Assistance with First Direct Sharedealing account

LondonGurl

Hi guys,
I have a First Direct sharedealing account and would like to subscribe into a few ETF's but can not seem to find any VANGUARD LS or HSBC funds? The website is a bit clunky and I wanted to make sure that I am searching correctly. Is anyone familiar with the GUI and can guide me through?
Thanks
LG

alanq

It appears that Vanguard funds are not available but for HSBC funds:

From My Portfolio select Buy then UK Shares
Select your trade from account

If you know the fund's code then for enter share/stock select code (which is the default), enter the code then select get price.

Otherwise, for enter share/stock select name, enter HSBC then select get price. A list of HSBC's ETFs will be displayed. Select your chosen fund. The required code will be entered for you.

ColdIron

Vanguard's LifeStrategy isn't an ETF, it's an OEIC or fund, as is likely with HSBC funds. Perhaps look under funds, OEICs or Unit Trusts and not ETFs or shares

LondonGurl

Thanks guys, i was specifically looking for VLS80 and HSBC Global Strategy range of funds neither of which look to be in the Firsrt Direct Universe. Can anyone recommend a similar alternative I can look into?

ColdIron

Most people would determine the fund(s) that best suit their objective and then find the best place to hold them and not the other way around

eskbanker

As above, it sounds like you've started with the wrong platform if you're looking for non-ETF funds, the First Direct FAQs suggest an extremely limited range of investment options:

What does the first direct shares service offer?

With our service you will be able to:

• trade in most UK and Irish equities listed on the London Stock Exchange
• trade in government (gilt-edged) stock
• trade in a range of UK Exchange Traded Funds

so it sounds like you'd be better opening an account with one of the mainstream platforms instead, start at http://monevator.com/find-the-best-online-broker/....

dividendhero

First Direct share dealing site is cheap and cheerful, it's a million miles away from HL. But as always FD have good customer service - you can try phoning their share dealing department

ValiantSon

I've just had a quick look at First Direct's costs and it looks pretty expensive to me. If you are just starting out with your investments, then you would probably be best off with a percentage based platform (once you have a larger sum invested then switch to a fixed fee platform). Make use of the link provided by eskbanker to find the most suitable option.

LondonGurl

Thanks for your comments, I didn't give the full background to this and why I'm restricted to FD.
I have a FD cash ISA, I've since moved out of the UK and can no longer contribute to an SA neither can I open up a new broker platform in the UK. I do however have an existing FD Sharedealing account which I can shift the ISA to, invest into a decent fund or tracker and forget about it until Il my return in a few years. I'm just struggling to find such an investment in their website.

grey_gym_sock

1 issue is: will your current country of residence want to tax income and gains inside your ISA? i'm pretty sure no country other than the UK recognizes a UK ISA wrapper as granting a tax-free status. however, some countries won't want to tax your investments in the UK anyway (or not unless you remit investment income into the country in question).

so the FD sharedealing account doesn't do funds at all, just shares. you could use ETFs (which count as shares).

there aren't any multi-asset ETFs (equivalent to vanguard LS & HSBC global strategy, which are multi-asset funds). but there are ETFs tracking equities indexes, and other ETFs tracking bond indexes; you can get something roughly equivalent to a multi-asset fund by combining a few ETFs. at its simplest, that could be 1 ETF tracking global equities, and 1 ETF tracking UK government bonds (assuming you expect to return to the UK at some point - since the usual idea is to hold bonds in your home currency/country). or you could make it much more complicated

some ETFs tracking global equities:

vanguard FTSE all-world ETF (VWRL) (OCF 0.25%) - includes both developed and emerging markets

vanguard ftse developed world ETF (VEVE) (OCF 0.18%) - only developed markets, but cheaper

ishares core MSCI world ETF (SWDA) (OCF 0.20%) - again, developed markets only; the other difference from the 2 vanguard ETFs is that this ETF is accumulating, i.e. all the dividends it receives are automatically reinvested, not paid out

an ETF tracking UK government bonds:

vanguard UK gilts ETF (VGOV) (OCF 0.12%)