Blackrock Consensus - anyone a fan ?

bcfclee27

In my S&S ISAs my wife and I hold reasonable amounts in Vanguard Life Strategy & HSBC global strategy funds.....

I am looking to start investing us in LISAs this year and am thinking about using Blackrock consensus - I know HL do a good discount on these funds.

Just wanted something similar but different to what we hold in our ISAs. Does anyone hold Blackrock consensus and are you happy with them ?
Any other similar funds worth looking at ?

Many thanks

want_to_save

I would look at Vanguard Lifestrategy, similar passive strategy but on a performance basis Vangaurd beats Blackrock and is 0.01% amc cheaper

jamei305

They're all very similar. Good lucking trying to work out which of their particular slightly different allocations will produce the highest returns in 10 to 20 years.

ColdIron

want_to_save wrote: »

I would look at Vanguard Lifestrategy, similar passive strategy but on a performance basis Vangaurd beats Blackrock and is 0.01% amc cheaper

OP already has VLS and the 0.9% OCF with HL after their Loyalty Bonus makes BlackRock Concensus considerably cheaper

TheShape

I've used the Vanguard Lifestrategy, Blackrock Consensus and HSBC Global Strategy Funds in my SIPP and S&S ISA.

I'm invested in the Blackrock Consensus 100 fund in my LISA with HL. I'd decided to hold my LISA with HL so it made sense to me to take advantage of the discount on the Blackrock fund.

Alexland

Yeah all 3 fund series are good and as jamei305 says none of us will be able to say at this point with certainty which would perform better in the long term. If you want mostly passive in your HL LISA, can cope with the high volatility and you are investing for 20+ years then the discount on Consensus 85 and 100 makes it no brainer for the early years of your LISA.

Also worth remembering that HL have discounts on active stock picker funds such as the 0.20% reduction on the well regarded but concentrated Lindsell Train Global Equity which brings the total cost down to 0.99% (0.54% LT OCF + 0.45% HL).

Alex

oz0707

So the ongoing charges appear to be roughly half of the VLS or HSBC fund. Is this set in stone, would hl have to notify you if their discount was to stop or change?

Why is the Blackrock so expensive but then has discounts (on initial purchase and ongoing charge)?

Am I also right in thinking the more expensive funds would cost you £20 per year for every 10k as opposed to £10 a year for Blackrock? (for perspective)

ColdIron

Like any provider of goods or services they can apply discounts to attract more customers or money and again they can change their charges or discounts, it is not set in stone. Pretty much nobody applies initial charges these days and HL are presenting themselves in the best possible light by highlighting that they don't apply them either, I suppose it might catch out the unwary

You maths is broadly right, a 0.22% charge on £10,000 is £22 and 0.09% is £9 but these are the fund charges only, you need to add on the provider or platform charges to see the total annual cost to yourself

bcfclee27

Alexland wrote: »

Yeah all 3 fund series are good and as jamei305 says none of us will be able to say at this point with certainty which would perform better in the long term. If you want mostly passive in your HL LISA, can cope with the high volatility and you are investing for 20+ years then the discount on Consensus 85 and 100 makes it no brainer for the early years of your LISA.

Also worth remembering that HL have discounts on active stock picker funds such as the 0.20% reduction on the well regarded but concentrated Lindsell Train Global Equity which brings the total cost down to 0.99% (0.54% LT OCF + 0.45% HL).

Alex

Thanks Alex,

I fancy a bit more risk in my LISAs. So the Blackrock 100 I'm interested in, however something like Lindsell Train also interests me as is something very different to my ISAs.

I've seen Fundsmith equity also mentioned in other threads.

What would the difference between say Lindsell train and Fundsmith or is it just down to the fund managers picks of companies ?

Alexland

bcfclee27 wrote: »

What would the difference between say Lindsell train and Fundsmith or is it just down to the fund managers picks of companies ?

If you Google search Terry Smith and Nick Train there are several articles comparing their similar investment styles.

They are both 'buy and hold' investing in a small set of high quality companies with low financial liabilities and reliable cashflow and earnings which should do well in most market conditions. The main concern is that these types of companies are desirable so can have a high share price and resulting p/e ratio. However they should earn that premium back over time if they remain stable.

Personally my preference would be Lindsell Train's portfolio choices, experience and lower OCF (especially with the HL discount).

Alex

rathernot

It depends which Lindsell Train as they offer several funds.