is now the time to top up....

Steve_GP220

Hi Guys

I have just under £10k in a stocks and shares ISA. it's been there about 2yrs. Before Covid it was showing sometimes £200 in gains and when lock-down hit fully, it was down -£1200 at one point. At present its slightly down at -£10.49 at -011% but it seems to be stabalizing again overall.  My question is, would anyone top this up at this point, or should I hold off? We all know the risks of stocks and shares, that's not my question. Rather I'm just looking for other opinions on the timing of injecting more cash in.

grumiofoundation

What is it invested in to be down over 2 years? 

Steve_GP220

grumiofoundation said:

What is it invested in to be down over 2 years? 

Vanguard Life Strategy 100%

iShares Global Property Equity

Legal & General Cash Trust

MEDIUM RISK

grumiofoundation

Steve_GP220 said:

grumiofoundation said:

What is it invested in to be down over 2 years? 

Vanguard Life Strategy 100%

iShares Global Property Equity

Legal & General Cash Trust

MEDIUM RISK

June 2018-19
VLS 100 up 7.92
iShares property up 11%

June 2019-2020
VLS 100 up 0.92%

iShares property down 13%. 

Don’t really see how you can be down if you are just invested in those 3 funds? Unless your proportions are massively skewed towards the property find - that doesn’t seem medium risk to me.


 For your original question how much do you want to top up and him for how long? If you are worried about it dropping why not drop feed it over a period you are happy with? 

I’m sure more knowledgable and experienced people will be along to comment but you might want to rebalance your holdings as (to my beginners eye) seems very poor returns. 

Steve_GP220

My original post was a little misleading; The investment gains are £51.27, but the fees over the entire time are £61.76 hence the -£10.49. This is, I am assured 'medium risk'. What would you expect it to be now?

I was thinking of adding another £6k by the end of the year. £2k now and then £1k ish a month up to Nov/Dec.

grumiofoundation

With medium risk fund (problem often comes there’s no absolute definition of medium) would have thought you’d be looking at  >10% gain in 24 months. 

£50 gain on £10000 is low - I feel there might be some mistake? 

For comparison VLS40 (40% equity, 60% bonds) is up ~12% in that time. 

https://www.hl.co.uk/funds/fund-discounts,-prices--and--factsheets/search-results/v/vanguard-lifestrategy-40-equity-accumulation/charts

eskbanker

Steve_GP220 said:

This is, I am assured 'medium risk'.

Who assured you that this portfolio was medium risk, and on what scale?  It seems to me that you have two high-risk equity-based products and one low-risk cash one, but you don't say what proportions you hold them in or what you're trying to achieve with an investing strategy that isn't obvious....

Steve_GP220

grumiofoundation said:

With medium risk fund (problem often comes there’s no absolute definition of medium) would have thought you’d be looking at  >10% gain in 24 months. 

£50 gain on £10000 is low - I feel there might be some mistake? 

For comparison VLS40 (40% equity, 60% bonds) is up ~12% in that time. 

https://www.hl.co.uk/funds/fund-discounts,-prices--and--factsheets/search-results/v/vanguard-lifestrategy-40-equity-accumulation/charts

eskbanker said:

Steve_GP220 said:

This is, I am assured 'medium risk'.

Who assured you that this portfolio was medium risk, and on what scale?  It seems to me that you have two high-risk equity-based products and one low-risk cash one, but you don't say what proportions you hold them in or what you're trying to achieve with an investing strategy that isn't obvious....

Yeah. I should say, the ISA has existed for just under 2 yrs, but there wasn't the full £10k the whole time, it built up - so that may account for any 'mistake' or discrepancy. The whole thing is handled by Moneybox so I'm reasonably confident in the information they're giving me, unless you know different?  As to how 'medium' risk is measured, who knows? But aren't all these stocks and shares ISAs split into low, medium and high? My original intention was to build something up over 10 years or so. If that counts as strategy, then that's it.

But this wasn't the point of my post. I was really just trying to find out that although any gains are currently low, is this a wise time to put in some more dosh?

grumiofoundation

There is no standard definition of 'low' 'medium' or 'high' - this risk/volatility is determined by the underlying assets.
To prove this point - this risk profiles at Moneybox are now called Cautious, balanced and adventurous. 

Looks like you may be in the pre 2018 balanced - 45% equites, 35% property and 30% cash fund.
https://www.moneyboxapp.com/faqs/investments/what-am-i-investing-in/


£50 return over 2 year is very very bad - you would be in a better situation if you had held in cash. You say you want to build up returns, at the moment it seems like you are taking risks for no reward! 

But this wasn't the point of my post. I was really just trying to find out that although any gains are currently low, is this a wise time to put in some more dosh?

No one can answer if it is a wise time to invest right now. Drip feeding in as you suggest is probably the most sensible thing as you then avoid seeing a disheartening big drop

However I would suggest it would be wise to look at switching platforms and doing some more research into investing. 

Steve_GP220

grumiofoundation said:

There is no standard definition of 'low' 'medium' or 'high' - this risk/volatility is determined by the underlying assets.
To prove this point - this risk profiles at Moneybox are now called Cautious, balanced and adventurous. 

Looks like you may be in the pre 2018 balanced - 45% equites, 35% property and 30% cash fund.
https://www.moneyboxapp.com/faqs/investments/what-am-i-investing-in/


£50 return over 2 year is very very bad - you would be in a better situation if you had held in cash. You say you want to build up returns, at the moment it seems like you are taking risks for no reward! 

But this wasn't the point of my post. I was really just trying to find out that although any gains are currently low, is this a wise time to put in some more dosh?

No one can answer if it is a wise time to invest right now. Drip feeding in as you suggest is probably the most sensible thing as you then avoid seeing a disheartening big drop

However I would suggest it would be wise to look at switching platforms and doing some more research into investing. 

Just before the Covid crash the return was 8% or more. I agree it looks bad now but didn't Covid affect all such investments? I mean for sure, I will look at switching but is this the right time to be taking out of one and putting into another?