeen have a host of excellent funds in Asia Pacific and Murray IT. If not an ISA, then you can open a simple Share Account that does not charges anything on annual fees

Funds and tracker wise there are a lot of choices so requires more research before jumping in (same goes for ITs but not as vast as funds)

Regards
DV

Totton

You have the most cautious of the Vanguard Life Strategy funds so it may be natural to look for something more adventurous to sit with it, however it might be a worthwhile idea to consider your risk level first as the extra 20k represents some 60% of your investments and puts the 20/80 fund in the shade a little.

If you are investing this money for more than 5yrs then consider moving to the 40/60 or 60/40 Vanguard fund first and then perhaps add a further 10k to that, doing so increases your risk which is what you are looking for. With the remaining 10k you could go higher risk and choose something such as Scottish Oriental Smaller Co's (SST), Scottish Mortgage (SMT) or even Caledonia (CLDN) or Henderson Global (HGL) which are on nice discounts. Alternatively you could opt for more caution and look at Personal Assets (PNL), Capital Gearing (CGT) etc.

There are lots of ways to take on more risk but first be sure that you are willing to lose quite a bit in the short term.

Of the Vanguard funds, interestingly the 40/60 one has done very well since launch although naturally in the better market conditions over 12 months the 80/20 and 60/40 ones are better. I think the 20/80 fund is very cautious.

MarcoM

Sorry for my mistake, the vanguard fund is the 80 equity and 20 bonds and not the other way around.
I would still like to pick a riskier strategy for the remining sum. I would be interested to know if there are funds or shares I could buy that delve into gambling, casinos etc etc in the USA or similar in the Far East.
I'd be prepared to lose the lot ie. high risk.

Jegersmart

Hi Marco M

I would recommend looking at this yourself, you can use tools such as Trustnet.com etc.

I would never take advice from an anonymous forum personally, although some thoughts can be debated and shared.

The main issue I have with your question is really the assumption you make that the 80/20 fund is a "safe" investment. The reason I say that is if you look at most bond funds performance over the last 3-4 years, they have performed like they never have before. This is due to all the money printing that is going on globally - money has to flow somewhere after all. What I am saying is that we could possibly see bond funds drop by 40+% in the next 2-3 years depending on what happens from here....whether it happens or not remains to be seen but do NOT assume your bond holdings will behave as they have done in the past.

Personally I am probably 40% equities, 32% bonds and the rest cash at the moment. I quite fancy mining/natural resources stocks as well as China and some of the other emerging economies that have taken a battering over the past 2 years......others on here will give you a different answer.

Hope that helps.

J

grey_gym_sock

why do you want higher risk than an 80% equity fund? does anybody want higher risk? do you mean you want higher expected reward, and are prepared to accept higher risk?

the lifestrategy equity exposure is very broad; anything with more concentrated equity exposure would be higher risk, but not necessarily higher reward. you can take the view that specific areas will do better, but it doesn't follow from their being more concentrated.

1 answer would be: something which is mostly in equities and also uses gearing. e.g. some investment trusts.

Jegersmart

grey_gym_sock wrote: »

why do you want higher risk than an 80% equity fund?.

It is a 20% equity fund he is talking about as far as I can see......

grey_gym_sock

Jegersmart wrote: »

It is a 20% equity fund he is talking about as far as I can see......

in post #4, he says it's 80% equity.

MarcoM

To clarify, it is an 80 equity 20 bond. Sorry for the confusion.
In answer to the last poster, I am after high reward hence the high risk. I take your point about IT, do you have any pointers for these?
I was thinking of IT that have USA amd Asia in them, particularly USA casinos etc etc.

JohnRo

The Vanguard 80% Lifestrategy fund is as good a bet as any in the current climate, I chose individual funds and trackers because I want to try and engage with the investments and learn a little more about investing along the way.

You imply in your post that you don't want much involvement, all things considered you could do a lot worse than the Lifestrategy fund you've chosen.

For sectors predicted to do quite well longer term, perhaps look at Biotech, Energy, Healthcare, Natural resources. Property is also a consideration.

MarcoM

JohnRo wrote: »

The Vanguard 80% Lifestrategy fund is as good a bet as any in the current climate, I chose individual funds and trackers because I want to try and engage with the investments and learn a little more about investing along the way.

You imply in your post that you don't want much involvement, all things considered you could do a lot worse than the Lifestrategy fund you've chosen.

For sectors predicted to do quite well longer term, perhaps look at Biotech, Energy, Healthcare, Natural resources. Property is also a consideration.

Yes I was thinking about investing in a property fund. Apparently Brazilian property should do very well, was wondering if there are any funds that cover this.
I wonder also if an Asian tracker would suit.