Suggestions for core-holding funds?

RomfordNavy

Soon to transfer a £100k cash ISA to a S&S ISA but then need to decided where to invest it, which funds?


Would consider this to be part of my core-holding so more interested in those investing in stable dividend payers than speculative holdings.

bowlhead99

RomfordNavy wrote: »

Soon to transfer a £100k cash ISA to a S&S ISA but then need to decided where to invest it, which funds?


Would consider this to be part of my core-holding so more interested in those investing in stable dividend payers than speculative holdings.

There are thousands of funds or investment trusts out there and many of them (or many combinations of them) could be valid as a core holding. Especially when you qualify that concept of core holding by saying that actually, you mean it to be just 'part of' your core holding.

If it's a core holding, it should have a good general exposure to regions and industry sectors, but plenty of funds do that, especially when you say it is only going to be part of the core holding and other holdings in the core (or round the edge of the core) can fill the gaps.

So, if you ask tens of experts you would get tens of different answers. Especially as you haven't given any real clue about your objectives, attitude to risk, capacity for loss, and what other things you are going to have alongside it in the rest of your portfolio.

OK, you have a preference for dividend payers rather than speculative holdings. However, saying 'not too speculative' is only going to knock down the thousands of options on the playing field to slightly fewer thousands of options. And as for dividend payers - most funds have holdings which generate dividend income, so you are still at thousands of funds; 'stable' dividends does not mean much in terms of specifics, and if you are going to get super specific and have really tight boundaries for your definitions you are perhaps cutting down the investible universe too harshly, which can risk you not really having a well-balanced portfolio overall.

Some funds don't pay dividends because they hold over 60% bonds and pay interest instead, or those that own real estate might pay property income distributions instead. Many people looking for a core holding might instead look at a fund that owns a mix of asset classes rather than exclusively equities.

It's not clear whether

- this spare £100k is going to be the majority or minority of your core holdings ?

- what the rest of those core holdings are going to be ?

- how many other £100ks you have lying around which might be invested in non-core holdings ?

- does the dividend focus mean you are literally only looking for funds that invest exclusively in company equities rather than in corporate or government bonds, commercial property or infrastructure projects etc etc?

The vague nature of the question probably implies you are not starting from a great depth of knowledge, and as 'a little knowledge is dangerous' I would be reluctant to give you that 'little knowledge' through specific recommendations without even knowing much about what you are hoping to achieve in the end (and how long away that is). All we can surmise is that you hope to get a better long term return than cash on deposit inside an ISA. That's a broad remit.

So, difficult to know what funds might fit the bill other than really generic choices which you could pluck off a database as being one of the 100+ funds which have a track record going back years and are found in the 'equity income' sector or 'global equity' sector or 'mixed asset 40-85% shares' sector or some other sector grouping.

RomfordNavy

By core-holding I mean part of the overall portfolio which I am intending to keep stable, low risk investment.

What funds do others use for the long-term stable bit of their portfolio?

Mr.Saver

RomfordNavy wrote: »

By core-holding I mean part of the overall portfolio which I am intending to keep stable, low risk investment.

That would be a much different definition of core-holding than most of people on this forum would perceive. The core-holding matching your definition would be investment grade bonds and govt bonds.

RomfordNavy

Mr.Saver wrote: »

That would be a much different definition of core-holding than most of people on this forum would perceive. The core-holding matching your definition would be investment grade bonds and govt bonds.

Last time I looked UK Bonds were yielding less than bank accounts so I couldn't see the point as an individual investor.

AnotherJoe

RomfordNavy wrote: »

Soon to transfer a £100k cash ISA to a S&S ISA but then need to decided where to invest it, which funds?


Would consider this to be part of my core-holding so more interested in those investing in stable dividend payers than speculative holdings.

There's a massive difference between investing in a fund that pays out say 3% a year and a "speculative" one ( whatever that means) but in general if you want to have very poor performance picking a core fund whose main function is dividends is probably going to give you sub par performance and the illusion of low risk

coastline

Late September 2018 to January 2019 the world markets took a tumble of around 20% . A crash which does happen can be 40% or more. If you couldn't handle a big fall then 100% equities is not for you so a mixed approach might appeal more ?
In the link below the MSCI world represents the major companies around the world and its shows the effects of the recent correction.The other funds are highlighted on this forum on a regular basis and maybe the VLS 60 or L & G funds might be what you are looking for ?

https://www2.trustnet.com/Tools/Charting.aspx?typeCode=NM990100,FACDV,FACDQ,FJ84X

buffman

I would look at Fundsmith Equity Fund, Lindsell Train Global Equity and Rathbone Global Opportunities along with a number of index trackers (FTSE All share, S & P, World etc).

I am sure that you are aware that markets go down as well as up and that the stock market is really only a sound non-speculative investment if held for the long term (5 to 10+ years) consistently.

RomfordNavy

coastline wrote: »

Late September 2018 to January 2019 the world markets took a tumble of around 20% . A crash which does happen can be 40% or more. If you couldn't handle a big fall then 100% equities is not for you so a mixed approach might appeal more ?
In the link below the MSCI world represents the major companies around the world and its shows the effects of the recent correction.The other funds are highlighted on this forum on a regular basis and maybe the VLS 60 or L & G funds might be what you are looking for ?

https://www2.trustnet.com/Tools/Charting.aspx?typeCode=NM990100,FACDV,FACDQ,FJ84X

Very informative thanks @coastline. Interesting to see how that L&G Multi Index 5 fund was much more stable than the MSCI over the recent downturn. However also noteworthy is that over the longer-term (4 yrs) the more volatile MSCI still out-performed the L&G Multi even after the recent crash.

Seems to me the difference between the MSCI and that L&G Multi may be a reasonable indicator of an impending downturn!

Perhaps the answer for me is to invest in some of the slower but more stable funds initially and move to higher performing funds only after the initial funds have made the required profit to cover any expected losses.

RomfordNavy

buffman wrote: »

I would look at Fundsmith Equity Fund, Lindsell Train Global Equity and Rathbone Global Opportunities along with a number of index trackers (FTSE All share, S & P, World etc).

I am sure that you are aware that markets go down as well as up and that the stock market is really only a sound non-speculative investment if held for the long term (5 to 10+ years) consistently.

Yes I am aware but still good to be reminded. Already have some Fundsmith elsewhere so that is covered. Lindsell Train is not available through iWeb so that is out for the moment, Rathbone looks interesting but it was affected quite a lot by last years downturn.

Aminatidi

Long term stable low risk, may be worth looking into:

• Personal Assets
• Troy Trojan
• CG Absolute Return
• Capital Gearing Trust
• Ruffer (mentioning simply as it has a historical reputation)
• Hawksmoor Vanbrugh
• Hawksmoor Distribution