Vanguard Life Strategy Fund: Good choice?

bostonerimus

Thrugelmir wrote: »

When too many people get inside the Toyota Carolla then it'll become increasingly difficult to drive. Other than in a straight line. Cornering in it will become increasingly problematic.

Ha...nice one.......maybe you could also say that too many Corollas will clog the roads and make it hard to get anywhere. Also is an IFA "managed" tracker and multi-asset funds portfolio like having a chauffeur driven Corolla......what you want is the Rolls Royce with the chauffeur, not the Ferrari or the corolla. The thing is those Rolls Royces are of limited number.

FB13

bostonerimus wrote: »

If we take the car analogy further the mult-asset fund is like a Toyota Carolla in that it will get you cheaply and steadily to your destination with out too much fuss. Some active funds are like Ferraris, they might get you somewhere quickly with a lot of excitement, but they are expensive and if you crash it will be a disaster.

And as research shows, almost all of the ferraris you can buy will perform worse over the course of your driving career than the carolla (assuming it isn't one race, which saving for retirement isn't).

Herbalus

eskbanker wrote: »

I'm aware of other global multi-asset offerings out there such as BlackRock Consensus, L&G Multi-Index and HSBC Global Strategy, and that there are obviously variations between allocations, objectives and methodologies, but would be curious about what's behind your professional opinion of 'better' that means you'd no longer use VLS?

dunstonh wrote: »

It would not be difficult to work out when you list the similar alternatives and find one with lower charges and better returns.

I have done such a list, but such clarity still eludes me!

BlackRock Consensus 100 - OCF 0.23%
L&G Multi-Index 7 - OCF 0.31%
Vanguard LS 100 - OCF 0.22%
HSBC Global Strat Adventurous - OCF 0.20%

Returns over the last 4 years are:
Blackrock is 15%, -4%, 33%, 10%
Legal & G is 14%, -7% 26%, 8%
Vanguard is 16%, -4% 32%, 11%
HSBC has only been going 6 months in the adventurous form.

I appreciate L&G 7 includes a bond component so is not strictly comparable, but Vanguard is on par with Blackrock and HSBC for cost, and has done marginally better in performance. Plus when you factor in Vanguards own platform at 0.15%, it is cheaper (at the cost of only accessing Vanguard products if held in ISA).

I realise I am more adventurous given my time horizon for investing, and your comparison could be for "medium attitudes to risk".

Fatbritabroad

My view is a balance between the two. I intrnd to just use vls 100 until i have a decent sum (100k is my target). Ill be in my 40s then and will look to switch to vls 80 as my core holding or possibly Blackrock or Hsbc. Ill then look to buy some active more concentrated funds following research with say 10% to 20% of this or maybe even a few shares outright. Again more than happy if people want to correct this plan but seems a good idea to have a core holding at use satellites to tilt your exposure

Lungboy

dutchcloggie wrote: »

Ok. So that very quickly turned into language I don't understand. I must say that I am sad that so many people assume folks like me are "not prepared to do their own research". As if I am lazy and don't deserve a good return on my investment.

I am trying to do research. But I simply don't understand what I am reading. Funds? Equity? What's the difference between stocks and shares etc etc. It feels to me like I am trying to read a book in a foreign language. It doesn't matter how many times I read it, if I don't speak the language, I will never understand what I am looking at. Giving someone a dictionary is not the same as learning a language.

So, I am merely asking if Vanguard would be a good start for me to learn a new language. I am a person to whom abstract things make no sense. So I need to start and learn whilst doing. To SEE what is happening. That is how my brain works. I'm happy that many people are able to understand things just by reading about them but I'm not like that. I speak 4 languages but none of them were learned by reading books. I just started speaking and learned what I did right and what I did wrong along the way. Hence I want a low-key, low risk thing to start with until I have a basic grasp of the language of investing.

Another example would be someone who can't drive is asking for advice in a good car for a learner driver. People would say: start cheap until you are in control of the car and have good driving skills, then look at a more powerful car. Only fools would say they should buy a Ferrari straight away because it is the obviously superior car...For me, this works like that.

Thanks for the advice you guys have given me so far.

Have a look at Lars Kroijer's "investing demystified" videos on YouTube, he explains why you might never need the Ferrari.