Wonky Portfolio

Audaxer

Aged said:

Thrugelmir said:

Seek professional advice to realign your portfolio in order that it better meets your goals and objectives. 

This is where I came in. It's much easier said than done, plus I'm afraid my experiences to date have caused me to have trust issues with 'financial advisers'.

I'm not sure how big in value your portfolio is, but to simplify things at least initially, would it be worth considering moving it all into a low cost, globally diversified multi asset fund? I think that you agreed on another thread that considering total return rather than just yield was a better option, so in my view a medium risk multi asset fund would make a better portfolio than your current one. 

Albermarle

Audaxer said:

Aged said:

Thrugelmir said:

Seek professional advice to realign your portfolio in order that it better meets your goals and objectives. 

This is where I came in. It's much easier said than done, plus I'm afraid my experiences to date have caused me to have trust issues with 'financial advisers'.

I'm not sure how big in value your portfolio is, but to simplify things at least initially, would it be worth considering moving it all into a low cost, globally diversified multi asset fund? I think that you agreed on another thread that considering total return rather than just yield was a better option, so in my view a medium risk multi asset fund would make a better portfolio than your current one. 

I was going to say the same . Something like VLS 60 or HSBC global strategy balanced or Fidelity multi allocator growth or Blackrock mymap4 .
Or the next risk level down or a mixture of the two 

Prism

I will add to the low cost multi asset opinion. I would also suggest not going much lower than 60% equities or thereabouts during drawdown as the results are typically not as good. Personally I would go 80% equities but you may feel that is a bit high.

If you are struggling to find an IFA you may want to buy a book on drawdown strategies. 

AnotherJoe

Aged said:

Someone suggested on another thread that I post details of my wonky retirement portfolio so here is the current state of play. Not sure what the way forward is, any observations would be welcomed.
30% is in UK Equity Income/UK All Companies funds (Artemis Income, Invesco UK High Income, Ninety One UK Special Situations plus paltry remains of Woodford)
25% in Sterling Corporate/Strategic Bond funds (M&G Strategic Corporate Bond, M&G Optimal Income)
11% in UK Direct Property (Janus Henderson, presently suspended)
11% in Targeted Absolute Return (ASI Global Absolute Return Strategies)
11% in Short Term Money Market (BlackRock)
11% in Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares (Ninety One Cautious Managed)

Oh. My. God.  I doubt you could get a worse portfolio if you tried. How on earth did this car crash come about?

Sell everything.

Start again.

Aged

Audaxer said:

I'm not sure how big in value your portfolio is, but to simplify things at least initially, would it be worth considering moving it all into a low cost, globally diversified multi asset fund? I think that you agreed on another thread that considering total return rather than just yield was a better option, so in my view a medium risk multi asset fund would make a better portfolio than your current one. 

It's quite big I guess, which makes me worry about an 'eggs in one basket' scenario with using just one fund. The low cost, medium risk, globally diversified multi asset fund approach does sound very sensible though.

Aged

Albermarle said:

Audaxer said:

I'm not sure how big in value your portfolio is, but to simplify things at least initially, would it be worth considering moving it all into a low cost, globally diversified multi asset fund? I think that you agreed on another thread that considering total return rather than just yield was a better option, so in my view a medium risk multi asset fund would make a better portfolio than your current one. 

I was going to say the same . Something like VLS 60 or HSBC global strategy balanced or Fidelity multi allocator growth or Blackrock mymap4 .
Or the next risk level down or a mixture of the two 

That sounds good, but would mixing and matching these funds not result in duplication/distortion of the balance?

Aged

Prism said:

I will add to the low cost multi asset opinion. I would also suggest not going much lower than 60% equities or thereabouts during drawdown as the results are typically not as good. Personally I would go 80% equities but you may feel that is a bit high.

If you are struggling to find an IFA you may want to buy a book on drawdown strategies. 

Thanks for the advice. I agree about not going lower than 60% equities, 80% makes me a bit nervous though. I ordered a book last weekend and it arrives tomorrow.

A_T

Aged said:

Albermarle said:

Audaxer said:

I'm not sure how big in value your portfolio is, but to simplify things at least initially, would it be worth considering moving it all into a low cost, globally diversified multi asset fund? I think that you agreed on another thread that considering total return rather than just yield was a better option, so in my view a medium risk multi asset fund would make a better portfolio than your current one. 

I was going to say the same . Something like VLS 60 or HSBC global strategy balanced or Fidelity multi allocator growth or Blackrock mymap4 .
Or the next risk level down or a mixture of the two 

That sounds good, but would mixing and matching these funds not result in duplication/distortion of the balance?

there'd be duplication but that's ok - the reason for using 2 or more would be to avoid having it all with just one provider - but it probably wouldn't matter because nothing's going to happen to Fidelity, Blackrock or Vanguard.

Aged

AnotherJoe said:

Oh. My. God.  I doubt you could get a worse portfolio if you tried. How on earth did this car crash come about?

Sell everything.

Start again.

I'm shocked at the responses to be honest. So much for the 'professional advice' I've been paying for.

Prism

Aged said:

AnotherJoe said:

Oh. My. God.  I doubt you could get a worse portfolio if you tried. How on earth did this car crash come about?

Sell everything.

Start again.

I'm shocked at the responses to be honest. So much for the 'professional advice' I've been paying for.

Well it looks to me like a very cautious allocation. Was that what you wanted? I think part of the problem is that it is difficult to draw much income from a portfolio that is on the low side for equities. I don't think anyone can really afford to be that cautious during retirement while trying to get some decent returns to last them for many years.