Where to invest, fed up chasing low interest rates

iggis

I'm lucky enough to have a bit of cash saved up but I am fed up having to open new bank accounts just to get a miserable 2% return. I like the idea of taking a reasonable risk to try and attain a better return on my savings and have dabbled in shares and p2p lending. I would like to put a biggish sum into an investment fund but it looks like a minefield to me. I am happy to choose my own funds to invest in but my question is: who is the best company to use bearing in mind the fund managers charges can be quite high. If I have to pay a four figure fee each year to them while I take all the risks then I will probably stick to share dealing. Any thoughts, better ideas? Thanks.

Archi_Bald

Huge long thread about this on here, using ISAs, but same applies to non-ISA accounts really. Start by reading post #1.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3153942

ColdIron

Iggis wrote: »

I would like to put a biggish sum into an investment fund but it looks like a minefield to me. I am happy to choose my own funds to invest in but my question is: who is the best company to use bearing in mind the fund managers charges can be quite high. If I have to pay a four figure fee each year to them while I take all the risks then I will probably stick to share dealing

I'm afraid this doesn't make much sense. What is it that looks like a minefield to you, the fund(s) you invest in or the broker/platform you use to do it?

You can only really choose the broker/platform after you have decided on what to invest in and the Fund Manager charge will be pretty much the same anyway. Perhaps you are confusing this with the broker/platform charge. Incidentally to pay £1,000 in platform charges you would need to be investing upward of a quarter of a million even with the more expensive of them

iggis

I am referring to all the charges, broker, platform, fund manager,dealing costs, exit fees etc. there are so many to consider its difficult to know which is the best combination and yes, the amount could be in the '000s in total so I need to minimise costs.

Wilkins

A suggestion. Register with a cheap, no frills equity platform such as x-o (there are others), and buy a selection of ETFs/ITs as suits your investment criteria. One off buy/sell charge and no ongoing fees except those implicit in the underlying vehicle, which is easily determined from the original provider.

jimjames

If you're already happy buying shares then why not just stick to that? Most people seem to go opposite way by adding shares after funds.

Maybe investment trusts would be more of interest?

I'm a bit confused though as its not the question I'd expect from someone experienced with investing as you'd know ways to improve on savings by investing already.

ColdIron

I'd firm up your investment choices first and get some idea of fundamentals such as what sums are involved, how many funds, will you be dealing or buying frequently etc etc as only then would you be in a meaningful position to choose a platform

Another handy resource you might want to play around with is ...
http://www.comparefundplatforms.com/

It's not comprehensive but ought to give you some idea of the sort of choices that are available

iggis

jimjames wrote: »

If you're already happy buying shares then why not just stick to that? Most people seem to go opposite way by adding shares after funds.

Maybe investment trusts would be more of interest?

I'm a bit confused though as its not the question I'd expect from someone experienced with investing as you'd know ways to improve on savings by investing already.

Fair point but I think a fund manager could get better returns than I can, I'm not vastly experienced at analysing company data and don't have the time or patience.

gadgetmind

iggis wrote: »

Fair point but I think a fund manager could get better returns than I can, I'm not vastly experienced at analysing company data and don't have the time or patience.

After their fees, they generally can't. In fact, a monkey with a pin can beat them, so seriously consider passive investing.

jimjames

iggis wrote: »

Fair point but I think a fund manager could get better returns than I can, I'm not vastly experienced at analysing company data and don't have the time or patience.

You could get better returns by just buying trackers. Lowest charges and no need to worry if manager has made right choices.

You can even buy a fund that has a portfolio in the one fund so it is extremely simple. One example would be Vanguard LS series of funds, you can choose the risk profile and buy the version to suit.