Investing all into one or spread between many?

Kristoff77

Hi there, I've recently opened a S&S LISA and am looking at the investment options. At the moment I've only £1000 to put in but I plan to regularly contribute. 

I like the look of the HSBC FTSE all-world index fund and wonder if I should just put it all in that or should I go for various investments? The other one I liked was the Vanguard Lifestrategy 80% shares fund.

I'm new to investing so am not entirely sure. Can you just put it all into shares with Apple or some big company?

eskbanker

It depends on your objectives, but if you to be exclusively in equities then the All World index is likely to be a better choice than buying into individual stocks, as that's riskier in terms of the greater potential for loss.  LS80 includes bonds as well as equities, which have traditionally dampened volatility, but if you're using a LISA then it's presumably a long time until you'll need access so you could probably tolerate plenty of volatility along the way....

Albermarle

Can you just put it all into shares with Apple or some big company?

Big companies shares can collapse, as easily as smaller ones. Although it seems inconceivable that Apple would collapse, there are many huge companies in the past that now do not even exist.

Best to stick to a diversfied index tracker like the HSBC one.

EthicsGradient

If you're adding relatively small amounts regularly, it's also worth checking how the charges add up over time. Doing things like buying a stock on an overseas exchange might have considerable charges - it'll depend on your provider. A UK-based fund is a bit more likely to be cost-effective - but still worth checking how charges affect the amount that actually gets invested.

Kristoff77

EthicsGradient said:

If you're adding relatively small amounts regularly, it's also worth checking how the charges add up over time. Doing things like buying a stock on an overseas exchange might have considerable charges - it'll depend on your provider. A UK-based fund is a bit more likely to be cost-effective - but still worth checking how charges affect the amount that actually gets invested.

The HSBC fund charge is 0.13% and the platform fee is 0.15% minimum £1. I don't think there are any other charges. The Vanguard one is 0.22%. I presume drip feeding money into these every month would be no different to putting in a large sum in one go? Or do you mean for individual shares like Apple I'd be charged more for paying monthly?

eskbanker said:

It depends on your objectives, but if you to be exclusively in equities then the All World index is likely to be a better choice than buying into individual stocks, as that's riskier in terms of the greater potential for loss.  LS80 includes bonds as well as equities, which have traditionally dampened volatility, but if you're using a LISA then it's presumably a long time until you'll need access so you could probably tolerate plenty of volatility along the way....

Yes you're right I'm saving in the LISA as extra money when I'm over 60 so I'm in the investment game long term so perhaps the world tracker would be good till I'm 55 then put it into a more bond heavy or safer investment? I think that's how it works.

Kristoff77

The Vanguard FTSE 100 index unit trust also looks good 🤔 

MX5huggy

Kristoff77 said:

The Vanguard FTSE 100 index unit trust also looks good 🤔 

It’s not, is an over concentrated small selection of UK based companies. 30% of its value are in Just 5 companies your 1st 2 picks are better.