Best fund to invest in @ £50 a month?

pjala

Just be careful who you give your £50 a month to.
If you invest it directly with a fund, for instance Invesco, eg the UK fund, you would find that they only invest about £48.50 of it in the fund.
If you invest it through a broker, Hargreaves Lansdown for instance, then you buy the full £50 into the fund. I don't really understand why Invesco rip you off, and HL can give you the full value, but this is actually the case, as I was paying into the Invesco fund over a period of a number of years ......

nrsql

EagerLearner wrote: »

Thanks, will look at HL. I presume I tell them I have a cash ISA with First Direct and I apply for a mini ISA with HL, which is the remaining £4k allowance for stocks & shares. I have never had one before.

You don't need to tell them you already have a cash isa - there might be something to say you don't already have a stocks and shares isa for this year but it's not up to them to police it. Just make sure you select a mini stocks and shares isa rather than a maxi.

It is all referenced by your NI number and if you get it wrong the tax people will eventuallt spot it. Seems quite a lot of people make mistakes.

EagerLearner

I have a client who invests with HL so I am happy to go with them, plus there is positive coverage here on the MSE boards.

Would be good though if HL had a page explaining the £50 a month for newbies like me...

If I could do £500 in one hit, would I be better off? I may be able to do that instead.

nrsql

pjala wrote: »

Just be careful who you give your £50 a month to.
If you invest it directly with a fund, for instance Invesco, eg the UK fund, you would find that they only invest about £48.50 of it in the fund.
If you invest it through a broker, Hargreaves Lansdown for instance, then you buy the full £50 into the fund. I don't really understand why Invesco rip you off, and HL can give you the full value, but this is actually the case, as I was paying into the Invesco fund over a period of a number of years ......

It's because companies pay brokers to take care of the admin and selling for them. Discount brokers like h-l rebate some of that.
It saves the companies having to employ staff, send out mail, keep records etc. and probably reduces their liability nowadays.

nrsql

EagerLearner wrote: »

I have a client who invests with HL so I am happy to go with them, plus there is positive coverage here on the MSE boards.

Would be good though if HL had a page explaining the £50 a month for newbies like me...

If I could do £500 in one hit, would I be better off? I may be able to do that instead.

It's probably another one where I'll get disagreement but for a first foray I would go with the regular payments. It means that if there is a downturn next month you won't get hit as much (actually it wil benefit you). Of course you won't gain as much in a steady growth scenario.
I posted some h-l links a short while ago.

What is the minimum I can invest on a monthly basis?
For regular saving investments we ask for a minimum of £50 per fund per month. We cannot accept regular saving instructions for shares or Investment Trusts.


Last time I did this you couldn't do the monthly payment on-line but had to fill in a form. I suspect that's the case anyway if you don't already have an account with them.

EagerLearner

Hi nrsql, thanks for that, i did look at the link but it's just a paragraph and doesn't really explain what the process is or how you choose the funds, or what funds you can choose from, sorry i wasn't clear.

I will prob start off at £50 a month then as it's safe, and I'm not up for huuuuuge risks with my first foray as you say...

moneyandmountains

EagerLearner wrote: »

Hi nrsql, thanks for that, i did look at the link but it's just a paragraph and doesn't really explain what the process is or how you choose the funds, or what funds you can choose from, sorry i wasn't clear.

For H&L, if you are investing a regular amount, then the only way to do this as mentioned by nrsql, is by filling out a paper form.
You can either print this off the webpage, or get them to send you one.

It may be easiest for you to ask them to send you the ISA pack. You can either do this by expressing interest by filling in a web form, or by phoning them.

They should send you a pack, which will explain the features of their ISA offering. This will also include application forms and a copy of the 'Investment Times'. Apart from the editorial part and some specific fund promotion, this should include a list of all the funds that they offer with a brief description.

SeanW

Find a fund here, you need to choose: http://www.h-l.co.uk/fund_research/fund_search.hl

In the rare event they charge 0.5% extra for the ISA it will be noted with a * beside the annual charge.

Apply here:
https://www.h-l.co.uk/fund_research/isa_literature/online/1/document/ISA%20-%20Application%20Pack.hl

You will have to print and post the form. Fill in the name of fund, and £50 in the regular saver column, leave lump blank, filling in the DD instructions.

nrsql

>> what funds you can choose from,
I can't either. Maybe all the funds in the Vantage fundsmarket are eligible.
You would be unlikely to pick one that wasn't anyway.

Don't be frightened to call h-l. They've always been quick, friendly and informative when I've called.

YorkshireBoy

nrsql wrote: »

Don't be frightened to call h-l.

EagerLearner, this may be your best bet - it's what I did last year and they were very helpful on the phone.

They took my details and sent some useful info including current and back issues of their journal, Investment Times - which I'm still receiving now despite going with another fund supermarket.