Confusion investing in funds

theshortstack

This is no doubt a noobie question, but I've got a bit of a misunderstanding when it comes to purchasing funds.

When researching funds, it seems that they are divided into two areas:

- Those with a standard four letter ticker symbol such as PHGP (ETF Gold)

- And those with a 12 character ID comprising of letters and numbers such as GB00B24HJL45

Now those with a standard stock tracker I can find easily - you just search for them in your platform as you would any normal stock.

But how do I find those funds with a 12 character ID? Is it just that my platform (Barclays) is limited when it comes to funds and can only access those with a standard tracker? Or am I missing something silly here?

Thanks in advance for your help,

Totton

Enter the ticker into the search box at http://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/

TrustyOven

You can also use Yahoo! finance, like thus:

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q?s=GB00B24HJL45&ql=1

The 12 digit number you gave us is an ISIN: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Securities_Identification_Number

There's also a SEDOL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEDOL

I think usually the ISIN is used in literature you get from your fund platform for the fund you invest in, and some might also list the SEDOL.

bowlhead99

The ones with 3-4 letter tickers are, like shares, available from most brokers as they are traded in real time on the stockmarket. These are typically ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) or ITs (Investment Trusts).

The ones without those short tickers and not available on the stockmarket to buy and sell in real time, are only usually accessible through an investment platform (as distinct from a pure stockbroker, some of which don't offer access to 'Funds'). These are OEICs (open ended investment companies) and UTs (Unit Trusts) which are priced and sold once a day, you give your platform an order and they trade for you at the next available opportunity.

Some platforms will let you search by ISIN (the long code you quoted - international securities identification number) or SEDOL (a slightly shorter code - stock exchange daily official list). But alternatively they will have a tool to allow you to search by manager and sector for what you want, or even a plain text search function where you look up the name of the fund or part of it and it gives you all the near matches.

From a quick look at the one you mentioned, it is First State Global Listed Infrastructure Fund. As it happens, I have this one, but am not quite sad enough to recognise it by number...

Depending on the platform, when searching you might need to look for the full name or perhaps an awkward abbreviation like First State Glbl Lstd Infras or First State GblLstdInfr

That one is a pretty popular fund, so if your platform carries funds at all, it will usually be there - though they might not have all the choices of currency versions (GBP/USD/EUR), A class vs B class, and income vs accumulation.

I just had a very quick look at https://www.barclaysstockbrokers.co.uk/investments/Funds/Pages/Funds-Research.aspx , hit 'search for a fund' and then filtered by First State and was able to see it quite easily on the first page of hits. There was even a 'deal' button, though I don't have an account. But presumably it is just as easy when you are logged in the Barclays platform, once you find the right screen.

As mentioned there are various different classes, - you probably want the 'B' version for lower fees and one of the GBP classes if you want to avoid currency conversion (which doesn't change the underlying risk of the companies but avoids you having to pay high fees to convert your exit proceeds to sterling when you sell up).

dale_cotterill

You can usually get the SEDOL from the ISIN by removing the last character, and taking the last 7 characters from the right.

ISIN: GB00B24HJL45 = SEDOL: B24HJL4

C_Mababejive

theshortstack wrote: »

This is no doubt a noobie question, but I've got a bit of a misunderstanding when it comes to purchasing funds.

When researching funds, it seems that they are divided into two areas:

- Those with a standard four letter ticker symbol such as PHGP (ETF Gold)

- And those with a 12 character ID comprising of letters and numbers such as GB00B24HJL45

Now those with a standard stock tracker I can find easily - you just search for them in your platform as you would any normal stock.

But how do I find those funds with a 12 character ID? Is it just that my platform (Barclays) is limited when it comes to funds and can only access those with a standard tracker? Or am I missing something silly here?

Thanks in advance for your help,

I may be wrong but you are talking about two different kinds of investment vehicles.

One is an ETF whilst most of the others will be OEICs.

The ETFs are tradeable in the same way as you would buy and sell shares whilst OEICs have a lag in the buy/sell process as they are traded via fund managers.

theshortstack

Thanks for all your responses - much appreciated

C_Mababejive wrote: »

I may be wrong but you are talking about two different kinds of investment vehicles.

One is an ETF whilst most of the others will be OEICs.

The ETFs are tradeable in the same way as you would buy and sell shares whilst OEICs have a lag in the buy/sell process as they are traded via fund managers.

It sounds like you're right. If these OEICs need to be traded separately then, is it not possible to invest in these as part of an S&S ISA? Or would I need to get to Barclays to purchase these from a fund manager on my behalf?

Lokolo

theshortstack wrote: »

Thanks for all your responses - much appreciated



It sounds like you're right. If these OEICs need to be traded separately then, is it not possible to invest in these as part of an S&S ISA? Or would I need to get to Barclays to purchase these from a fund manager on my behalf?

You can purchase them depending on your platform you use.

Some platforms only sell shares (X-O), some platforms only allow funds (Cavendish) and some platforms allow both (Hargreaves Lansdown, ii, Charles Stanley Direct).

There will be different costs involved. ETFs are share based so usually have share costs related. OEICs are funds so have fund based costs.

C_Mababejive

theshortstack wrote: »

Thanks for all your responses - much appreciated



It sounds like you're right. If these OEICs need to be traded separately then, is it not possible to invest in these as part of an S&S ISA? Or would I need to get to Barclays to purchase these from a fund manager on my behalf?

As others have said, most fund supermarkets/on line accounts allow you to hold a wide range of assets within your isa be they shares,ETFs,funds etc..

theshortstack

Apologies for bumping this, but I've got a few more questions about funds (as opposed to ETFs)

• Firstly, if they are not traded on the open stock market, how dow I generate revenue from them? Do I effectively get paid multiple 'dividends' at regular points of the year?
• What costs are generally associated with funds? Are they typically more expensive than ETFs?
• I've found the Funds section on the Barclays Stockbrokers and while a number of them can be bought online, it seems like a large number need to be purchased over the phone. Are they likely to incur extra costs?

Thanks again for your help/patience :T

theshortstack

Can anyone help me out at all?