Some feedback please

ShaunT_2

I've been reading alot of the threads on this forum with interest and have enjoyed the input from many a poster.
I currently have the full amount in a NS&I cash ISA and am in a position to dip my toe into a S&S ISA. I can afford £200/month and am planning on drip feeding £50/month into 4 funds and then at a later date changing to 4 other funds for diversity.
I see this as a longterm investment.....atleast 10 years. I am looking for growth and have a moderate/adventerous attitude to risk....well atleast i think i do....will find out when i encounter problems .
The 8 funds i am looking at are.....

Artemis Income Acc
AXA Fram UK Smaller Comp Acc
Gartmore Japan Oppotunities Acc
JPM Natural Resources Acc
Liontrust first Growth Inc
New Star Sterling Bond Acc
Schroder European Alpha Plus Acc
Schroder US Smaller Companies Acc

....is this a reasonably diverse portfolio?
....what are peoples opinions of these funds?
....what other sectors should I be looking at?
....is my risk level about right?

any info and feedback would be much appreciated

cheers

Ian_W

Hi Shaun,
You're on page 2 already with no takers so my inexpert opinion will at least bump your post and possibly tempt some more expert posters to take issue with what I say.
Diversity is good but it's a means to an end, rather than an end in itself and I think you're in danger of trying to get too much, too soon with too little. Don't take the "too little" as a slight, I think it's great that you're going to put away what you can afford as longer term investments but the more that builds up the more important diversity becomes and you can achieve it over time.

Personally I'd pick a UK core holding for starters. Of those you've researched Artemis Income or Liontrust would fit the bill and between them it's which you feel has better prospects in the near to mid term. Artemis has 22% in financials with 3 banks in it's top ten holdings whereas Liontrust has much less in that sector. The banks/financials have taken a hammering recently so it's really whether you see banks as cheap at the mo, or whether with the credit crunch uncertainty they may have further to fall.
Next would be bonds and the corp bond fund you've highlighted is a good one but I wonder if you need all that downside protection away from equities from the start? Have you looked at UK Other Bonds? They tend to have some equities - typically 20% - and possibly lower quality but higher yielding bonds. Two examples would be Artemis High Income [not done well lately but good long term record] and Invesco Monthly Income +.
Then to add geographical diversity I'd look at funds that do that themselves, like active managed or global growth with particular attention to where they invest [to get a good spread] as well as how they perform.
For the final fund of phase1 I'd plump for a specific area but not either the US, which is beset with problems, or Japan which seems unfathomable to outsiders as to when it's economy will finally wake up. Depending on whether your moderate or adventurous side wins I'd go for either Europe or the Far East x Jpn. If the former then I'd revisit your Euro choice as I've got it largely because it's heavily touted but it's been disappointing of late and underperformed the sector for 2 of the last 4 years. If the latter then I'd look for a broad spread rather than something too China specific.

BTW all the funds you picked look pretty good ones, JPM NR especially so IMO but very volatile and maybe only a small % of a diverse portfolio and the other sector you may want to look at is Emerging markets but again as a small %.
As for your risk profile I'm not sure that description would mean the same to me as it would to you. Perhaps better to say what % loss on your portfolio would make you think about selling if the market went down and stayed down for 6 or 12 months?

HTH & BoL.

JDinho

ShaunT wrote: »

I've been reading alot of the threads on this forum with interest and have enjoyed the input from many a poster.
I currently have the full amount in a NS&I cash ISA and am in a position to dip my toe into a S&S ISA. I can afford £200/month and am planning on drip feeding £50/month into 4 funds and then at a later date changing to 4 other funds for diversity.
I see this as a longterm investment.....atleast 10 years. I am looking for growth and have a moderate/adventerous attitude to risk....well atleast i think i do....will find out when i encounter problems .
The 8 funds i am looking at are.....

Artemis Income Acc
AXA Fram UK Smaller Comp Acc
Gartmore Japan Oppotunities Acc
JPM Natural Resources Acc
Liontrust first Growth Inc
New Star Sterling Bond Acc
Schroder European Alpha Plus Acc
Schroder US Smaller Companies Acc

....is this a reasonably diverse portfolio?
....what are peoples opinions of these funds?
....what other sectors should I be looking at?
....is my risk level about right?

any info and feedback would be much appreciated

cheers

You would probably better off buying into a fund-of-funds or do it all investment trust until such time as you have more capital and can spread it across sectors with larger amounts.

ShaunT_2

Cheers IanW for bumping and your detailed reply :T
Having done some more reading I agree that i don't need to be so diverse with my choices and dont really need protection with the corporate bond.
Have decided to give the US and Japan a wide berth and look a bit more at Europe and emerging markets.
Will do some more reading before i take the plunge and cheers again.

ShaunT_2

JDinho wrote: »

You would probably better off buying into a fund-of-funds or do it all investment trust until such time as you have more capital and can spread it across sectors with larger amounts.

Very true....something i will look at! :T