Suggestions Needed for Investing 20K S&S ISA, Is it right time to start investing?

csgohan4

OP have you looked in to sainsbury, they haven't done well despite the pandemic, bargepole for me. OP you need to research companies in more depth and not just pick the ones at the bottom which is dangerous. 

If your new to investing, consider passive investing, which on the whole beats active managed funds.  

https://monevator.com/category/investing/passive-investing-investing/

Alexland

My only comment on your individual shares is to say the periods in my life when I have participated in stock picking (both as an individual and within an investment club 10+ years ago) have overall resulted in lower returns than just tracking an index.

With 12 investment accounts to manage I find it's easier to manage if the "his & hers" match up with the same platforms and investment choices even the same number of fund/etf units. It would be cheaper for us to alternate our trades each month but 2 of the 3 providers we use for current tax year contributions don't charge trade fees anyway. Trade fees mostly apply on our inactive car park accounts for historic contributions which is fine as we rarely pay them and even then usually at the reduced regular/reinvest rate.

If you were to stick with funds then for £10k each then Vanguard would initially be be the cheapest platform at 0.15% (£15 pa) however it doesn't offer the best value All World/Cap tracker products so if you are intending to invest long term with only annual lump sum trades then iWeb would probably work out cheaper.

In terms of timing, who knows, but it's cheaper than a few weeks ago. Markets could always crash tomorrow so you need to always be comfortable with the level of risk you are taking for the possibility of better return.

Good luck whatever you do,

Alex

mazibee

Alexland said:

My only comment on your individual shares is to say the periods in my life when I have participated in stock picking (both as an individual and within an investment club 10+ years ago) have overall resulted in lower returns than just tracking an index.

With 12 investment accounts to manage I find it's easier to manage if the "his & hers" match up with the same platforms and investment choices even the same number of fund/etf units. It would be cheaper for us to alternate our trades each month but 2 of the 3 providers we use for current tax year contributions don't charge trade fees anyway. Trade fees mostly apply on our inactive car park accounts for historic contributions which is fine as we rarely pay them and even then usually at the reduced regular/reinvest rate.

If you were to stick with funds then for £10k each then Vanguard would initially be be the cheapest platform at 0.15% (£15 pa) however it doesn't offer the best value All World/Cap tracker products so if you are intending to invest long term with only annual lump sum trades then iWeb would probably work out cheaper.

In terms of timing, who knows, but it's cheaper than a few weeks ago. Markets could always crash tomorrow so you need to always be comfortable with the level of risk you are taking for the possibility of better return.

Good luck whatever you do,

Alex

Extremely thankful to you for your time and reply @Alexland

Alex you are right that buying and selling shares is risky and in the long run chances are that the returns will be less as compared to investing in a good fund.

Any comments on the Ballie Gifford Multi Asset funds like

BG Managed Fund, BG Global Discovery, BG Positive Change,

Or

Royal London sustainable world

These multi asset funds are giving so much return are they more risky as compared to

HSBC FTSE All World Index Class C - Accumulation
Legal & General Global Technology Index Class C - Accumulation
Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Index Accumulation (GBP)

Thanks in advance

Alexland

I guess we could stray onto how ESG type funds have had a good year, were doing pretty well in the few years before this but with some diversification like passives will never be the top performers in any given year. It all depends on how much you want to slant your investments towards particular styles or types of companies. It all involves risk but with ESG the counter argument might be that over the long term investing in sustainable companies might be less risky with the right selection/filtering criteria. Honestly I have nothing against ESG investing and if it can be done at a low enough cost with broad enough diversity it might be worth it.

mazibee

Alexland said:

I guess we could stray onto how ESG type funds have had a good year, were doing pretty well in the few years before this but with some diversification like passives will never be the top performers in any given year. It all depends on how much you want to slant your investments towards particular styles or types of companies. It all involves risk but with ESG the counter argument might be that over the long term investing in sustainable companies might be less risky with the right selection/filtering criteria. Honestly I have nothing against ESG investing and if it can be done at a low enough cost with broad enough diversity it might be worth it.

Thanks Alex,

Is there a difference between, ESG and the multi asset funds and are they more risky than the global tracker funds.

mazibee

csgohan4 said:

OP have you looked in to sainsbury, they haven't done well despite the pandemic, bargepole for me. OP you need to research companies in more depth and not just pick the ones at the bottom which is dangerous. 

If your new to investing, consider passive investing, which on the whole beats active managed funds.  

https://monevator.com/category/investing/passive-investing-investing/

Thanks @csgohan4 for your time and reply, you are right about SBRY shares, as they have performed despite the pandemic and its better staying away from them, but they have acquired Argos, might be a bit positive in the long run. Your comments will be highly appreciated.

Also you are right and now I am tilting more towards passive investing (which will mean less buying and selling, less checking of the portfolio, just keep on topping up as and when I have have some amount spare.

Please can you explain a bit can one passively invest in the actively managed funds.

mazibee

Another_Saver said:

Is it a right time?
Always
Is your idea sensible?
Your post indicates you're newish to investing and suggesting using half your money to buy individual shares simply because they're trading at 52 week lows.
Just looking at the price is not investing, Centrica has been trading at 52 week lows for several years now.
The same goes for buying something because "it's been doing well lately".
The recent price performance of a stock or fund is perhaps the worst indicator of its future performance.
As I said in another post lately, looking at charts is about as useful to serious investors as horoscopes.
Personally I'm an avid indexer, but the only shares I have ever held are Tesla (now down to less than £1k) and Berkshire Hathaway.
If I were forced to pick my own stocks, aside from those two, this is my shortlist, this has nothing to do with the current price, these are just businesses I like that I would probably end up buying if index funds weren't around, because of the management, financials, whether or not I can understand the business well enough, and my opinion of the prospects. Looking at the price comes second to looking at the business.
Consumer: U, RB, BATS, IMP, DGE, PZC, BAG, BVIC, BME, PFD, MKS, 
Financials: DL, MONY, EXPN, LSE, 
Industrials: BAE, 
Utilities: NG, UU
Other internationals besides BRK.B and TSLA: IRM.

If you want to try systemically buying what is "low" or cheap, you could use a value ETF like VVAL, or a yield ETF like VHYL (iShares and most fund houses have similar products available).

That said, if the other £10k is just to play with them go ahead.

@Another_Saver thanks for our time and reply.

Yes you are 100% right,  I am new to investing, and with the money sitting in  saving account,  I need to invest and after  discussing with the wife thought to better invest.

You are right first one need to look at the business and then at  the current price of the share.

I am getting more inclined towards passive investing in the multi asset funds, but at the same time I also plan to buy selective shares of some good companies and keep them for a 10-15 years.

I prefer high dividend yielding shares that have not missed the dividends previously. Any idea about these?

Alexland

mazibee said:

Is there a difference between, ESG and the multi asset funds and are they more risky than the global tracker funds.

Generally multi asset funds will hold a range of different asset types (equity, bonds, maybe property, etc) in order to control volatility and minimise your losses if you get worried about seeing big price movements or need to withdraw in the next 5-10 years when markets might be low. They can provide some stability where assets are inversely correlated such as traditionally when stocks go down but bonds go up although it's not always that simple these days.

Tracker funds just track an index usually equities but there are trackers for bond markets, etc. 100% equities investments (active, trackers or hybrid ESG filtered) tend to be volatile particularly if the fund manager is following an strategy focusing on particular types of shares or style such as value, growth, etc as they can lack diversification. These can do great in some years and badly in other years depending on valuations, economic backdrop, style rotation, etc. If a style has been favoured for a while then some can do great for a sustained period but then may eventually get overvalued and prone to big falls.

When investing think ahead on what gives you the most confidence at an acceptable level of likely return as when your investments go down you don't want to be fretting about if you backed the wrong horse - you need to know you made a good choice and are happy to stick with it.

Alex

csgohan4

if your investing in shares, have a clear strategy and ask yourself why they would be a good punt. Investing in individual shares is more risky and less diverse in a sense as your putting more money into one company/ sector. 

If all my money was in IAG before covid for example, I'd be having a heart attack  by now.  

however there are some good deals to be had, you need to look for them and see if it fits your risk profile and whether it would be a short or medium/long term investment.

Investing in index trackers at this time, will more than likely guarantee growth in the next 10 years with some of them already dipped a little, like HMWO, VHVG , VWRL e.t.c. so you will make more profit in the long run. 

mazibee

csgohan4 said:

if your investing in shares, have a clear strategy and ask yourself why they would be a good punt. Investing in individual shares is more risky and less diverse in a sense as your putting more money into one company/ sector. 

If all my money was in IAG before covid for example, I'd be having a heart attack  by now.  

however there are some good deals to be had, you need to look for them and see if it fits your risk profile and whether it would be a short or medium/long term investment.

Investing in index trackers at this time, will more than likely guarantee growth in the next 10 years with some of them already dipped a little, like HMWO, VHVG , VWRL e.t.c. so you will make more profit in the long run. 

Sorry for bothering you again @csgohan4

I was checking

HSBC ETFs Plc MSCI World ETF GBP (HMWO) 

and comparing with

HSBC FTSE All World Index Class C - Accumulation

Please can you tell me what is the difference between these two and which one should be preferred and any advantages disadvantages for each of them.

I am planning to go with HL platform and buying /selling of funds is free there, but  for shares / ETF the charge is £8.95 per deal.