Investment Help - Index Funds

thecorporaterat

Hello - hoping someone can provide some guidance in regards to investing in an Index Fund.

I wish to open a S&S ISA and have identified a low cost Index Fund such as the S&P 500 as a safe long term investment. Apologies if this is a daft question but I can't seem to find many low-cost UK brokerages which offer investment into this fund.

I looked at Vanguard directly however the only index fund I can see is the 'US Equity Index Fund' which doesn't seem to be what I'm looking for. Similarly the only US index fund I can find on CSD is the 'Legal & General US Index I Trust Inc'. I have found 'Vanguard S&P 500 GBP' available on Cavendish but unsure as to what the 'GDP' reference means?

Please can someone help me here I;m very confused

bostonerimus

A 100% equity fund will not be safe, you'll see significant variation over time, but the hope and expectation is that it will provide solid returns over long periods.

An S&P 500 fund will track the 500 US companies in that index. You should consider funds that track wider indexes like the Vanguard US Equity Index Fund, but better still go with a global equity index and maybe add some fixed income or look at a mult-asset fund that contains a number of index funds. This will diversify your investments.

sjp999

GBP = pounds sterling, GDP = gross domestic product which I think is a wee typo.

bostonerimus

FYI here is Vanguard's S&P500 fund

https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/investments/vanguard-s-and-p-500-ucits-etf

TARDIS

You may find it helpful to read more about passive investing on a UK website such as monevator http://http://monevator.com/what-should-a-new-investor-do/

In the US investing purely in the S&P500 seems popular on the FIRE blogs, but you're probably better off looking at something more diversified, particularly if you're based in the UK.

thecorporaterat

Thanks all rally helpful info. I'm looking to start investing monthly from March so trying to get up to speed in the interim. ll help appreciated