Transferring money from a stocks and shares ISA

donmaico

I seem to remember reading somewhere that while it possible transfer funds from a cash ISA to stocks and share ISA it is not possible to do the opposite which seems odd. I am asking because I am increasingly becoming anxious about the effects Brexit will have on my investments ie 5 multifunds. The total stock percentage is 35% of which a third is in the UK so volatility is low. Even so, these five star rated funds are now performing poorly (although I guess that may be attributed to the remaining 65% invested in bonds, cash and "other") . Should a 30.79 % weighting in the UK be a concern to me and what can I do about it if the Brexit sh*t hits the fan? I thought I could wait and see how things develop and if things turn out as badly as I suspect they will I could transfer my capital into a cash ISA and continue making monthly investments into the stocks and shares ISA in the hope things will improve. It's either that or change my multifunds altogether with no weighting in the UK whatsoever.unfortunatley from memory I don't think the rules will enable to do the former

AnotherJoe

If only 11% of your investment is in the UK then you have no need to be concerned since most of the companies in that 11% will be the top 10 or so companies in the FTSE and most of those get their earnings from abroad and so if Brexit is an unmitigated disaster and the Pound falls, then their profits will increase.
If you look at what happened just after Brexit the FTSE100 rose. And heres a more recent headline from this past week

Blue-chip stocks in the U.K. finished with sizable gains Monday, helped by the pound’s drop on news of Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson’s resignation, which raises the chance of a formal challenge to Prime Minister Theresa May.

So, if things "turn out as badly as I suspect" your strategy of selling up would be precisely the wrong one. Which isn't surprising. What you are trying to do is whats called "timing the market". If you were clever enough to do that you wouldnt have an investment portfolio with just 35% equities which has had low or perhaps poor performance.

So stay as is and if this is a long term investment consider increasing your allocation to equities preferably global ones.

As you say, your low (not necessarily poor) performance is due to your very low allocation to equities which is what I assume you yourself you chose I presume due to your perceived risk level or caution. Which has backfired.
To expand on that, "poor" performance should mean relative to other similar investments/split.

Lets say you are getting 3%.

If the average in your risk level 5 is 10% with most getting between 8-12% and you are getting 3%, thats poor.
If the average in your risk level 1 is 3 % with most getting between 1-4% and you are 3%, thats good.

kidmugsy

donmaico wrote: »

I seem to remember reading somewhere that while it possible transfer funds from a cash ISA to stocks and share ISA it is not possible to do the opposite

I'm pretty confident that that's wrong. You'd presumably need to sell the S&S first, so that you simply hold cash within the S&S ISA.

I suggest you visit a website such as Nationwide's and see what they say on the topic.

badger09

kidmugsy wrote: »

I'm pretty confident that that's wrong. You'd presumably need to sell the S&S first, so that you simply hold cash within the S&S ISA.

I suggest you visit a website such as Nationwide's and see what they say on the topic.

Yes, it is wrong.

OP, you would have to sell your shares/funds to realise cash. Then ask your chosen cash ISA provider to transfer the cash.

Unfortunately, looking at Nationwide website won't help on this one, as all it tells you is to apply for a transfer pack;)

PS
I'm deliberately not commenting on whether this is good idea or not:cool:

ColdIron

donmaico wrote: »

I seem to remember reading somewhere that while it possible transfer funds from a cash ISA to stocks and share ISA it is not possible to do the opposite which seems odd.

That used to be the case but you've been able to do it since 2014. I think it was part of Osborne's pension/NISA shake-up. Of course not all providers can be forced to do it, just like cash ISA transfers

xylophone

You would sell as much of the investment as you wished to transfer out and hold in cash in the S&S.

You would then request the cash ISA provider to arrange the transfer.

soulsaver

badger09 wrote: »

Yes, it is wrong.

OP, you would have to sell your shares/funds to realise cash. Then ask your chosen cash ISA provider to transfer the cash.

PS
I'm deliberately not commenting on whether this is good idea or not:cool:

And me... until I have the benefit of hindsight..:)

Albermarle

It does not have to be all or nothing . If you are that concerned about Brexit /markets peaking etc but taking into account the more positive comments from other posters , why not turn 30 or 40% of your investments into cash and leave the rest as it is .

seacaitch

soulsaver wrote: »

And me... until I have the benefit of hindsight..:)

In the ~25 years I've been watching markets - and watching how other investors respond to markets - what commonly happens is:

- markets fall
- newsflow follows and becomes negative
- markets fall more sharply
- newsflow follows and becomes much more negative
- some private investors begin dumping their worst performing investments to make the psychological pain of the loss go away, fully intending to repurchase when the dust has settled...
- markets then either rapidly recover, leaving the dumpers feeling foolish, or accelerate lower making the dumpers feel quite smart...
- if markets accelerate lower, newsflow follows and becomes unremittingly (uniformly) negative, and pessimism abounds...
- normal, cautiously-minded investors, who don't usually pay much attention to markets, read all the pessimistic headlines and begin selling out of everything in order to protect what they have
- markets then commonly turn and rally aggressively
- almost none of the people who sold out (capitulated) after the large declines had already occurred consider buying back in until prices are much higher, because having once fled from perceived danger it's very difficult to re-embrace the risk again until it feels completely safe (= much higher prices).

If you've a sensibly constructed portfolio that's roughly in-line with your risk tolerance, then if markets are falling and you get stressed by it, the simplest thing to do is not to look at markets or your portfolio. Remember your long term plan. Go fishing or something. Keep markets at arms-length. Check your portfolio semi-annually or annually, not hourly. Do not act in haste.

donmaico

AnotherJoe wrote: »

If only 11% of your investment is in the UK then you have no need to be concerned since most of the companies in that 11% will be the top 10 or so companies in the FTSE and most of those get their earnings from abroad and so if Brexit is an unmitigated disaster and the Pound falls, then their profits will increase.
If you look at what happened just after Brexit the FTSE100 rose. And heres a more recent headline from this past week
So, if things "turn out as badly as I suspect" your strategy of selling up would be precisely the wrong one. Which isn't surprising. What you are trying to do is whats called "timing the market". If you were clever enough to do that you wouldnt have an investment portfolio with just 35% equities which has had low or perhaps poor performance.

So stay as is and if this is a long term investment consider increasing your allocation to equities preferably global ones.

As you say, your low (not necessarily poor) performance is due to your very low allocation to equities which is what I assume you yourself you chose I presume due to your perceived risk level or caution. Which has backfired.
To expand on that, "poor" performance should mean relative to other similar investments/split.

Lets say you are getting 3%.

If the average in your risk level 5 is 10% with most getting between 8-12% and you are getting 3%, thats poor.
If the average in your risk level 1 is 3 % with most getting between 1-4% and you are 3%, thats good.

According to Morning Star all five funds are outperforming their respective benchmarks but the last year has been very poor. My IFA elected the funds based on my cautious profile and the fact I have now retired. So cautious are the funds they are barely outperforming a bank account and yet 2016 was very good and 2017 not too bad .i suggested changing the funds to ones with a greater SS weighting but he did not think that wise so I guess it's just about holding tight whilst I continue making monthly investments(something i will continue doing for the next 5 years) in the hope things improve

kidmugsy

badger09 wrote: »

Unfortunately, looking at Nationwide website won't help on this one, as all it tells you is to apply for a transfer pack

On the contrary, it tells him exactly what he needs to know viz that it's possible.