Shares ISA only

aspiration_2

My shares ISA of a few years with a bank is not doing well at all. I have read all about ISAs in this excellent forum and I know which fund supermarket is cheapest for ISAs.

Could someone please point me to some financial institutions wehere I am likely to make at least 5.5% a year ? Is 6% likely ? I do realise that shares are risky and so I want them to invest it for me. I just want a nudge in the correct direction.

Thanks in advance

Aegis

You'll get more than 6% in a good cash ISA now. Personally I wouldn't bother with the risk associated with shares and other such investments for the 5.5% figure that you mentioned...

However, if you want shares rather than collective investments (which might suit your needs better if you want to stick with lower-risk investments), then Selftrade seems to be fairly reasonable at £12.50 per share trade. However, they have an annual fee of £25 for holding your shares in an ISA, so it's possible that they will be beaten by another company with lower charges.

steve-o_3

There's loads of ways to go about "share ISA's" as you call them, the best way I've found is by using fund managers.

I currently fill both my cash ISA allowance (£3k) and my share ISA allowance (£4k) every year and I use Jupiter fund managers to manage my share ISA's (or funds).

Its really easy to sign up and funds are not as volatile as people believe if you invest long term. I guarantee if you look at virtually any fund profile, yes it will have peaks and falls, but generally the trend will be positive and way above any 6% cash ISA over a period of years.

I started my first fund with Jupiter 2 years ago and it is currently making me 15.2% per year average (30.4% overall) even after all my fees are taken into account.

My fund investment for 2006 to 2007 isn't doing quite as well and I'm currently making bang on 7% as of today, but theres still nearly 6 months of the tax year left!!! (so thats aiming towards a 14% "annual" interest).

You just need to research which fund to invest in and be sure you understand the risks of each fund. I spread my yearly £4k share ISA allowance across 4, 5 or even 6 different funds (some very stable, some with risk), but reading up and understanding is important.

If you plan to invest then cash in your funds, then you do need to be careful and be very aware of the markets, if you're investing long term (a few years or longer) then I think most funds (as long as you pick the right ones) tend to beat cash ISA's over the long term.

Each to their own though! Good luck!

Steve

debbie42

steve-o wrote: »

My fund investment for 2006 to 2007 isn't doing quite as well and I'm currently making bang on 7% as of today, but theres still nearly 6 months of the tax year left!!! (so thats aiming towards a 14% "annual" interest).

It isn't quite so predictable as that though!

steve-o_3

Nope, maybe not, like I say, you've got to do your reading and decide wisely on which fund you're going to go for. But I would say even for a newbie, investing in certain funds is very very secure and risk free (others are obviously more of a risk).

Look at the charts, look at the manager profiles, look at the fund profiles and do your research on the investments.

Regardless, I don't think funds are the big gamble alot of people think they are! Read up and stay in touch and you can always move your funds across to other funds if they're not doing so well (for a small fee).

But its just like any other investment, if you don't do your reading up, you could get your fingers burt. Just don't think its as huge a gamble as everyone makes out, especially long term, look at most fund profiles and they all beat bog standard interest over time.

Ian_W

steve-o wrote: »

There's loads of ways to go about "share ISA's" as you call them, the best way I've found is by using fund managers....

I started my first fund with Jupiter 2 years ago...

Has to be said Steve - that isn't the best moneysaving advice to the OP - or for yourself for that matter.
Martin's got an article HERE about using discount brokers and fund supermarkets to save buying costs on funds.
If you link to the discount brokers in the article you'll see that they'll discount most - sometimes all - of the initial charge whereas Jupiter will charge you [according to their key facts doc on ISAs] the full initial cost of 5.5% [£220 on a Mini S&S ISA]. Ironically that full cost includes 3% intended to pay an IFA for advice, so Jupiter [and other fund houses] are getting you to pay for advice you don't receive.
The other drawback with going direct is you can only chose funds from that firm - discount brokers working through a fund supermarket offer a wide range of managers with 1000s of funds to pick. Jupiter have some very good funds but so do others, so why limit your choice and pay through the nose for the privilege?
Many on here use Hargreaves Lansdowne as they also rebate some of their trail commission as a loyalty bonus.

Could someone please point me to some financial institutions wehere I am likely to make at least 5.5% a year ? Is 6% likely ?

Banks also charge high up front fees and usually have poor funds of their own. If you read the article and go to the different broker sites many have lists of funds but it all depends on your attitude to risk. If you're very cautious 6-8 is possible in a good year and if more adventurous you could easily double that BUT S&S's have bad years and you could find your investments down by the same amount or more.
A good place to learn the basics of funds and investments is INCADEMY. Alternatively if you don't want to learn about them you'd be better going thro' an IFA and paying the higher costs to get a spread of funds that matches your risk than relying on a bank advisor.
HTH & Best of luck.

aspiration_2

Glad to note that Jupiter funds actually do make 14% a year. Exactly what I wanted to hear. Now I have learnt that fund companies will also do shares ISA.

I will now decide whether to do Shares ISA with a fund supermarket or ask directly a fund provider to do it for me (and pay the initial cost). Will do more research.

Thank you all for the excellent advice.

JohalaReewi

You might want to pop over to the motley fool where they have lots of information and ideas about share ISAs.

http://www.fool.co.uk/isas/compare-isas.aspx