Brexit proofing stocks and share ISAs by transferring balances to Cash ISA

dunstonh

2) I do not know that much about the financial markets but given how the markets took a knock and sterling fell after the Brexit vote

Most people saw their investment values rise significantly after the referendum vote because of the fall in Sterling. Markets barely blipped.

I cannot imagine the markets not be affected whichever way it goes.

What markets are you referring to?

3) Bearing in mind I'm a novice, I was of the opinion that bonds would be safer than equities in an unstable market

Markets are not unstable. They are doing what they always do.

steviewander

AnotherJoe wrote: »

What do you mean "the markets took a knock after Brexit" ? The FTSE rose after a temporary dip. Due to sterling falling. World markets dipped for ten minutes then carried on unaffected, because the U.K. is only about 6% world gdp. If you held a diversified portfolio then with Sterling falling your investments would have risen.



First of all markets are always unstable. If you don't understand that you shouldn't be investing.

Second you keep talking about "the" market as if there is only one, but there are many, there is a whole world economy and you as an admittedly novice investor should be globally diversified in which case Brexit immediate effects are an irrelevance to the economics of the companies you are invested in and only sterling exchange rate changes make a difference, something that's pretty much inescapable as a U.K. investor. Trying to double guess sterling movements is a mugs game.

When I talk of the market, I mean the global stock market. Both my robo-advisor accounts are invested in global diversified portfolios - that much I do know. It is hard to decipher from the noise how much Brexit will have on the world economy but I’m guessing if the UK is only 6% of the world GDP and the robo-advisors are emailing me telling they are “maintaining low exposure to UK-focussed risky assets” and reducing their “vulnerability to currency volatility” then that is some reassurance. It alls sounds very sensible but then again they have to reassure us novices in case we panic and withdraw!

steviewander

Linton wrote: »

So your friends want to sell now and buy back when prices are higher. Are you sure that is a profitable strategy?

I have no idea. I have only started to dabble in investing recently! I know friends of mine who do this and boast about the gains they’ve made.

bowlhead99

steviewander wrote: »

I have no idea. I have only started to dabble in investing recently! I know friends of mine who do this and boast about the gains they’ve made.

I expect that in the times when they guess the market wrong and lose money (or miss out on gains) instead, they don't choose to boast about that part.

newatc

steviewander wrote: »

Hi. I have a couple of "robo-advisor" stock and share ISA accounts that have been emailing me about their mantra of sticking with long term investment and how they are maneouvering their portfolios in preparation for possible Brexit ramifications.
Friends of mine are telling me to transfer the balances in to a safe cash ISA account to protect my balance before March 29th and transfer it back after the Brexit "dust settles".
Do people think this is wise or shall I just reduce my risk profile with each account where they will increase my investment in bonds and reduce my % equities?

From one novice to another I would suggest that if you are in it for the long term, you should keep with your current strategy as even the more expert wouldn't claim to be able to time the market. If you are relying on liquifying some assets in the short term for a particular reason then you might consider taking the short term gamble out of the equation by moving that part to cash.

hjghg5

I've been pondering this. A recent inheritance means I'm overweight in cash at the moment. I've finally managed to get comfortable with the fact that my investments (a couple of diversified global trackers) are likely to do less badly than sterling, even if there are some drops. I'm also hedging a bit by investing half before Brexit and half after but that is mainly because I need to spread it across two ISA years.

Malthusian

steviewander wrote: »

I have no idea.

The answer to Linton's question is "no". Now you do.

I know friends of mine who do this and boast about the gains they’ve made.

Nobody who makes meaningful money by investing on the stockmarket boasts about their gains. They are too busy cruising around on their yacht with equally rich people who wouldn't be impressed.

The fact that they boast about their gains indicates that gains are a rare occurrence for them. You wouldn't boast about landing a 50-kilo fish if you did it every single week.