Stocks & Shares ISAs - Seriously Worried about Losses

CheekyMikey

LIke many, in April 2020 my investments dropped suddenly by about 15%….not many months later they had recovered all that and 10% more. It might take longer this time but eventually markets will recover again. Worth noting that some investments are still doing very well indeed…

Thrugelmir

jimjames said:

Beddie said:

The worst fund I ever bought fell by about 95%. This was during the tech bubble of 2000 and "fortunately" it was not all of my money. But don't think that couldn't happen again, it really could.

I think a comment like that could scare a new investor. I've had some big losses on some very niche funds but the likelihood of a mainstream multi asset fund dropping 95% seems to be exceptionally slim.

Now like then. There's many new investors who've jumped on the bandwagon. In the US around 10 million new brokerage accounts have been opened by virgin investors since 2020. No doubt sucked in by all the easy money mantra that's circulated on social media. The Dot Com boom was the place to be in the late 90's.  Few investors believed in the dull and boring as promoted by Perpetual ( a.k.a. Neil Woodford). No one cared about corporate profitability, cash generation etc etc. 

Albermarle

When I invested, the stock market was doing fairly well You  only know with hindsight how 'well' a market is doing and tomorrow is always another day, and everything I read said that historically Stocks & Shares have always out performed savings accounts.Correct and we all hope that continues ! By using a managed fund I assumed that I was being sensible as it would be managed by people who know what they were doing, rather than me blindly stumbling in. They might know what they are doing but they still can not predict the market .

Comments above .

Best just to relax and  do some more reading .

ranciduk

I was new to investing last year and my vanguard 60 was doing fine

Until Putin started a war

then I bailed - took it all out 

im aware of the fluctuations in the stock market etc and it’s a long game

but WAR? Nope, it could go on for years and I’m not sitting back watching my hard earned erode week after week

DoneWorking

eskbanker said:

dunstonh said:

Can we assume that you looked at the loss potential of your chosen funds before you invested?

That was probably a rhetorical question, but where would you recommend private investors access such data, in reasonably quantified form?

Also is information always available to ensure investors know whether they are buying at the top or the bottom of the market

Or is this only available in retrospect

eskbanker

DoneWorking said:

eskbanker said:

dunstonh said:

Can we assume that you looked at the loss potential of your chosen funds before you invested?

That was probably a rhetorical question, but where would you recommend private investors access such data, in reasonably quantified form?

Also is information always available to ensure investors know whether they are buying at the top or the bottom of the market

Or is this only available in retrospect

Nobody knows in advance which way markets are going, although some like to think they do!  Check out the predictions made by leading economists, etc, at the start of each calendar year and see how they fared by the end, good luck spotting any correlation....

DoneWorking

eskbanker said:

DoneWorking said:

eskbanker said:

dunstonh said:

Can we assume that you looked at the loss potential of your chosen funds before you invested?

That was probably a rhetorical question, but where would you recommend private investors access such data, in reasonably quantified form?

Also is information always available to ensure investors know whether they are buying at the top or the bottom of the market

Or is this only available in retrospect

Nobody knows in advance which way markets are going, although some like to think they do!  Check out the predictions made by leading economists, etc, at the start of each calendar year and see how they fared by the end, good luck spotting any correlation....

Can you get some idea what's going on from the statistics or recent graphs which allow you to see if the price has increased or decreased over time

IE a rising fund or a falling fund

This would surely give you a hint

eskbanker

DoneWorking said:

eskbanker said:

DoneWorking said:

eskbanker said:

dunstonh said:

Can we assume that you looked at the loss potential of your chosen funds before you invested?

That was probably a rhetorical question, but where would you recommend private investors access such data, in reasonably quantified form?

Also is information always available to ensure investors know whether they are buying at the top or the bottom of the market

Or is this only available in retrospect

Nobody knows in advance which way markets are going, although some like to think they do!  Check out the predictions made by leading economists, etc, at the start of each calendar year and see how they fared by the end, good luck spotting any correlation....

Can you get some idea what's going on from the statistics or recent graphs which allow you to see if the price has increased or decreased over time

IE a rising fund or a falling fund

This would surely give you a hint

Yes, there are plenty of sites showing graphs and data relating to past performance, but don't be under any illusion that such information is a guide to what'll happen in the future!  Independent sites include the likes of Trustnet and Morningstar, while most decent platforms will also show similar, and the individual fund managers will also show the past performance of their own products.

fluffpig

Hi OP,
I'm in a similar situation to you. I invested a similar amount in Vanguard LS 80 either side of the tax year last year. I was 12% up at Christmas and am now back to square one.

2 things that help me keep calm are...

1, remembering that it's only a loss if you sell up and crystalise the loss. I find it helps me to visualise each unit in the fund as a physical asset ( I know if I had bought gold and stashed it under the floorboards, I wouldn't sell it if the gold price dropped. I would hang on to it until it recovered...I try to view my ISA the same rather than it just being numbers on a screen )

2, I have a similar sum in a DC pension fund that never really worries me. I think this is because there is nothing I can do about it! I know I can't access it so I'm just happy to leave it to do it's thing and I'll worry about it when I can get my hands on it, so again I try to think of my ISA the same way

This probably sounds bonkers but it helps keep me calm 

tebbins

ranciduk said:

I was new to investing last year and my vanguard 60 was doing fine

Until Putin started a war

then I bailed - took it all out 

im aware of the fluctuations in the stock market etc and it’s a long game

but WAR? Nope, it could go on for years and I’m not sitting back watching my hard earned erode week after week

Since WWII the world has enjoyed the longest relative peace in human history. Through WWII both the FT30 and S&P index rose. Why haven't you reacted the same way to Yemen, the Philippines, Colombia, ISIS, the Arab Spring, the Turkish-Kurdish civil war, the Sri Lankan civil war, Iraq, Afghanistan, Russia's invasion of Georgia, the neverending Pakistan/India border and Kashmir conflict, China expanding into the South China Sea/Africa...
Name a single calendar year when there were no wars on.