ISA vs buy to let

kidmugsy

adunato wrote: »

in general how do you people deal with risk mitigation? Ideally I'd keep the bulk of my savings in a very low risk fund locked for a long period

Two investment trusts that aim to be defensive investments, and that have a high reputation, are Personal Assets Trust
http://www.patplc.co.uk

and Ruffer Investment Company, as discussed here
http://boards.fool.co.uk/ruffer-where-were-at-12880717.aspx?sort=whole

I recommend you read their literature, especially PAT's long series of quarterly reports - very educational - and Ruffer's reviews.
http://www.ruffer.co.uk/#ruffer/who-we-are/review-archive

If you find even them too risky, give up the idea of equities and invest in long maturity index-linked gilts instead. If you fancy PAT, note that it offers its own ISA on excellent "zero charge" terms.