Choosing a S&S ISA fund

Any

My cumulative average to date, since last June (first investment) is 6.98%.
That is diluted by last investment that was only invested 3 days ago and so had no time to do anything yet.

My best performing once are (I have 10 in total, shouldn't have so many probably but I couldn't decide between some so bought both. Have very little in each obviously thanks to that)

Threadneedle American Extended Alpha 11%
UBS Emerging Markets Equity Income
Class A GBP Accumulation 11%
Invesco Perpetual High Income
Accumulation Units 12.6%

Each of these were bought into at a different time, so you cannot really compare them against each other as some had more time to do something then the other.. though overall it doesn't really matter.
Retail Acc GBP

mbbetter

Thanks for all contributors this have been very useful. I appreciate you taking the time to help out. I have much to learn , but this does clarify things.

Any - what is the minimum investment? Many of them are £500 to get going right?

Any

mbbetter wrote: »

Thanks for all contributors this have been very useful. I appreciate you taking the time to help out. I have much to learn , but this does clarify things.

Any - what is the minimum investment? Many of them are £500 to get going right?

£500 for one off lump sum, but I set up monthly contribiutions, at which point it is £50 in most cases...
And then I jump in between my selected funds... (you don't have to contribute into each fund every month £50.. once they are set up you can jump in between them)

http://www.hl.co.uk/investment-services/isa/regular-savings-in-an-isa

mbbetter

Thanks Any - this sounds sweet!

I'm with you on this now for sure. Only thing I've gotta watch is HL fees changing, as its £25 per fund to transfer out - that could mean a lockin with a small pot.

Cheers

Any

mbbetter wrote: »

Thanks Any - this sounds sweet!

I'm with you on this now for sure. Only thing I've gotta watch is HL fees changing, as its £25 per fund to transfer out - that could mean a lockin with a small pot.

Cheers

That is for transfers... if you have a very small pot the you would just sell?
Obviously it is smarterst to pick a fund that best suits your short AND long term needs..
I am never likely going to be able to fill my full £11k ISA allowance, so likeliness is I would never need to 'transfer' my ISA unless it was very big. Of course many other providers also charge fees for transfers, so I didn't see much difference in opening ISA here or elsewhere.
I picked HL because of the option to invest in small amounts and the flexibility, offering discount on many funds, because they are big name and because I like their professionality. It suits might needs.

Are you sure it suits yours too?

mbbetter

Yes this sounds exactly what I want to do

I hadn't considered that I could cash in and move if needed. The main reason I ask is, this happened to me last year with iii. I signed up with them and deposited for 2 months (into vodaphone shares), they then slapped a quarterly fee on the account (which equaled about a 10% charge for my small balance). I just shut the whole thing down and forgot about investing as the costs just took the value out. This probably brings me to a final question:

As I have opened a S&S ISA account with iii (in august) and closed it - I'm guessing I need to wait until April 6 before opening another? I only invested around £400 in iii. I'm guessing as I closed the account rather then transfering, that is my allowance scuppered for this FY?

grizzly1911

mbbetter wrote: »

Thanks Any - this sounds sweet!

I'm with you on this now for sure. Only thing I've gotta watch is HL fees changing, as its £25 per fund to transfer out - that could mean a lockin with a small pot.

Cheers

Have you looked at Cavendish Online?

A broker front end but for funds they are hosted on Fidelity Funds Network Platform.

They rebate some of the annual charges and no entry or exit fee.

The fees for all of them are likely to change to some degree next year AIUI.

Any

mbbetter wrote: »

Yes this sounds exactly what I want to do

I hadn't considered that I could cash in and move if needed. The main reason I ask is, this happened to me last year with iii. I signed up with them and deposited for 2 months (into vodaphone shares), they then slapped a quarterly fee on the account (which equaled about a 10% charge for my small balance). I just shut the whole thing down and forgot about investing as the costs just took the value out. This probably brings me to a final question:

As I have opened a S&S ISA account with iii (in august) and closed it - I'm guessing I need to wait until April 6 before opening another? I only invested around £400 in iii. I'm guessing as I closed the account rather then transfering, that is my allowance scuppered for this FY?

You can only open 1 with 1 provider a year.

Yes, I know what you mean.. I was also considering iii before I chose HL, and then was glad I didn't go with them!

mbbetter

Ok it looks like I have a few more weeks to research before opening.

Cheers - can't wait for April

snowgo

mbbetter wrote: »

This looks the route to go for me. Fees would kill me trying to build a portfolio of individual stocks.

Off I go to somewhere like HL and buy a couple of funds. I'm thinking 4 different funds at £50 a month and see where I am in 36 months time.

If you choose 4 funds on HL watch out for the platform fees. HL charge £2 per month platform fee for many of their funds that have the lowest charges, such as index funds. So with 4 funds you'd be paying £8 per month to HL or buying into funds which levy much higher charges. Higher charges means potentially less growth in your investment.

A way that some folks get round this is by holding one of the Vanguard lifestrategy index funds - this way you can get exposure to different sectors (UK, USA, EU, emerging markets, etc) all in one very low cost fund and only pay £2 per month to HL for having one fund. Vanguard do a range of lifestrategy funds with differing equity/bond ratios, so allowing you to choose one that fits best to your risk tolerance.