Trying to find the correct fund?

grey_gym_sock

hoc wrote: »

My thread from a few days ago may be relevant: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5369743

I am looking to avoid funds as there are enough ETFs about for most types of devices, so although SPTMI would have been slightly preferred I will go with VUSA or similar from another provider.

fair point. on many platforms, you can end up paying more for funds than for ETFs, which is a possible reason to use ETFs; but not all platforms are like that.

for instance, in my SIPP with youinvest, i'm using ETFs instead of funds, for that reason. but in my ISA with iweb, who charge the same for funds and ETFs, i'm using funds.

generally, iweb, halifax and selftrade can be cheap for holding funds.

on your point in the other thread, about the cost of buying the fund on halifax ... i wouldn't necessarily rely on halifax's info pages about funds - did you try logging into your account and seeing if it was possible to add the fund in "sharebuilder"? ... i was under the impression that many funds could be bought that way, though i only have an account with iweb (also provided by halifax); iweb dropped support for regular investments a while ago, and i'm going on how i remember it being on iweb before that.

hoc

grey_gym_sock wrote: »

fair point. on many platforms, you can end up paying more for funds than for ETFs, which is a possible reason to use ETFs; but not all platforms are like that.

for instance, in my SIPP with youinvest, i'm using ETFs instead of funds, for that reason. but in my ISA with iweb, who charge the same for funds and ETFs, i'm using funds.

generally, iweb, halifax and selftrade can be cheap for holding funds.

on your point in the other thread, about the cost of buying the fund on halifax ... i wouldn't necessarily rely on halifax's info pages about funds - did you try logging into your account and seeing if it was possible to add the fund in "sharebuilder"? ... i was under the impression that many funds could be bought that way, though i only have an account with iweb (also provided by halifax); iweb dropped support for regular investments a while ago, and i'm going on how i remember it being on iweb before that.

Indeed, the Halifax (iweb/BoS) vs Youinvest (AJBell) dilemma has been a major one for me. I was initially set on BoS (cheaper than Halifax with regular which iweb have dropped) but upon much reading on ETF vs funds, I don't see a real need for starting now in this day and age with funds given the increasing availability of ETFs.

I agree Halifax/BoS/iweb is probably best for when funds are needed, and I even considered doing similar and splitting ISA vs SIPP as you have done, in the end while funds in a few cases offer minor advantages overall it doesn't seem worth it. ETFs are just simpler/cleaner/easier to buy/hold/sell.

Tammer

Hi,

Before investing via ETFs, it may be worth reading up on the protection available if your provider was to go bust (not likely, but not impossible). It is a bit of an eye opener.
T

george4064

A good way to compare any investment on different websites is to check the ISINs on each website, ISINs are unique identifiers for any investment.

If they've got the same ISIN, they are exactly the same.

Different ISIN they could be a different share class of the same investment, or a different one all together.

hoc

Tammer wrote: »

Hi,

Before investing via ETFs, it may be worth reading up on the protection available if your provider was to go bust (not likely, but not impossible). It is a bit of an eye opener.
T

Yes, but to further classify "not likely", I'm considering major trackers from providers such as Vanguard, ishares (BlackRock). Not impossible, but if Vanguard or Blackrock go bust, the impacts would go far beyond directly on my portfolio, it would take with indirectly many other things like pensions, companies, etc.

Realistically, the only annoyances with ETF is difficulty finding reinvesting ones (ishares has some, Vanguard haven't and despite being my preferred they will lose my custom due to this). I am also aware of some companies "timing" purchases to make bigger margins, the better ones don't seem to do this apparently (TD gets praise here often, sadly too expensive for me), I don't think this is an issue with AJBell. The call options of ETF here make up for this and make it better for protecting against volatility of buying funds even though the pricing is stable (once a day).