Best fund to invest in @ £50 a month?

dunstonh

That's a bit simplistic. You need to look at your aims. Losing 40% is not a problem if it recovers before you want to realise gains/losses - with a regular saving it could be a good thing. If you look a t product with steady growth versus one that loses 40% then recovers to the same point by steady growth you will do a lot better with the supposedly more risky product.

Its not simplistic. The OP has posted that he wants something at the safer end of the scale. There are no trackers at the safer end of the scale and the amount doesnt allow for diversifiction outside of 1 or 2 funds.

I know what you are saying and exactly where you are coming from but we have to look a the risk attitude of the individual. Not you or me.

If it was an advice case, putting him in to a tracker after what has been said about risk would result in an upheld complaint. Whilst no advice is given on these forums and the OP is free to do what he wants, it is only fair that we point out the level of risk in the tracker is higher than what he says he wants.

nrsql

I understand your view here and it's what I get from a lot of people who need to safeguard themselves when giving advice and is why a lot of over-caution results. This isn't advice it's just information.
Probably any advice given by an IFA on the disclosure given here would result in an upheld complaint.
I was just pointing out that although risk can be calculated on the underlying exposure that isn't the only risk that could be taken into account and is why trackers will probably have the risk exagerated.
e.g. consider a fund that invested an equal proportion in every 2nd share by capitalisation in the ftse 350. That would almost guarantee to show a loss but might be calculated as lower risk than a ftse 100 tracker.

EagerLearner

dunstonh wrote: »

Its not simplistic. The OP has posted that he wants something at the safer end of the scale.

Thanks dunstonh, I do want something safe and, erm, I'm a girl...

EagerLearner

Thanks nrsql and YorkshireBoy, I may well call them today and ask for some baby steps just to see what fund selection I will have If I sign up...

abitrubbish

I may get shot down here as this isn't a clever discount broker or anything, but I was looking the other day at the Halifax website and they do an "Investor ISA" which has what seems to me to be a reasonable range of funds, all risk graded with good explanations and all of which accept investments of £20pm. So if you could stretch to £60 pm you could spread your investment over 3 different funds.

http://www.halifax.co.uk/isas/iasinvestor.asp

You can apply online and presumably also view current prices online as well to see how you are doing. They also have quite good explanatory pages which might be worth a read even if you don't choose them...

I had a similar ISA with L&G a couple of years ago, putting £25 a month into 2 different funds (I chose UK Tracker & Global Tech, but then I clearly wasn't very risk averse). I loved logging in to see how they were doing, far more exciting than cash! L&G now seem to have a £50pm minimum investment though, so the Halifax might be a better deal for the OP.

debbie42

abitrubbish wrote: »

I may get shot down here as this isn't a clever discount broker or anything, but I was looking the other day at the Halifax website and they do an "Investor ISA" which has what seems to me to be a reasonable range of funds, all risk graded with good explanations and all of which accept investments of £20pm.

I have no personal experience of this, but have read recently in this thread that Halifax funds aren't great.

If it was me I'd want to find out more before I invested in these funds.

Liz_the_Whizz

I have had S&S PEPs and ISAs for over 10 years, but only in the last year since discovering MSE have I begun to understood more about investing and what it is all about.

I opened a S&S ISA with H-L in January 07, transferred in my PEP/ISAs, then re-allocated them to new funds. I have since switched one of the funds I originally picked for something which I hope will perform better.

All has been done very efficiently and I would recommend them to anyone starting out. The H-L Wealth 150 list of top funds provides interesting food for thought for newbies too.

jinkssick

for £50, you are confusing the pants of the reader.

Just put it into any montly saver, like LLOYDS TSB at 8%.

Top Rate (but admin problems) - Lloyds TSB 8%

Lloyds TSB’s Monthly Saver offers the best interest available at 8% AER; however, this only lasts a year (it used to be two), and after twelve months your cash is switched to a poor 3.15%-paying savings account (which you should switch out of straight away).

Despite that, this account is the most flexible here, allowing as many withdrawals and missed monthly payments as you need, without affecting the interest earned. You can pay in between £25 and £250 monthly, as well as an extra £250 in the first month.

However, a word of warning: to operate this account, you must have a Lloyds current account. Lloyds says that its Classic (not Classic Plus) account can be opened with just £1, and requires no further money paid into it, so shouldn’t be a problem. MoneySavers have been told by its customer services that they must pay their salary in, meaning it’s not worth it. The powers-that-be at Lloyds deny this, but it’s a hassle nonetheless.

Account Term: 1 year
Rate: 8%
Contributions: £25 - £250/month

Martin's copyrights

EagerLearner

Thanks jinkssick, I am a bit wobbly with all the lingo but prepared to brave it to make a start in investing, the account you suggest involves opening a current account with Lloyds etc which I didn't have in mind really.

Sounds as if overall the general consensus is Hargreaves London, so will call them soon.

dunstonh

I may get shot down here as this isn't a clever discount broker or anything, but I was looking the other day at the Halifax website and they do an "Investor ISA" which has what seems to me to be a reasonable range of funds, all risk graded with good explanations and all of which accept investments of £20pm. So if you could stretch to £60 pm you could spread your investment over 3 different funds.

Never get your investment products from a bank. Actually, Halifax do have one good investment product but this is not it. Bank funds are notoriously poor. (not just Halifax).