Which stocks & shares ISA

PJD

I have about £40k to invest.  I do not want to research the market, I'd much rather just invest in a ready made product as, tbh, I would have no idea what I'm doing, nor the time to research it.  
Preferably I'd like to be able to withdraw some money if needed, and it might be that I need it in a couple of years time.  Shall I just go for the cheapest - ie, evestor - as recommended by MSE?  Should i consider whether to get one which pays dividends?  Many thanks for any help - I've never invested in a S&SISA before.

eskbanker

If it's money that you might need in a couple of years time then investing it is unlikely to be wise, due to the risk of capital loss.  There's nothing wrong with not knowing anything about investing and we all had to start somewhere, but getting up to speed with the basics really isn't something that can be avoided, so find time to research before jumping in, and stick the money in Premium Bonds or some other capital-protected deposit account while doing that....

Best bet would be to research on other newbie investor threads on here and also sites such as:

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/investing-beginners-guide

https://www.hl.co.uk/beginners-guides/investing

http://www.monevator.com

http://kroijer.com/

http://diyinvestoruk.blogspot.com/

https://www.ifa.com/indexfundsthemovie/

as well as bearing in mind a number of key points of principle:

1. Only consider investing once you have adequate accessible cash reserves.
   
2. Only invest if you're happy to commit for at least 5-7 years and preferably 10-15 or more.
   
3. Diversify - ignore individual shares, etc, and concentrate on collective investments that spread your eggs over many baskets. Global multi-asset funds are a good place to start, available from the likes of HSBC Global Strategy, Vanguard LifeStrategy, Blackrock MyMap and L&G Multi-Index.
   
4. Choose what you want to invest in before considering which platform to hold it/them on.
   
5. Keep an eye on ongoing costs for funds and platforms - they shouldn't be the primary consideration but can make a noticeable difference over the long term.
   
6. Use a Stocks & Shares ISA as a tax-efficient wrapper to avoid liability for income and capital gains tax.

PJD

Many thanks for your time and comprehensive reply, hugely appreciated.
Presently my 40k is in an ISA earning about 1%'ish.  I thought a S&S ISA might be a better place for this money for the next 2 - 5 years, - but it seems that I should look at just putting cash in there that I know I won't need to use for the foreseealbe?
I am considering going through an IFA - I know one who comes recommended by a close friend
PS - I will certainly be reading through those links 

Albermarle

If £40K into an ISA is your only investment then most IFA's would not be interested and if they were the cost would be disproportionately high . If you have money invested in pensions as well then could be more wortwhile.
However even if you did see an IFA, it is better not to be completely lacking in knowledge , so still worthwhile following the links supplied.

PJD

I do like the look of Vanguard LifeStrategy, - my thought is to open two: a Moderate risk with most of my money, and a High risk with a smaller percentage, with the view of keeping the higher risk one going for the longer term (10 - 15 years).  Does this seem sensible, or is there any downsides to buying two products like this that I am missing?

Nurse2047

you can only have one stocks and share isa I understand 

eskbanker

MFW2026 said:

you can only have one stocks and share isa I understand 

You can have as many as you like but can only pay new money into one per tax year.  However, within one S&S ISA you can buy whatever collection of funds you wish, so there's nothing to stop OP from buying multiple variants of LifeStrategy.

PJD said:

I do like the look of Vanguard LifeStrategy, - my thought is to open two: a Moderate risk with most of my money, and a High risk with a smaller percentage, with the view of keeping the higher risk one going for the longer term (10 - 15 years).  Does this seem sensible, or is there any downsides to buying two products like this that I am missing?

It could be a viable option if you have a reasonable expectation that you'll need one pot before the other.  However, you'd originally said that "it might be that I need it in a couple of years time", so a moderate (or even low) risk investment wouldn't be suitable for that....

Albermarle

There are similar alternatives to Vanguard Life Strategy .
Fund-of-funds: the rivals - Monevator

PJD

In regards to the duration; looking at the history of Vanguard 80% Equity Fund for example (appreciate history is no indication of future), 
last year: + 24%
2019: - 3%
2018: + 8%
2017: + 5%
2016: + 23%

So looking at this, I can see why you should invest for at least 5 years to ensure the biggest returns, however, most years it raises far beyond a normal cash ISA anyway, - so why is it so important to keep the money in there for so long?
Looking at the history of all of the other Vanguard Lifestratety products, they've all gone up most years well above the best cash ISA

dunstonh

Looking at the history of all of the other Vanguard Lifestratety products, they've all gone up most years well above the best cash ISA

They were launched in 2011.  They haven't been through a prolonged negative period.  So, you are mainly seeing years of positives in an extraordinary period of market growth. 

eskbanker

PJD said:

In regards to the duration; looking at the history of Vanguard 80% Equity Fund for example (appreciate history is no indication of future), 
last year: + 24%
2019: - 3%
2018: + 8%
2017: + 5%
2016: + 23%

So looking at this, I can see why you should invest for at least 5 years to ensure the biggest returns, however, most years it raises far beyond a normal cash ISA anyway, - so why is it so important to keep the money in there for so long?
Looking at the history of all of the other Vanguard Lifestratety products, they've all gone up most years well above the best cash ISA

There's nothing stopping you from quitting if you're ahead, but the point is that it's best not to rely on being ahead if you're only looking at a few years.  There has been a sustained bull run over the last twelve years or so, but this is far from normal, so assuming that there won't be more substantial crashes than seen during that time (never mind just the last five benign years) would be rash....