Halifax stocks and shares ISA

w00519772

I have had a Halifax Stocks and Shares ISA since 2005. I converted it to cash in February 2014 when I bought a house.

I want to start using it again as I now have some savings again. However I have a few questions:

1) Here are the funds I could invest in: http://www.halifax.co.uk/investments/existing-customers/investments-purchased-in-branch/documentation/. I have used the FT website to look at performance over the last five years and performance over the last year. What techniques do you use to assess which funds to invest in going forward e.g. PE Ratio? I realise no-one has a crystal ball, but I think there is more to it than simply tossing a coin.
2) I am wandering if now is a good time to start using it with the general election being around the corner. The FT website charts do not go back as fare as 2010 so I am unable to see how the markets responded at previous general elections.

dunstonh

1) Here are the funds I could invest in: http://www.halifax.co.uk/investments...documentation/.

What you mean is that they are the funds are you limiting yourself to by choosing a lower quality option.

2) I am wandering if now is a good time to start using it with the general election being around the corner.

The UK election will have no noticeable impact on the stockmarket. It is a known event which is expected to have an undesirable outcome.

w00519772

dunstonh wrote: »

What you mean is that they are the funds are you limiting yourself to by choosing a lower quality option.



The UK election will have no noticeable impact on the stockmarket. It is a known event which is expected to have an undesirable outcome.

Thanks. Can you clarify what you mean by a lower quality option? What is a higher quality option?

jimjames

w00519772 wrote: »

Thanks. Can you clarify what you mean by a lower quality option? What is a higher quality option?

A fund supermarket that has many thousands of funds at a lower cost perhaps?

Fidelity, Charles Stanley, Hargreaves Lansdown are just a few.

dunstonh

Banks have a long history of offering expensive and low quality investment funds. General rule of thumb is not to use a bank or building society for investments, pensions and insurance unless really good justification for doing so otherwise.

Linton

w00519772 wrote: »

...
What techniques do you use to assess which funds to invest in going forward e.g. PE Ratio? I realise no-one has a crystal ball, but I think there is more to it than simply tossing a coin.
......

The most important consideration in investing is diversification. That means ensuring that your set of funds covers a very wide range of countries, sectors, company sizes, etc etc. As you gain experience you may wish to target higher or lower than average allocations to particular areas.

If you are starting a portfolio from scratch I would suggest you begin with a general global fund or a multi asset fund. In both cases the manager will ensure that your money is very widely invested.

Which particular fund you choose is then a secondary consideration. Many people go immediately for the one with lowest charges, others may look at long term performance, the history of the fund manager, details of the funds investments etc etc.

barak

jimjames wrote: »

A fund supermarket that has many thousands of funds at a lower cost perhaps?

Fidelity, Charles Stanley, Hargreaves Lansdown are just a few.

.....and others even include [!].....https://www.halifaxsharedealing-online.co.uk/_mem_bin/formslogin.asp?so=true&

I suppose http://www.halifax.co.uk/investments/existing-customers/investments-purchased-in-branch/documentation/ is all that is offered if you walk into a high street branch.

w00519772 - Have a look at http://www.comparefundplatforms.com for more possibilities.

w00519772

barak wrote: »

.....and others even include [!].....https://www.halifaxsharedealing-online.co.uk/_mem_bin/formslogin.asp?so=true&

I suppose http://www.halifax.co.uk/investments/existing-customers/investments-purchased-in-branch/documentation/ is all that is offered if you walk into a high street branch.

w00519772 - Have a look at http://www.comparefundplatforms.com for more possibilities.

I am currently debating whether to use Hargreaves and Landsown or Charles Stanley. Charles Stanley is cheaper, however HL seems to be more comprehensive. Does anyone have any thoughts?

digannio

HL has bells and whistles, great website, all the background info you could want and fast and efficient on the phone but Charles Stanley are also good to deal with and the website is OK. I've had no problems with them. I would go with the cheapest one if I was making a straight choice between the two. I've got investments with both.

BLB53

2) I am wandering if now is a good time to start using it with the general election being around the corner.

The general election was in May and won by the Conservatives. The next one will be in another 5 yrs - 2020.

noh

BLB53 wrote: »

The general election was in May and won by the Conservatives. The next one will be in another 5 yrs - 2020.

The OP was made in March, two months before the last election.