Nutmeg anyone?

aajax42

Nutmeg seems to be getting good reviews as it grows and I am considering investing into their ready made portfolio's
I have read and re-read countless articles and advice and have come to the conclusion I am not up to the task of self investing, being terrified of making a mistake with savings we are reliant upon for our imminent retirement. Pension is small but we have saved around 250k which we hope to use for income supplement.
There is so much debate surrounding the relative merits of H&L, Fidelity etc and I hoped to get the considered views of you wise and savvy forum contributors?

dunstonh

Nutmeg seems to be getting good reviews as it grows and I am considering investing into their ready made portfolio's

Good reviews from where? Are these people capable of giving reviews from a position of knowledge?

I have read and re-read countless articles and advice and have come to the conclusion I am not up to the task of self investing, being terrified of making a mistake with savings we are reliant upon for our imminent retirement. Pension is small but we have saved around 250k which we hope to use for income supplement.

That is all fair enough. However, why go nutmeg and not an IFA? Nutmeg charges are not great and you neither get the best of DIY or IFA. A multi-asset solution on DIY would be better if you want to DIY and an IFA wont be far off Nutmeg costs (despite what their website says as that massively overstates).

Nutmeg is a very small firm. It has the turnover comparable of a local IFA firm (£635,381) yet is made a pre-tax loss of £5.3 million. It's financials are poor.

aajax42

Thank you for your view. This however is exactly the problem I am up against as post after post has criticised the charges made by IFA's and stated it is better to use a ready made fund platform or tracker. That's the route I am leaning toward, but now you are making me re-consider yet again.

george4064

Have you considered a Multi-Asset strategy such as Vanguard LifeStrategy?

That would be considerably cheaper than IFA and the ready-made offering from Nutmeg.

dunstonh

This however is exactly the problem I am up against as post after post has criticised the charges made by IFA's and stated it is better to use a ready made fund platform or tracker.

Basically, what you have described is the sort of comment that should tell you that the person making it doesnt have a clue.

A tracker is a bad way to invest. It is 100% in one sector. A multi-asset solution is better (and these can be made up of trackers or managed). These robo-solutions are multi-asset. However, there are plenty of multi-asset funds on the market place and an IFA would build a multi-asset portfolio or use multi-asset funds. You can also buy multi-asset funds if you DIY.

Many people who DIY will be negative towards IFAs as default. They want to DIY and dont want an IFA. Most of them would never even seen an IFA but will be negative based on assumptions. Often it is because they saw an insurance agent in the 80s or 90s (not an IFA) and just assume that IFAs are like them. Even if the DIY option they use is worse than the advised option, they would DIY as it is important to them that they DIY.

I am not saying you should use an IFA. Just that the fees quoted by nutmeg are extremely high and whilst its possible some could charge that amount, most wont. Many IFAs would be very close to Nutmeg charges with full advice provided. However, if you want to DIY, then don't be afraid by the multi-asset solutions available which would be cheaper than both IFA and Nutmeg. Or maybe not everything is about cost. The cheapest is not always best.

Sobryma

I did look at them but I struggled to get them to give proper benchmark and performance information. There are plenty of options, the important thing being to get a competent firm/individual, decent guidance and then leave alone.

I use two sources of support as I have two DC pensions. Tilney Bestinvest and an IFA.

Charges excluding fund charges (i.e. management and platform) for Bestinvest are 0.75% (Ready Made Portfolio in a Self Managed SIPP) to 1.5% (Managed Portfolio Service). I have legacy charges on my account which are competitive, personally I am happy with their performance and management - and I recommended them to another family member.

Another alternative might be EQ Investors Direct - which I seriously considered it offers passive and active options and was priced competitively (its the guy originally behind Bestinvest).

My other pension has an IFA to advise and support me. Total charges on a competitive personal pension / SIPP is 0.7% (the pension is a company one and there was a modest initial setup charge by the IFA of around £499 + 0.5% of fund).

My view given your crcumstances would be to get a couple of quotes from some IFA who have a good choice of products.

bigfreddiel

Use nutmeg to suggest the funds that suit your risk tolerance, and then just set your own portfolio up based on that.

Use the monevator spire to select a fund supermarket that will give you the lowest costs.

And to practice you could set up a portfolio on Investors Chronicle site which will show you how your selections are performing.

May sound a bit daunting, but give it a go, it's easier than you may think.

Good luck

bigfreddiel

dunstonh wrote: »

Good reviews from where? Are these people capable of giving reviews from a position of knowledge?



That is all fair enough. However, why go nutmeg and not an IFA? Nutmeg charges are not great and you neither get the best of DIY or IFA. A multi-asset solution on DIY would be better if you want to DIY and an IFA wont be far off Nutmeg costs (despite what their website says as that massively overstates).

Nutmeg is a very small firm. It has the turnover comparable of a local IFA firm (£635,381) yet is made a pre-tax loss of £5.3 million. It's financials are poor.

Just to step in here, don't trust any reviews on this site, just take in what they say and form your own point of view.

As far as losses go, no advice from an ifa has any better chance of not making you a loss as nutmeg. Advice can be good or bad and if you don't understand the advice then take more advice till you are sure it suits your needs.

Cheers fj

Sobryma

If you wanted to DIY you can also setup a funds portfolio on Trustnet to platy around and compare:

http://www.trustnet.com/Tools/

bigfreddiel

So nutmeg made a loss. Does it matter?

Banks make huge losses but you still trust your money with them!

Rolls Royce is making huge losses, but you still fly on a RR powered aircraft.

Tesco's made huge losses, in fact so bad were their accounts if they applied for their own credit card they would fail the application. But you still bank with them.

So just because nutmeg made a loss is of no consequence.

Cheers fj

bigfreddiel

Sobryma wrote: »

If you wanted to DIY you can also setup a funds portfolio on Trustnet to platy around and compare:

http://www.trustnet.com/Tools/

I prefer Investors Chronicle.

Tried Trust et. It's okay

Cheers fj