Help - Opinions please : JPM Investments

milton1970

Hoping for a little help & guidance - or opinions & alternative options.
As we slowly unpick elderly parents various financial investments / pots we have identified some (forgotten about) JPMorgan ISAs -  Hoping for a little help & guidance - or opinions & alternative options. Investments are substantial - c. £20K in each.
The investments are in

1. JPMORGAN AM UK LTD EUROPE DYNAMIC EX UK A RETL

2. JPMORGAN AM UK LTD UK STRAT EQUITY INC A ACC

3. JPMORGAN FUNDS LTD UK EQUITY INCOME A NET GBP

Parents are elderly but not necessarily risk averse - nor do they need the £ immediately.
Recent (over last few years) on 2 & 3 look poor.
Thoughts please - what would you guys suggest ? - alternatives please
TIA

dunstonh

Those are pre-RDR (2013) share classes.  That means they are almost certainly paying over the odds compared to the post 2013 share classes.  So, a change from direct to fund house to an investment platform would save them money.  Plus, the funds held are lacking structure and diversification.   i.e. Europe and UK but no US, Asia, Japan etc.  That is why the returns have not been up to scratch as they have effectively picked the weaker markets and had nothing in the stronger ones.  Equity Income doesn't work best in the complete cycle either.  You need to know when to dip in and dip out.  So, not really ideal for a "lazy" investor who does not keep an eye on things.

Malthusian

Do they have Lasting Powers of Attorney in place?

milton1970

Thanks @dunstonh - not certain of the significance of pre-RDR ?
We have moved to iWeb from HL to avoid (IMHO) excess platform charges & now considering options to improve return / reduce risk (they have taken a COVID hit). 

Thanks @Malthusian  - no not currently. 

M

Malthusian

milton1970 said:

Thanks @dunstonh - not certain of the significance of pre-RDR ?

Before the Retail Distribution Review in 2012, fund manager annual fees included an allowance for commission (typically 0.5%) which typically paid for the cost of ongoing advice. After 2012 anyone still paying those charges was paying money for nothing. There is a chance JPM are pocketing that extra management fee (unless they rebate it).

We have moved to iWeb from HL to avoid (IMHO) excess platform charges

Seems a contradictory choice as HL is one of the most expensive platforms going, but I don't know what iWeb charge.

(Edit: As Eskbanker identified, I misread the direction of travel.)

& now considering options to improve return / reduce risk.

Which?

Thanks @Malthusian  - no not currently.

Then that is the priority - both for your parents and for you as well - especially as they are relying on you to manage their finances for them. (Otherwise it would be them posting here.)

eskbanker

Malthusian said:

We have moved to iWeb from HL to avoid (IMHO) excess platform charges 

Seems a contradictory choice as HL is one of the most expensive platforms going, but I don't know what iWeb charge.

Seems a sensible choice to me, did you perhaps misread the direction of travel?

cattie

eskbanker said:

Malthusian said:

We have moved to iWeb from HL to avoid (IMHO) excess platform charges 

Seems a contradictory choice as HL is one of the most expensive platforms going, but I don't know what iWeb charge.

Seems a sensible choice to me, did you perhaps misread the direction of travel?

.Also seems a good decision to me as I moved to iweb last year to save on expensive fees. I expect you misread the post as you've obviously got a good financial head from reading some of your posts over the past year or so.

Rollinghome

milton1970 said:

Hoping for a little help & guidance - or opinions & alternative options.
As we slowly unpick elderly parents various financial investments / pots we have identified some (forgotten about) JPMorgan ISAs -  Hoping for a little help & guidance - or opinions & alternative options. Investments are substantial - c. £20K in each.

How elderly?  That term would also apply to me but I certainly wouldn't want my kids messing with my investments.(nor anyone else).

So the first thing would be to be very sure they're happy for you to switch their investments, not just tolerant of what you want to do, and, if their judgement is impaired, to suggest arranging Power of Attorney as suggested by Mr M.  The second thing would be to sort out all of their investments and cash before you start unpicking or changing anything. Making decisions before you know what you've got isn't a good tactic.

Unless you're a whizz at investment you need to keep it simple and be able to explain to them the logic of what you're suggesting.  You can't just invest it as you would your own money.  If the total sum is not much more than £60k that might mean using one of the multi-asset tracker funds as appropriate or even putting the lot in a savings account.  It will be a lot easier to explain that world markets have taken a tumble, should that happen, than explaining why you put their money in a previously well-regarded fund that has done a Woodford.

milton1970

Thanks @Rollinghome
By elderly I mean - at the point where there was a need to collate & organise the various pots & investments that had been made over the last 50 years or so. Both are in their early 80s so not quite ready to hand everything over through a PofA yet & I would rather keep them involved but make it less daunting. 
I guess the current process is something that many families need to go through involving going through old documents, envelopes & statements - trying to bring a bit of structure to make things easier longer term.
Many of the steps you suggest have been taken plus we have been through a painful process of transferring paper share certificates to online nominee accounts - biggest issue here is the challenge of missing share certificates & Equiniti approach.  
Evaluating the 3 funds above is one of the final steps - @dunstonh sums it up pretty well by describing them as "lazy" investors having left them unattended for a number of years. Doing a quick review I think we will look to sell & reinvest in something less risky - a global fund rather than just UK / Europe. Challenge is finding something that is suitable.
All advice gratefully received ...

mark13

Currently topping up Blue Whale and Scottish Mortgage in my ISA Both worth a look. 

Ceme3000

Lasting power of attorney doesn't instantly hand over their affairs to you, it means that if they are incapacitated in the future, dementia say, then you have the legal power to help them with decisions and act on their behalf.   

If you were to leave it until after that diagnosis you would have to go through the courts to obtain PofA, which is time consuming and expensive.