Ftse 100 or 250 Tracker - through Who though?

BlackBird75

Poorlyone wrote: »

Hi there
I fancy putting a bit aside each month into one of the above, say for 5-10 years ( if i am still here!).
I will go for the isa wrapper but wondered who offers the opportunity online to buy into such a tracker fund.
Just wondered if anyone could help?
Thanks

How old are you?
I would be cautious putting all your money into equities later in life. You may not have time to recover from a crash.

BlackBird75

dunstonh wrote: »

The FTSE100 is a dire index that is a consistent underperformer in global terms.
You are effectively betting on UK equity large cap being the best sector all the time. Whereas in reality, it hasn't been for over 25 years.

This will be a result of the underlying companies in the FTSE 100.
What is holding them back?
Because some sectors (e.g. mining) may be currently undervalued, compared to USA technology companies.

If and when the technology heavy S&P crashes, will the FTSE 100 crash with it?

I would guess yes (market "contagion" etc), but less of a crash.

System

Oops , duplicated ☹️

System

BlackBird75 wrote: »

How old are you?
I would be cautious putting all your money into equities later in life. You may not have time to recover from a crash.

Hi there . Am. 55 but in poor health.You make a good point.

System

dunstonh wrote: »

The FTSE100 is a dire index that is a consistent underperformer in global terms.

Investing in a single sector is bad investing. You are effectively betting on UK equity large cap being the best sector all the time. Whereas in reality, it hasn't been for over 25 years. Investing in any on sector carries that risk whather its UK or US or whatever.

Multi-asset funds are better suited for this purpose.

Do you know of a nice multi asset fund thats isa-able and internetable?

MK62

AnotherJoe wrote: »

VLS though goes too high. 25%. As a result far too much concentrated into a handful of sectors.

Why is 25% too high?

Don't they all in reality?

Not really sure what you mean here......if you mean many of the FTSE100 heavyweights generate a lot of their earnings abroad, then yes, that's true, and Sterling going down pushes their share price up in a similar way as it inflates overseas assets (even if not quite as directly).......but there is more to UK investing than just the FTSE100 heavyweights.
I suppose in the end though you could make this argument for any company which exports any of it's products or has overseas subsidiaries/operations.......it will come up against currency exchange issues sooner or later (which is why many companies have to hedge the risk).

BlackBird75

Poorlyone wrote: »

Hi there . Am. 55 but in poor health.You make a good point.

I wouldn't put any money in stocks or bonds, in your circumstances.
I would buy a load of gold sovereigns for cash and keep your money hidden from the government.

AnotherJoe

MK62 wrote: »

Why is 25% too high?

Because its artificial (its an arbitrary number, its not the UK GDP % which woudl be about 7%) and due to the way the indexes work, it means effectively you are only invested in 10-20 (at most) companies, everything else is noise. And that means a handful of sectors. If banking, finance or mining take a bath, so do you.

Not really sure what you mean here......if you mean many of the FTSE100 heavyweights generate a lot of their earnings abroad, then yes, that's true, and Sterling going down pushes their share price up in a similar way as it inflates overseas assets (even if not quite as directly).......but there is more to UK investing than just the FTSE100 heavyweights.
yep thats what i mean, and I refer the honorable gentleman to my comments above re sector concentration.And if you do want to get more than just the FTSE100 heavyweights, VLS100 is absolutely not the way to do it.

I suppose in the end though you could make this argument for any company which exports any of it's products or has overseas subsidiaries/operations.......it will come up against currency exchange issues sooner or later (which is why many companies have to hedge the risk).

Yes but you cant usefully hedge investments for currency long term, its just like adding a whacking big anchor to your performance.

AnotherJoe

Poorlyone wrote: »

Do you know of a nice multi asset fund thats isa-able and internetable?

See all the ones above in previous posts. However if you are in poor health (does that equate to limited life expectancy?) then I'm not sure that investing in equities is a good idea.

Tom99

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]You could combine:[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Vanguard FTSE Developed World ex UK [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]FTSE100 Tracker[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]FTSE250 Tracker[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Using you own proportions you can choose the UK/Non UK blend you want.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]For the UK part, splitting between FTSE100/250 is a good way of diluting the dominance of the top UK companies. Better than FTSE All Share or FTSE350.[/FONT]