fidelity - bit risky but loads a money to be made.

sillybean

Well about a year ago, i kept seeing these emails from the old man martin to get an isa. So after his nagging i thought why not, i took his advice on ING the year before and guess what made 1000 squid which was nice (thanks big M).

This year just gone i was a bit more adventurous, not only did i go for the isa like he said but i went risky! I went to fidelity and got myself a big fat maxi and stuck on the money on China, safe bet i thought rising economy and guess what!

a few grand in, and almost 14% extra back. If i had invested it all in the one slab id have had a lot more. something like 20%. Couple of years ago (or so the stats says) they did you a 50 % increase or something.

Now im not financial advisor, and i knew that it was risky cos it said it was!!!lol

But i thought why not, i dont mind losing a bit, but i can take it out any time i want in case it started to free fall.

Now im not even recommending fidelity im just saying its worth having a look round at some of these funds cos some of them are quite interesting. I brought this other one called global special situaitons, didnt know what it was, but it said it was special and that was good enough for me! (lol, no i did have a read and it seemd alright, best bit was they were waiving the admin fee so instant 3% saving there).

The thing is im not expert in stocks and shares, these guys and girls sit round looking at numbers and work out the odds. But they get it wrong sometimes too, i remember i had a bit of a scare when i logged on and noticed id lost all the profit id made and was almost touching the investment id made. Then it shot up again when it all recovered. Id lost in the space of a month all the profit and then gained it all back again!!! so if u have a weak heart dont even read about it!

C ya

JeremyZerg

Well good on yer, mate!

... about a year ago, i kept seeing these emails from the old man martin to get an isa.

Totally. The ISA is near-mandatory for all savers!

... I went to fidelity and got myself a big fat maxi and stuck on the money on China, safe bet i thought rising economy and guess what!

Er - you lost all your money? Putting all your eggs (so to speak) into China is incredibly risky. Whilst there is enormous potential for growth, the market is so volatile... Just one political decision or domestic event could wipe 20% off the value of your investments in a matter of days.

Congratulations on your profit-making thus far.

... If i had invested it all in the one slab id have had a lot more. something like 20%. Couple of years ago (or so the stats says) they did you a 50 % increase or something.

And immediately post 9/11 (or the tech boom, whatever), you'd have lost 50% - remember the disclaimer that all fund providers tack onto their sales nonsense: "Past performance is no guide to future performance. Investments can go down as well as up; you may get back less than what you put in (etc)."

... i can take it out any time i want in case it started to free fall.

True - but the initial charges you've paid should encourage you to consider investments such as these over the long term. If you invest £7000 and the market falls by 10%, then you withdraw your cash - you could lose up to £1000.

I brought this other one called global special situaitons...

Fidelity Global Special Situations and the more established "Special Situations" funds are average performers. You can find better!

There are literally hundreds of great funds out there and investing in the markets is a great idea. But I think a little more research - and perhaps some variety in your investment choices - would serve you better over the long term.

Having said that, you seem to be doing all right! Good luck to you, comrade. =P

dunstonh

Fidelity has been on general decline for a while now. They used to be able to do nothing wrong but recently more of the their funds have gone off the boil and rentention there has been poor. Once upon a time, you could pick a Fidelity fund knowing that it would probably perform well above sector average.

Spec Sits is finished and has been for a few years. Glob Spec Sits hasnt done anything of note. Fid European has lost its shine as have some of the others.

I agree with Jeremy. You are taking an extremely risky approach. It is comparable with the tech stocks style of investing where people lost 90% of their money by getting carried away with the growth before drop.

These type of funds are there to make up bits of your portfolio. a few percent in that one, a few in this one etc. Not to be the bulk of the portfolio.

If you really do want to be in rollercoaster funds in full then at least spread it around more than you have. However, I would strongly suggest you think about protecting some of that growth and coming back down to earth now with a smile on your face rather than a bump and crash which will happen at some point if you keep up what you are doing.

cheerfulcat

sillybean, what you have experienced is the effect of a good year in the markets. Well done for getting lucky ( and for being brave enough to take the risk ) but I would echo the other replies; you would be well advised to spread the risk a bit more.

jamesd

Don't expect to be able to get the money out before a big fall. You'll find that you get the news after noon so you can't switch out on that day and by noon the following day it can easily have fallen 40%.

Best to spread it around. If you like emerging markets have a look at emerging Europe, Russia, Brazil, India and others, so you're not as vulnerable to a single political decision or market.

amcluesent

>you're not as vulnerable to a single political decision<

Yep, Chavez is talking about nationalising the Banks in Venezuela - next step to another failed state dictatorship.

The political position in Russia isn't looking too clever either

JeremyZerg

These type of funds are there to make up bits of your portfolio. a few percent in that one, a few in this one etc. Not to be the bulk of the portfolio.

If you really do want to be in rollercoaster funds in full then at least spread it around more than you have. However, I would strongly suggest you think about protecting some of that growth and coming back down to earth now with a smile on your face rather than a bump and crash which will happen at some point if you keep up what you are doing.

Absolutely. I think it's fine to be a risky investor - but any equity market carries a high(ish) level of risk. I reckon that the maximum percentage weighting of "emerging markets" in any portfolio ought to be 25% - and like 'dunstonh' says, you ought to consider further spreading the risk.

For instance, you can still achieve ridiculous levels of growth in Russia, or Eastern Europe - Latin America, too. And then if the government of the People's Republic of China decides to change the laws surrounding capital gains tax (or equivalent), you'll not be so... boned.

Best to spread it around. If you like emerging markets have a look at emerging Europe, Russia, Brazil, India and others, so you're not as vulnerable to a single political decision or market.

Exactly.

Yep, Chavez is talking about nationalising the Banks in Venezuela - next step to another failed state dictatorship.

Yes, indeed - as well as the natural resources (oil and gas) of the country. Perhaps more crucially, Chavez seems to want to encourage all of Latin America to follow his model! Yikes.

dunstonh

Chavez seems to want to encourage all of Latin America to follow his model! Yikes.

North America pours is a lot of aid to Latin America and I am sure that money talks and I dont see most of the countries following suit. Plus they have had a lot of inward investment in recent years and that would dry up if they go down that route. If you want to kill inward investment then nationalising industries is the way to go.

It is still a risk though and that is why these funds are classed as high risk. The potential for reward is great but the potential for loss is just as high.

What goes up 70% can go down 70%.

JeremyZerg

North America pours is a lot of aid to Latin America and I am sure that money talks and I dont see most of the countries following suit.

Well, true enough. But I heard that Chavez was planning to use the wealth generated by recently-nationalised industries to set up a Latin American bank.

Presumably these Venezuelan loans will also "talk". Like: "here's some money, amigo - now don't you want to embrace socialism?"

The potential for reward is great but the potential for loss is just as high.

What goes up 70% can go down 70%.

Indeed.

ManAtHome

Investments aside, Chavez does seem to be trying to make a difference, and appears to be substantially less corrupt than many. Good or bad news... depends where you draw the line I suppose.

amcluesent

>http://www.johnpilger.com/page.asp?partid=269&lt;

LOL. This time, Socialism is really, really going to work! I hadn't realised Pilger took a wider remit than apologist for Palestinian terrorists...