Platform for comparison of funds

loveprada

I'm considering moving my pension following disastrous advice and timing, been to the Financial Services Ombudsman who ruled in my favour so hopefully I will recoup most of my losses. This was made up of my workplace pensions and a cash ISA from which I immediately lost over £30k, on a total of around £145k that was invested. Anyway while waiting for the financial advisor to work out the losses and refund me, I would appreciate some ideas as to where to put it. I am 65 and I don't need the money immediately. Will start receiving state pension next year.
Also I've been in touch with Fidelity who recommended a couple of funds. I would love to be able to put all recommendations into some kind of platform viewer to see how they compare - does such an option exist?
Any advice appreciated, although I am feeling very "once bitten twice shy" about the way forward.

eskbanker

It's impractical for anyone to recommend funds in a vacuum, as you need to identify objectives, timescales, attitude to risk, etc, but there are sites such as Trustnet and Morningstar that allow comparisons between the (thousands of) funds available in the market.

If FOS has ruled in your favour, shouldn't that process have identified the scale of your losses, rather than relying on an advisor (hopefully not the subject of the complaint) doing so?  How did you lose money on a cash ISA?

loveprada

The cash isa was invested in precisely the same way as the funds chosen for the pensions. Yes I appreciate there's so little information. Also I'm now wary of bonds. Should I avoid them altogether? 
Yes, that is exactly what I was wondering and even asked the case handler. She said they would need to use the services of an actuary. I have contacted both of the previous pension providers and have received an approximate figure so far.

dunstonh

Also I've been in touch with Fidelity who recommended a couple of funds. 

Fidelity do not make recommendations unless you pay them for their restricted advice service.  How much did that advice cost you and why are you not now following it?

loveprada

The reason I haven't done anything yet is because I was waiting for this other money to come through, also some of the recommendation seems to be all bonds which I'm nervous about given what happened recently

eskbanker

loveprada said:

The cash isa was invested in precisely the same way as the funds chosen for the pensions.

That doesn't make any sense!  By definition a cash ISA isn't invested and stays in cash form....

Beddie

If you'd like to compare funds you can use something like Trustnet.

Example for 40-85% mixed:

https://www.trustnet.com/fund/price-performance/o/ia-unit-trusts-and-oeics?sector=O:BALMAN&norisk=true&sortby=P11GBP_D_36M&sortorder=desc&PageSize=25

Platforms such as Fidelity have most of these funds available. Their charges can also be compared to other platforms. Fidelity and others have lists of selected funds - they may or may not be a good choice.

But I have to say that unless you're willing to put in a lot of time and effort, this will prove to be a difficult task. So maybe finding a decent IFA would be your best course of action.

loveprada

Oeskbanker said:

loveprada said:

The cash isa was invested in precisely the same way as the funds chosen for the pensions.

That doesn't make any sense!  By definition a cash ISA isn't invested and stays in cash form....

Ok, it was a "cash ISA" but was invested into funds so it is now an "investment ISA"

loveprada

Beddie said:

If you'd like to compare funds you can use something like Trustnet.

Example for 40-85% mixed:

https://www.trustnet.com/fund/price-performance/o/ia-unit-trusts-and-oeics?sector=O:BALMAN&norisk=true&sortby=P11GBP_D_36M&sortorder=desc&PageSize=25

Platforms such as Fidelity have most of these funds available. Their charges can also be compared to other platforms. Fidelity and others have lists of selected funds - they may or may not be a good choice.

But I have to say that unless you're willing to put in a lot of time and effort, this will prove to be a difficult task. So maybe finding a decent IFA would be your best course of action.

Thank you, I wasn't going to diy, I just don't have the skill or the nerve. Just wanted to compare a few that have been recommended against what my money was invested in to see if they're just doing the same thing.

Beddie

loveprada said:

Beddie said:

If you'd like to compare funds you can use something like Trustnet.

Example for 40-85% mixed:

https://www.trustnet.com/fund/price-performance/o/ia-unit-trusts-and-oeics?sector=O:BALMAN&norisk=true&sortby=P11GBP_D_36M&sortorder=desc&PageSize=25

Platforms such as Fidelity have most of these funds available. Their charges can also be compared to other platforms. Fidelity and others have lists of selected funds - they may or may not be a good choice.

But I have to say that unless you're willing to put in a lot of time and effort, this will prove to be a difficult task. So maybe finding a decent IFA would be your best course of action.

Thank you, I wasn't going to diy, I just don't have the skill or the nerve. Just wanted to compare a few that have been recommended against what my money was invested in to see if they're just doing the same thing.

I think any portfolio with bonds had a really bad spell last year - mine did! Yet bond funds are up about 10% over the past 12 months, so it would seem they are "back to normal." Shares will continue to be volatile of course. If you look at my link above you will see how most funds had a bad time but have come back in the past year. These are mixed share/bond funds, so are probably roughly representative of what you were invested in.

I understand your hesitation, so good luck with whatever you decide to do.

dunstonh

loveprada said:

The reason I haven't done anything yet is because I was waiting for this other money to come through, also some of the recommendation seems to be all bonds which I'm nervous about given what happened recently

If you think the amounts that some fixed interest securities went down was bad (and potentially led to your complaint) then how are you going to react when equities go down?   They can go down by even more.

Everybody saw losses over the last 18 months and based on your complaint and lack of information, I would be on guard about providing any potential solutions as I am not sure you would be happy with any risk based investments.