Possible to have a cash ISA that you buy stock and shares in another ISA.

dchurch24

Hi all,

As the title suggests, I'm trying to find a provider of an ISA where I can put say, £150 per month into, build up funds and then if I see a company I like the look of, transfer some money from that ISA to another stocks and shares ISA in the form of shares of that company.

The 'cash' account doesn't have to be an ISA, although, I guess over time the advantages of that would be good if it's possible.

Does something like that exist?

I've gone to my current account bank (Natwest) and they don't supply a Stocks and Shares ISA full stop.

sorcerer

Why not just open a stocks and shares ISA, just pay in £150 a month and leave it in their until you are ready to buy something.

Their is no rule that says you can't hold cash in a stock ISA anymore.

dchurch24

That sounds about right. Ok, well as per the article, I'm going to head over to Charles Stanley.

eskbanker

dchurch24 wrote: »

if I see a company I like the look of, transfer some money from that ISA to another stocks and shares ISA in the form of shares of that company.

Buying shares in a single company is generally regarded as one of the highest risk investments so you'd be going from one end of the risk spectrum (cash) right to the other end if you did so!

There are many points along that spectrum that are more suitable to those embarking on an investment journey and collective investments like global multi-asset funds are a far more realistic place to start.

Have a read through some of the introductory articles at http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/investments/ as well as better-informed ones at sites like https://www.monevator.com

dchurch24

I'm fine with high risk to be honest.

I have a reasonable lump sum to start with, and was intending to top it up with 150-200 per month for further investments.

I'm happy to look at asset funds...but they just don't seem, well, exciting

rama0927

Hi dchurch24 - good luck with your new venture!

A careful word of warning - just make sure you are aware of all of the costs and risks involved before you start buying stocks in single companies, things can get messy quite quickly. You'll need to diversify from the get go - carefully selecting a number of companies which you are willing to monitor. There is no perfect number, however I would not be comfortable with less than 10 if I was playing with a sizeable lump. If you held just 3 companies and one of them started tanking, then your portfolio could potentially be ruined.

After you have decided on your initial base, you should bare in mind that each trade costs money. So if you are thinking of buying £100 here, selling £100 there then it isn't really going to work if it costs £7.50 to execute the trade.

If this is your first foray into buying and selling stocks / funds, I would recommend starting with funds (OEIC/unit trust). The potential for huge gains are of course lower, which may seem less exciting, however it is far easier to diversify and you can still make things interesting by selecting which categories / sectors / regions interest you most, while maintaining a good base by holding a general fund such as one of the Vanguard LS ones. The cost of executing a trade is usually £0, you just have to pay the annual account platform fee of around 0.15-0.45% depending on which platform you choose. Each fund also has an ongoing fee as it has a fund manager who will buys and sells bonds/equities inside the container, to meet the aims set out by the fund (e.g. med risk, sustained long term growth in N.American companies).

http://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/news/146672/what-is-a-fund.aspx

I was interested in investing in some companies and I soon realised it made much more sense for me to avoid this idea altogether.