investing for a potential UK recovery

Prism

I don't have a lot of interest in large UK companies beyond what I already have in my global funds so for me it would be a FTSE 250 tracker and/or an active smaller companies fund. I currently use Gresham House Microcap.

CreditCardChris

The UK doesn't simply "recover".

UK is a dead beat failing economy and has been for the last 3 decades, if you want profits beyond your wildest dreams, invest in the US. We failed to become a technology superpower and as a result the UK will likely miss out on the sectors of tomorrow as well. 
Space, 3D printing, neurotechnology / bioengineering, robotics, genomics, clean energy, big data, cloud computing etc. 

The only sectors of tomorrow we actually are doing ok in is fintech and AI but ONLY if we're able to take our companies global will we be able to compete with the might of the US.

quirkydeptless

CreditCardChris said:

The UK doesn't simply "recover".

.........

bd10

I would disagree with that assessment. To be fair, the UK is not without its challenges. However, from a pure stock market perspective, the UK market has not been a failure at all. The fact that good stock picking can outperform the broader index clearly shows that there are some very good companies out there. They may not be domestics necessarily but happened to be listed and HQ'ed here with a large share of their revenues from abroad, but nevertheless. The Finsbury trust's performance over the past decade is testament to that.

mazdaq199

I tend to agree that the stockmarket is undervalued vs the US. Personally, I would invest in index trackers rather than actively managed funds. Not many active funds are able to consistently outperform the long term average returns you get from tracker funds.

pip895

mazdaq199 said:

I tend to agree that the stockmarket is undervalued vs the US. Personally, I would invest in index trackers rather than actively managed funds. Not many active funds are able to consistently outperform the long term average returns you get from tracker funds.

UK Small caps are an exception to that - Active much better for small cap.  Medium sized/ general UK then a 250 tracker is a reasonable choice though.

Thrugelmir

CreditCardChris said:

UK is a dead beat failing economy and has been for the last 3 decades, 

You'll never make a successful investor if you maintain such a narrow minded attitude. I doubt you were you even investing in 1990. 

If you had invested in certain small company UK trusts over the past 25 years your return would have only been bettered by holding the S&P 500.  

eastmidsaver

thanks for all the responses, some interesting insights.
from the reading above,  it appears small cap is popular.  i actually already hold a small amount in the Marlborough Nano Cap, which has done OK.
taking note of the above, i may consider doing 50% in the FTSE 250 tracker, as this seems a popular choice.  then maybe the other 50% in Baillie Gifford's UK Alpha - this appears to be focused mainly on medium sized growth companies.   
please feel free to comment with your views. .