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'Initial Investment' amounts and buying Shares

Hi all,

I recently set up an account with Cavendish to invest a small amount (£200-£1000) between a few different funds and to get a general feel for the process. I have a couple of questions I hope you can help me with:

1) There is a fund I am interested in that has an 'initial investment' figure of £1000, 'monthly' of £250, and 'top up' of £1. Is there anything stopping me from setting up the monthly payment, and cancelling it after the first month? Could I then 'top up' by any amount I want at a later date?

2) I am also thinking of buying Shares in a couple of companies (Google, Apple) is it possible to buy these through the Cavendish platform or do shares require a different method?
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Comments

  • TrustyOven
    TrustyOven Posts: 746 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    This is an interesting question. I've noticed the same sort of "initial investment" and "monthly" figures on the platform I use, but I've not had a problem paying smaller amounts. I just dont get the point of these minimal limits.

    eg. My initial monthly payment plan was £50. Then I upped that to £70, and also did manual top-ups of £70 and £100.

    I'm hoping someone else can answer this...
    Goals
    Save £12k in 2017 #016 (£4212.06 / £10k) (42.12%)
    Save £12k in 2016 #041 (£4558.28 / £6k) (75.97%)
    Save £12k in 2014 #192 (£4115.62 / £5k) (82.3%)
  • Lokolo
    Lokolo Posts: 20,861 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts
    1) with other platforms you can, i dont see why this would be any different

    2) i believe cavendish do not do share dealing. You would need to go elsewhere. US shares also have a complicated tax system so be aware if you plan on buying shares
  • Your_Hero
    Your_Hero Posts: 883 Forumite
    reaprr wrote: »
    Hi all,

    I recently set up an account with Cavendish to invest a small amount (£200-£1000) between a few different funds and to get a general feel for the process. I have a couple of questions I hope you can help me with:

    1) There is a fund I am interested in that has an 'initial investment' figure of £1000, 'monthly' of £250, and 'top up' of £1. Is there anything stopping me from setting up the monthly payment, and cancelling it after the first month? Could I then 'top up' by any amount I want at a later date?

    2) I am also thinking of buying Shares in a couple of companies (Google, Apple) is it possible to buy these through the Cavendish platform or do shares require a different method?
    1) Sounds fine.
    2) Cavendish is a fundsupermarket and to my understanding it cannot buy direct shares. You need a full wrap platform to do this, e.g. HL.
    Stephen Covey once said that "when you teach once, you learn twice". That is the primary reason for my participation on the forums as an IFA.

    Although I strive to provide accurate information in my posts, there may be the odd time when I fail. Yes I know it's hard to believe but even Your Hero can make mistakes. Apologies in advance.
  • reaprr
    reaprr Posts: 50 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    TrustyOven wrote: »
    This is an interesting question. I've noticed the same sort of "initial investment" and "monthly" figures on the platform I use, but I've not had a problem paying smaller amounts. I just dont get the point of these minimal limits.

    eg. My initial monthly payment plan was £50. Then I upped that to £70, and also did manual top-ups of £70 and £100.

    I'm hoping someone else can answer this...

    You say you've never had a problem paying smaller amounts, in your £50/month fund was the 'minimum monthly amount' higher than £50?
  • TrustyOven
    TrustyOven Posts: 746 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 25 June 2014 at 7:39PM
    Yes, for example, one of the funds I have is:

    https://www.fidelity.co.uk/investor/research-funds/fund-supermarket/factsheet/fees.page?idtype=ISIN&fundid=GB00BJS8SF95&UserChannel=Direct

    and it says minimum:

    initial: £500
    top-up: £250
    monthly savings: £50

    I've bought units worth less than £50 (for this fund), both as part of a monthly savings plan, and also as one-off top-up purchases.
    Goals
    Save £12k in 2017 #016 (£4212.06 / £10k) (42.12%)
    Save £12k in 2016 #041 (£4558.28 / £6k) (75.97%)
    Save £12k in 2014 #192 (£4115.62 / £5k) (82.3%)
  • If you're specifically interested in shares in technology companies, you could take a look at the PCT and RTT investment trusts, which are both domiciled in the UK so should be more straightforward as far as tax is concerned.
  • reaprr
    reaprr Posts: 50 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Thanks for the replies, trusty it's good to know you have actually done it so I know it should work.

    Pippi I'm not sure if those funds are on the fidelity platform but thanks for the info.

    I would like to buy some Google/Apple shares specifically rather than invest in 'technology' as a whole. I wasn't aware of any USA tax issues though, does it matter if they are within an ISA?
  • jimjames
    jimjames Posts: 17,938 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    With the kinds of amounts you're talking about investing in individual shares, especially overseas ones, really isn't viable as a proper investment. You might have some fun but costs will eat a lot of the returns. I'm sure you're aware it is also much riskier than using funds.

    Tech funds do have high exposure to those companies though
    Remember the saying: if it looks too good to be true it almost certainly is.
  • I started my Fidelity SIPP with £1k each into a few funds, based on the stated minimum they give on their website. I was told later that all these minimums are just recommendations. A bit annoyed by this as I would have diversified between more funds had I known.
  • Thrugelmir
    Thrugelmir Posts: 89,546 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Google share price is $576. So small top ups aren't going to be enough. ;)
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