Scottish Widows to AJ Bell

garmeg

BuildTheWall said:

SteveC3 said:

It's an occupational scheme with no extra tax free cash. What about funds selection with AJ Bell? I'm thinking of mainly equities in a tracker for say 50% to leave untouched for 5 to 10yrs and a 50/50 fund for the remainder from which I will draw from in the early years. Any recommendations on their funds?

For tracker funds, aren’t you better off with Vanguard platform? Or even iWeb if it’s a one off investment. Not sure if AJ Bell has a cap. 

AJ Bell has a cap on funds of ...

£250,000 x 0.25% + £750,000 x 0.10% + £1,000,000 x 0.05% = £1,875.00

For comparison, Hargreaves Lansdown's cap is £4,000 - quite a difference.

SteveC3

BuildTheWall said:

SteveC3 said:

It's an occupational scheme with no extra tax free cash. What about funds selection with AJ Bell? I'm thinking of mainly equities in a tracker for say 50% to leave untouched for 5 to 10yrs and a 50/50 fund for the remainder from which I will draw from in the early years. Any recommendations on their funds?

For tracker funds, aren’t you better off with Vanguard platform? Or even iWeb if it’s a one off investment. Not sure if AJ Bell has a cap. 

I have an ISA with Vanguard and happy with it, but Vanguard don't have a drawdown system in place yet

SteveC3

SteveC3 said:

BuildTheWall said:

SteveC3 said:

It's an occupational scheme with no extra tax free cash. What about funds selection with AJ Bell? I'm thinking of mainly equities in a tracker for say 50% to leave untouched for 5 to 10yrs and a 50/50 fund for the remainder from which I will draw from in the early years. Any recommendations on their funds?

For tracker funds, aren’t you better off with Vanguard platform? Or even iWeb if it’s a one off investment. Not sure if AJ Bell has a cap. 

I have an ISA with Vanguard and happy with it, but Vanguard don't have a drawdown system in place yet

Also, I'm beginning to lean toward the Fundsmith Equity fund.

Steve182

SteveC3 said:

SteveC3 said:

BuildTheWall said:

SteveC3 said:

It's an occupational scheme with no extra tax free cash. What about funds selection with AJ Bell? I'm thinking of mainly equities in a tracker for say 50% to leave untouched for 5 to 10yrs and a 50/50 fund for the remainder from which I will draw from in the early years. Any recommendations on their funds?

For tracker funds, aren’t you better off with Vanguard platform? Or even iWeb if it’s a one off investment. Not sure if AJ Bell has a cap. 

I have an ISA with Vanguard and happy with it, but Vanguard don't have a drawdown system in place yet

Also, I'm beginning to lean toward the Fundsmith Equity fund.

In my opinion that's a very good choice, but of course you really should diversify  well beyond one fund if you have £450K to invest.
Looking purely at actively managed global equities, also seriously consider Linsdell Train Global Equity and Scottish Mortgage. LTGE may not have done so well past 12 months, but that's mainly because it's more UK focused and fortunes have a habit of reversing. Looking to Asia, Bailie Gifford Shin Nippon may be worthy of a few percent, as could Baillie Gifford Pacific Horizons.  My suggestions are not intended to be a balanced or diverse portfolio, just a few starting ideas to be going on with.

EdGasketTheSecond

I had no problem at all accessing my pension with Scottish Widows and there was no charge either unlike A J Bell that do charge. Why do you say accessing your pension would be 'painful?

coyrls

Steve182 said:

SteveC3 said:

Steve182 said:

SteveC3 said:

It's an occupational scheme with no extra tax free cash. What about funds selection with AJ Bell? I'm thinking of mainly equities in a tracker for say 50% to leave untouched for 5 to 10yrs and a 50/50 fund for the remainder from which I will draw from in the early years. Any recommendations on their funds?

I must confess I don't use their funds, and most FA's would frown upon my own high risk/not so properly diversified asset allocation. I'm not personally a tracker fan. I have seen some successful active managers have added real value, well above the premium in fees charged. I'm a fan of SMT and Fundsmith. Others will disagree.

I was actually looking at the Fundsmith Equity fund within AJ Bell!

Fundsmith has a fairly low risk rating on Trustnet (for equities). Currently it's 74. That means it's supposed to be 26% less volatile than FTSE100,

Fundsmith has a fairly low risk rating on Trustnet (for equities). Currently it's 74. That means it has been 26% less volatile than FTSE100.
The risk rating is based on the past, not on the future.

michaels

At least half of all active funds will underperform an index, or probably a higher percentage once you include the extra fees.  What makes you think you can pick one of the 75% of winners rather than the 75% of losers?  Do you have some inside information that is not in the market?

I moved form SW to II as I reduced my total fees from .75% to <.2% and have a wiser choice of funds - so 0.55% of outperformance without having to try to guess which fund manager will be lucky next year.

SteveC3

EdGasketTheSecond said:

I had no problem at all accessing my pension with Scottish Widows and there was no charge either unlike A J Bell that do charge. Why do you say accessing your pension would be 'painful?

You are right. I am being a bit unfair and basing my comment on the current access to my plan. I haven't set up flexi access yet. I should take a look at the Scottish widows fund range in more detail.

BuildTheWall

michaels said:

At least half of all active funds will underperform an index, or probably a higher percentage once you include the extra fees.  What makes you think you can pick one of the 75% of winners rather than the 75% of losers?  Do you have some inside information that is not in the market?

Ah, the classic passive vs active debate. 

Performance of funds, their top 10 holdings, sector concentration, management track record - a lot of information is available. If you want to choose to not look at it, it’s your choice. 

Spreading investments among 4 or 5 active funds in the top 10 of your category based on past performance is not a terrible idea. 

The argument that active investors will be investing in all active funds and therefore destined to fail, is incorrect at best. 

SteveC3

If I stay with SW I have access to the Baillie Gifford Managed, which seems a popular choice at 0.5%. Too much choice, I'm getting confused. I need to see some sample drawdown portfolios for asset allocation. I'm still leaning towards high percentage equities as I'm in it until I pop my clogs, which hopefully, won't be too soon!