Virgin Stocks and Shares ISA

Sbarcz

I opened a Virgin S&S ISA a few months ago. It was hovering around the amount I had put into it however in the last 2 months it's dropped by £1.5k. Is this right? I've put in around £18k.

Wondering whether to cut my losses and move it out or leave it in to see if the value increases.

I knew it was a higher risk ISA when I opened it but didn't expect this much of a dip, especially as the last couple of years had been good.

Alexland

The world has had a circa 10% stock market correction (not as bad as a crash) and it has been all over the financial news and has previously happened lots of times in history.

To have seen most of that drop your asset allocation was adventurous circa 80% stocks and 20% bonds?

With that asset allocation then in a crash scenario it could drop a further circa 30% if things got really bad.

In theory it could drop to zero however that is extremely unlikely.

Historically, assuming you are sufficiently diversified, corrections and crashes have always recovered eventually. Would you be willing to wait for the recovery if you saw that size of drop and all the bad news in the newspapers? When do you need to access and use the money?

p.s. Virgin S&S ISAs tend to have high charges consider switching to someone like Vanguard.

Alex

eskbanker

Sbarcz wrote: »

I knew it was a higher risk ISA when I opened it but didn't expect this much of a dip

Why did you consciously decide to choose a higher risk investment if your reaction to a small correction is to panic? As Alex says, much worse can and should be expected during the course of a reasonable investment period, i.e. 7-10 years or more rather than a few months, but if you get cold feet at this stage then you've probably invested beyond your risk tolerance.

Having said that, buying high and selling low is rarely a recipe for success, so bailing out now isn't a good idea, but give it time to recover and reconsider your options then....

dunstonh

I opened a Virgin S&S ISA a few months ago. It was hovering around the amount I had put into it however in the last 2 months it's dropped by £1.5k. Is this right? I've put in around £18k.

Virgin ISAs are awful. What made you pick them?

As you should have known when you invested, the value of your investment will go down as well as up. So, its gone down. Just as it said it would.

I knew it was a higher risk ISA when I opened it but didn't expect this much of a dip, especially as the last couple of years had been good.

This "dip" is only a small one. The type that can happen every year or two. It's about half a crash and only a quarter of the drops that occurred in the credit crunch and dot.com period. If you are shocked now, then you are in for a very big shock when the a real decline comes along.

Sbarcz

I am happy to ride it out. Was just concerned it had dropped so rapidly within a couple of days and had read on another thread that somebody else's had been valued incorrectly, or they thought it had.

Sbarcz

So I am new to these type of investments. Have usually gone for safe and low returns.
Can I expect big sudden increases as well as low then? I hope so 😁

dunstonh

Can I expect big sudden increases as well as low then? I hope so ��

Drops tend to be more sudden and steeper (although not always). Gains tend to be slower (but not always).

Remember the drop so far is only a quarter of what has occurred twice in the last 20 years. The first one was a slow decline over multiple years. The second happened in the space of week with a second double dip around 6 months later.

jimjames

Sbarcz wrote: »

So I am new to these type of investments. Have usually gone for safe and low returns.
Can I expect big sudden increases as well as low then? I hope so 😁

It's definitely worth looking at your options and considering whether you have the best option for your situation. Virgin are very expensive and you can get an equivalent for around 25% of the price which could be a big annual saving depending on how much you have invested.

Alexland

jimjames wrote: »

considering whether you have the best option for your situation.

I cannot imagine any situation where a Virgin S&S ISA would be the best option for anyone.

RG2015

Alexland wrote: »

I cannot imagine any situation where a Virgin S&S ISA would be the best option for anyone.

Virgin Money is perceived as a trusted brand as CYBG have attested to by paying a substantial licence fee to retain the name and to re-brand their existing outlets following their takeover of VM.

I suspect that the VM S&S ISA attracts novice investors for this very reason. In addition, many of the VM savings products are very competitive thus supporting a perception of value.

I have never understood why Richard Branson and all of the Virgin franchises have largely avoided the negative publicity and vilification directed at other similar figurehead led organisations.

Clearly though, VM along with Santander and NatWest to name but a few are cynically trying to attracted savers disenchanted with current savings rates to their S&S offerings. I guess that these poor value products are quite profitable for the banks.

Caveat Emptor and due diligence sadly is being outmanoeuvred by the powerful I marketing machines of big banking.

dunstonh

I have never understood why Richard Branson and all of the Virgin franchises have largely avoided the negative publicity and vilification directed at other similar figurehead led organisations.

They pay for a lot of advertising. Media tends not to criticise it's advertisers.