What investment strategy requires the least effort

bigfreddiel

Other than handing your money over to a wealth manager what investment strategy requires the least effort?

I would say buy to let requires the most, and is high risk.

Maximising interest from various banks is low risk, but still a bit of effort setting up direct debits and so on.

A balanced equity portfolio involves a bit of work initially, and if you set it at the correct risk versus return it should just run with only annual rebalancing.

What do others think?

Cheers fj

masonic

Least effort would be a single multi-asset fund. No rebalancing needed, just check occasionally and switch into something better if it comes along or your needs change.

Chasing cash rates is probably more effort than most strategies using equities.

Passive will be relatively less effort than active, because you have fewer decisions to make and don't need to do as much research.

Eco_Miser

Least effort? Leave it all where it is. Probably least returns too.

Maximising bank interest only works on the first £50k or so anyway.

A single multi-asset fund, as masonic says, is the simplest sensible strategy.

enthusiasticsaver

I would agree with you that BTL requires a great deal of effort which is ongoing whereas investing in a balanced multi asset investment fund requires very little. Setting up bank accounts with direct debits, income requirements etc takes a bit of effort.


Any investment though requires ongoing and preparatory effort. Even investing in current accounts or multi asset funds requires some research and setting up effort and you need to keep double checking that the return rates have not changed.


If you stick all your money in a e savings account though that is probably the simplest and easiest way of investing but also the lowest rate of return. You can't have it all.

colsten

Putting money into our favourite current accounts and regular savers isn't investing. It is saving.

BTL isn't investing in my eyes either, it's running a business, however small it might be.

Minimum investment effort is DIY ISA with a multi-asset fund such as Vanguard LS.

Before you need to employ a Wealth Manager, you'd normally call on the services of an IFA.

oldfella

multi assets funds have higher costs than normal funds, so you need to factor that cost in

masonic

oldfella wrote: »

multi assets funds have higher costs than normal funds, so you need to factor that cost in

The L&G Multi-index funds have an OCF of 0.24%. I doubt that you could save much on that by investing in a diversified portfolio of conventional funds.

bigfreddiel

Thanks everyone who replied, interesting take on somethings and most of you were in line with my thinking, keep costs low etc.

Sometimes going down the simplest route I'd a multi asset fund leaves you thinking maybe you could do better by choosing your own assets, but I think that's just human nature thinking "I can do better".

I'm going to do som back testing, I found that you can do this easily with the portfolio management part of the Investors Chronicle web.

Allows you to create a portfolio and add assets at any price in the past. Then you can choose to reinvest dividends, or move to a cash account.

You can also analyse performance.

Cheers fj

kidmugsy

Buy a field and let it to a farmer.

bigfreddiel

kidmugsy wrote: »

Buy a field and let it to a farmer.

Actually that's what a friend of mine does! Amazing return, you would be surprised how much people pay for stabling horses. But it's not for me, still too much hard work and hassle if people stop paying and so on.

fj

Thrugelmir

bigfreddiel wrote: »

Thanks everyone who replied, interesting take on somethings and most of you were in line with my thinking, keep costs low etc.

Sometimes going down the simplest route I'd a multi asset fund leaves you thinking maybe you could do better by choosing your own assets, but I think that's just human nature thinking "I can do better".

I'm going to do som back testing, I found that you can do this easily with the portfolio management part of the Investors Chronicle web.

Allows you to create a portfolio and add assets at any price in the past. Then you can choose to reinvest dividends, or move to a cash account.

You can also analyse performance.

Cheers fj

Like owning a garden. Low maintenance still requires oversight. Weeds can pop up and spread before you know it.