stocks and shares/FTSE iminent

Malthusian

BobQ wrote: »

Why would the FTSE fall when so many firms are so pleased with our growing economic fortunes and that we have a Government with such a clear sense of leadership.

As firms' opinions of our economic fortunes and the Government's leadership abilities are priced in to the current level of the FTSE, imagine how high it would be if we had a competent Government and we weren't on our way back to the Stone Age.

snowqueen555

I think a lot of people have lowered their UK exposure, I know I have.

Vanguard have a "Developed world Excluding UK" that I have recently invested in.

Thrugelmir

Tom99 wrote: »

It was about 6999 in 1999 and now about 7500 17 years later so not much growth from a previous peak.

Constituents of the index have changed though.

Filo25

snowqueen555 wrote: »

I think a lot of people have lowered their UK exposure, I know I have.

Vanguard have a "Developed world Excluding UK" that I have recently invested in.

I'd still rather be in UK equities than US at current valuations over the medium term.

Although that may be because I think Brexit is likely to be managed one way or another (if we do get a truly lousy deal and suffer significant economic damage we're likely to be back in the EU sooner rather than later).

In terms of equities I suppose the prospect of a Corbyn government would be problematic but I'm not quite as bullish on Corbyn getting into power with enough of a mandate to push through his agenda as others are.

[Deleted User]

According to todays papers UK businesses are sitting on £366 billion and rising.

Thrugelmir

venison wrote: »

According to todays papers UK businesses are sitting on £366 billion and rising.

If the companies concerned are foreign owned. Then the money is likely one day to be repatriated abroad.

LdnFtB

Equities still going strong - what are the odds that this turns into a ' London has peaked' style thread? Look forward to coming back over the next few years to see how this particular position plays out.

chucknorris

Tom99 wrote: »

It was about 6999 in 1999 and now about 7500 17 years later so not much growth from a previous peak.

The FTSE100 div is 3.7% so not too bad.

That's why you should be careful about when to invest in terms of your future income and longevity and/or your ability to invest further during corrections, this is very pertinent to me right now:

As you say the growth isn't huge for 17 years (about 7%), but you are comparing from peak to peak, it has been as low as 3,530 between those peaks, that is growth of about 110%! I didn't invest anything that low, but I did a bit at below 4,000, and overall averaged in the mid to high 5,000's.

What I have learned from that is that I shouldn't really invest too much in equities now, because I am approaching the time when I possibly no longer have the longevity left to invest and wait for a recovery. Also if what I would have invested already is massively disproportionate to what I could invest after a correction to take advantage of the low prices, there isn't much point in having my life savings invested (not that you should in the ftse 100 anyway), if I only have a comparatively insignificant amount to invest afterwards (or the time to wait for recovery).

Up until now I have been focused on growth, but I have now reached a stage in my life where I need to protect what I have, so I can now see the advantages of having significant amounts in bonds and cash (to a lesser extent), even though the net gain after tax is less than inflation (so in fact, a small loss annually). My perception has changed lot in the last few months, as I now realise what I should be aiming for with a retirement portfolio.

This is my current thinking for my retirement portfolio at state pension age:

35% equities (much lower than originally targeted)
23% fixed pension (DB/SP)
22% investment property (hold 1.5 properties for at least a decade longer)
15% bonds (try and find a bond(s) paying near net inflation)
5% cash (regular savers, NSI cert, savings accounts)

The above is a moving target which is constantly under consideration.

Which means that as I sell properties going forward all of the equity should not go into equities (the extra investment will probably be restricted to my ISA and SIPP), and nearly all the equity should go into bonds/cash.

westernpromise

Rather than buy individual equities, why not just buy (or indeed short) this?
https://www.theice.com/products/38716764/FTSE-100-Index-Future

You don't get the dividends, but that's going to be reflected in the traded price.

chucknorris

westernpromise wrote: »

Rather than buy individual equities, why not just buy (or indeed short) this?
https://www.theice.com/products/38716764/FTSE-100-Index-Future

You don't get the dividends, but that's going to be reflected in the traded price.

I don't generally invest in single company shares, although I did invest all of both my SIPP and ISA in British Land, as a REIT it was a good home for the equity from selling an investment property, plus a little more. But I definitely don't want to start spread betting (assuming that was what the link was), that is too risky.