Personal pension fund - investment choices re brexit

danlightbulb

I have a personal pension pot through work and i can choose how it is invested and switch between options at will. I am 39.

Ive never messed with it before so its currently all in their 'lifestyle' fund which is a mix of investments appropriate for my age. But given brexit risk on share prices i dont know whether to make a deliberate action to move it into cash temporarily, ride out the period before buying back in to default funds.

Help please? Time is short now.

AnotherJoe

Please explain your reasoning regards moving it into cash. Why do you think Brexit would affect share prices, as long as you haven't simply invested ina U.K. Small Companies fund or something equally niche. To takea few example of companies you will be invested in via global funds, what effect do you think Brexit would have on Shell, Microsoft, General Electric and MacDonalds ?

danlightbulb

AnotherJoe wrote: »

Please explain your reasoning regards moving it into cash.

I can move my pot into cash funds which then if share prices crash i would not be affected. There is no growth in the cash funds though so no good for long term. I believe the lifestyle fund makes increasing use of cash funds as retirement age is reached to protect against falls close to retirement age.

danlightbulb

AnotherJoe wrote: »

Please explain your reasoning regards moving it into cash. Why do you think Brexit would affect share prices, as long as you haven't simply invested ina U.K. Small Companies fund or something equally niche. To takea few example of companies you will be invested in via global funds, what effect do you think Brexit would have on Shell, Microsoft, General Electric and MacDonalds ?

Ah you expanded your post. i dont know what my mix of uk vs global funds currently is.

AnotherJoe

I was a bit tardy in updating. See my edited post.

AnotherJoe

danlightbulb wrote: »

Ah you expanded your post. i dont know what my mix of uk vs global funds currently is.

Well, let's pick a few "U.K." companies you are likely invested in. BP, HSBC, Rio Tinto, Glencore, Vodafone. Nearly all their business is outside the U.K. so, with a "bad" Brexit, the Pound falls,their income which is in dollars then increases their income in Pounds and so their shares rise.
Stop trying to be an international day trader and leave it alone.

dunstonh

But given brexit risk on share prices

Brexit is not playing out on the stockmarket. It is playing out in Sterling.

i dont know whether to make a deliberate action to move it into cash temporarily, ride out the period before buying back in to default funds.

Good job you didnt do that in 2016. Following the referendum, the fall in sterling pushed your investments up in value.

It may have passed you by but this Brexit issue has been going on for nearly 3 years now and has plenty of years to go yet.

The problem with being an armchair investor is that you make decisions without understanding them. You hear snippets about Brexit yet the markets are not that interested. Trump and Italy, to name just two of many other areas, which are more important worries (and there are plenty of them). There is a greater risk of you making bad decisions based on incomplete understanding.

I can move my pot into cash funds which then if share prices crash i would not be affected.

Why would Brexit cause them to crash? Let's say we get a hard Brexit, sterling will fall and your global investments will rise in value.