ISA with Hargreaves Lansdown

zayn

Hi All,
Just opened a HL ISA with 3K. I am looking for some advice for Funds with maturity around 3 -5 years and minimise initial expensive annual charges.., I have read http://www.hl.co.uk/funds/how-to-choose-funds but no clearer on this ? Any advice please

Thank you in advance

Lokolo

Funds don't mature and 3-5 years is a very short period to be investing in.

Invest in some low risk funds.

Try using this to help you pick some funds

http://tools.morningstar.co.uk/uk/fundscreener/default.aspx?Site=uk&LanguageId=en-GB

zayn

Thank you, i am still unsure of all the options in that tool, as i understand and i want to have a good starting point there is a lot of mention on this forum about moneybuilder UK and Vanguard but i would like to leave this to the experts as i can leave the money untouched in this account for 5 years and contribute what i can monthly or as a lump sum..

Lokolo wrote: »

Funds don't mature and 3-5 years is a very short period to be investing in.

Invest in some low risk funds.

Try using this to help you pick some funds

http://tools.morningstar.co.uk/uk/fundscreener/default.aspx?Site=uk&LanguageId=en-GB

MadMat

You mention the Vanguard funds,

This article http://monevator.com/vanguard-lifestrategy/ made me decide to go with Vanguard - as another complete novice I liked the idea of an all-in-one package!

Mat

jimjames

Depending on the amount you are investing HL may not be the best option for Vanguard or Moneybuilder funds as they have a monthly platform charge of £2 per fund on top of the management fees for the funds. As you haven't mentioned transferring any other ISAs to them I assume you are just investing this years allowance. You will be paying £24 pa per fund in platform charges for these funds so choose carefully and avoid getting too many funds as the charges will eat up your money.

HL discount the initial charge to 0 in most cases but are best for managed funds with their cost base.

With a S&S ISA there is no specific end date so if you definitely need your money in 5 years then a S&S ISA may not be the best option as it may not be the value you require at that time.

ozzage

Please don't ignore those saying that 3-5 years is a short time for an investment. There is a real chance that you could end up with less money, if the market performs badly.

The reason for people recommending longer time-frames, is that there is time for the market to recover if there is a crash, before you need to take your money out.

You need to consider how much of a disaster it will be if your investment doesn't grow or even loses money. Certainly investing for only 3 years is a bit of a lottery!

MadMat

HL Are cheaper for a single vanguard fund at £24/year per fund

If you are likely to invest in multiple funds then sippdeal at 12.50/quarter for any number of funds looks a better deal, as do Alliance trust at £10/quarter flat rate.

Don't think Cavendish offer Vanguard, certainly couldn't find it on their site!

Mat

zayn

Thanks i am investing only a lumpsum of 3K and hopefully another £100 p/m. Ideally i would like to have one or two fund to keep it simple, just need to know what to add as my fund

jimjames wrote: »

Depending on the amount you are investing HL may not be the best option for Vanguard or Moneybuilder funds as they have a monthly platform charge of £2 per fund on top of the management fees for the funds. As you haven't mentioned transferring any other ISAs to them I assume you are just investing this years allowance. You will be paying £24 pa per fund in platform charges for these funds so choose carefully and avoid getting too many funds as the charges will eat up your money.

HL discount the initial charge to 0 in most cases but are best for managed funds with their cost base.

With a S&S ISA there is no specific end date so if you definitely need your money in 5 years then a S&S ISA may not be the best option as it may not be the value you require at that time.

zayn

Thanks when you say Single fund, do you mean something like the Vanguard LifeStrategy 40% Equity http://www.hl.co.uk/funds/fund-discounts,-prices--and--factsheets/search-results/v/vanguard-lifestrategy-40-equity-accumulation. I opened a S&S ISA with HL so if i was to choose multiple funds i would need to close this account or transfer into a sippdeal ?

MadMat wrote: »

HL Are cheaper for a single vanguard fund at £24/year per fund

If you are likely to invest in multiple funds then sippdeal at 12.50/quarter for any number of funds looks a better deal, as do Alliance trust at £10/quarter flat rate.

Don't think Cavendish offer Vanguard, certainly couldn't find it on their site!

Mat

innovate

http://monevator.com/hargreaves-lansdown-vanguard-funds/

sh856531

Hey there

My advice would be to use H-L's own Wealth 150 as a basis of your initial research.

Look at the performance charts over various time frames. Look at the patterns of gains and loss over various time frames and make sure you are comfortable with what you see.

I personally use trustnet to identify the highest performing fund managers and research league tables of funds every few months

Using this very basic approach I have averaged about 10 - 12% per year though as you will hear a lot - investments can lose as well as gain value!

Good luck!