L+G's multi manager income trust? expensive?

merlin1

Hi all; as per the title really. I have spent most of today reading about s+s isa's as i have decided to put away £50pm and want to try and have that money work for me.

As a complete newbie to investing, L+G's multi manager income trust ticks many of the boxes for me such as having a wide variety of investment areas and it appears global and also states it is a fund of funds. It pays dividends and It appears to come in at a medium risk/return also according to their table. However their charges seem rather high.

Link to L+G's page

Does anyone of experience of this fund and can advise if the charges are worth it, or could recommend similar but cheaper? Or even a completely different alternative that would enable me to see my little £50pm grow?

I have searched Hargreaves Lansdown but I am struggling to find a near enough comparison to the L+G one

Many thanks in advance
Edited to alter linky

bugbyte_2

Don't know - your clicky does not work! If it is the same as this - then I think it is expensive - Initial charge of 5%, Ongoing charge of 2.13%, then a selling spread of 5.5%. (You may get it discounted elsewhere in a fund supermarket but I couldn't find it) For every £100 you invest, you would need to gain £12.63 just to be back where you started. The fund hasn't performed that well over the years either.

No one can give you advice, but Vangard 60 or 80 through HL does the same thing a lot cheaper.

merlin1

Thanks bugbyte, i have altered the link so it should work now!

And yes, that's the one! Ithought it looked pricey! I will have a look at your suggestions

thanks again

bugbyte_2

Just remember not to buy direct from the fund provider itself - use a fund supermarket, they discount the charges dramatically, often to 0%. I'm with cavendishonline which is cheap but does not do the Vangard fund.

Shaolin_Monkey

Multi manager funds always have two layers of charges. The charges within the underlying funds it invests in, and the charges of the multi manager fund itself (L&G in this case). This makes them expensive.

The L&G one seems particularly expensive as in addition to the 2.13% ongoing charges, it also has the potential to charge performance fees if it outperforms it's benchmark. Of course, it doesn't pay them back if it subsequently underperforms... Performance fees are not included in the "ongoing charges" figure.

There are lots of alternatives. The Vanguard LifeStrategy funds (mentioned above) main reason d'etre is that they are cheap and offer a fairly diverse mix of investments in one fund. You can buy them (and lots of other funds) through third party brokers like TDDirect or Charles Stanley Direct. For other choices in the sector have a look on Trustnet.

merlin1

Thank you both! The next free afternoon I get I will do some further research and reading - I am in no particular hurry and want to make sure I make the right decision so I'll bump my thread for any further [STRIKE]advice[/STRIKE] info should i need it if thats ok?

Many thanks
m x