Investments - Personal Investment Plan Halifax

muddypaws2807

Hi

My lovely dad passed away last week, after a very long battle with illness. My dad, was pretty smart, and after a lot of pulling together of paperwork etc, I have discovered he has two Halifax Investment Plans. Halifax have confirmed these so that all good.

With the monies left to me, I would like to follow in my dads footsteps and invest wisely it looks like it was an ISA Investor (stocks and Shares). Not got a clue what that means, but it has made sure that I am now looked after.

I dont want to let him down and do the wrong thing, I would be so upset if I did the wrong thing, not on monetary terms but that I have lost his money if that makes sense

Are these good investments to have?

justme111

You did not say what those investments were , you just said who they are made through - Halifax. The starting point would be to educate yourself a bit on how imvestments can be held and what can be done with them before deciding whether they are good or not .

fwor

A Halifax PIP is a plan which can include a range of funds, and each of these funds can vary greatly in terms of type of investment and level of risk.

Each plan is customised to reflect the requirements of the client, so it will (hopefully) have been set up to suit your Dad's needs.

In the short term there's no reason to rush into immediate action on them.

But they are probably quite high cost in terms of fees, by today's standards, so in the longer term you may get better returns by looking elsewhere. If the sums involved are substantial, it will probably be cost-effective to speak to an IFA to see about setting up an investment plan that meets ~your~ needs (rather than your Dad's).

bostonerimus

Look at the account and see what investments it holds.

justme111

think hat you want that money for as well

Tom99

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]If these investments are in an ISA then I believe they will need to be sold and the money passed to you. If they are outside an ISA it should, if you want, be possible to transfer the investments into your name e.g. with your own share-dealing account at Halifax.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]You should take time to understand what investments your dad held. They may have been right for him at his age and investment profile but not right for you.[/FONT]

PeacefulWaters

Almost certainly high charge.

Better alternatives will be available.

Alexland

muddypaws2807 wrote: »

I dont want to let him down and do the wrong thing, I would be so upset if I did the wrong thing, not on monetary terms but that I have lost his money if that makes sense.

This could be a problem as investing requires an acceptance that asset prices go down as well as up. During a stock market crash a diversified pool of shares could drop say 50% against their previous valuations. Even on the average day it's almost 50/50 if prices go up or down. That's not to say the investor has made a loss but somebody else is trading at those lower prices.

You can reduce the downside risk by running a portfolio with other asset classes such as bonds but you are also limiting the potential upside. Still for many it's still better than cash saving.

A good investor needs the self control and confidence in the underlying assets (which comes from developing an understanding) to ride out the downturns and stay invested.

If you are going to get very upset when see a loss (which is quite likely in the early years of any portfolio) then you are best not investing.

Alex