Quilter CIA advice

Beddie

truescot said:

So it would appear my options are (tell me if I'm wrong):

1. Top up the account and instruct Quilter to allocate the 6.5k proprotionatley to the existing assets.

2. Find an IFA who can be allocated to the CIA, and take their advice reagrding whether and how to invest the 6.5k in the CIA on and continue advsing on an ongoing basis.

3. Learn more about DIY investment and do it myself, either with the Quilter CIA or another fund.

4. Close the account, withdraw the money and put it in cash somewhere else.

I realise 4 is probably the least advisable option in terms of groth over the next 5 or 6 years, I don't have the time to confidently do 3 yet, the initial reaction to 1. wasn't posiitve on here, therefore 2 may be my best option, even considering charges?

What would be the neatgatives of topping it up and instructing Quilter to allocate it proportionately to the existing assets? (which I had previously presumed they had chosen, but it would now appear my parent's FA did this)

Option 3 is good, but as you say you're not ready for that, so perhaps go for option 1. Nice and simple. You can always explore other options further down the line.

Albermarle

truescot said:

So it would appear my options are (tell me if I'm wrong):

1. Top up the account and instruct Quilter to allocate the 6.5k proprotionatley to the existing assets. That is one option.

2. Find an IFA who can be allocated to the CIA, and take their advice reagrding whether and how to invest the 6.5k in the CIA on and continue advsing on an ongoing basis. An IFA would not be interested due to the relatively low level level of money involved  ( in investment terms)

3. Learn more about DIY investment and do it myself, either with the Quilter CIA or another fund. This is also an option, and it would probably reap rewards long term generally to understand personal finance issues better. For example how do you currently manage your pension?

4. Close the account, withdraw the money and put it in cash somewhere else. This is also an option but probably you would have to take it out of trust status and/or pay a lot of fees.

I realise 4 is probably the least advisable option in terms of groth over the next 5 or 6 years, I don't have the time to confidently do 3 yet, the initial reaction to 1. wasn't posiitve on here, therefore 2 may be my best option, even considering charges?

What would be the neatgatives of topping it up and instructing Quilter to allocate it proportionately to the existing assets? (which I had previously presumed they had chosen, but it would now appear my parent's FA did this) As said investment portfolios should be reviewed occasionally. For one thing over the long period of time the availability of cheaper funds has become more widespread.

The current Quilter investment funds may be perfectly OK, but without knowing what they are nobody can comment really. My suspicion would be that the fees will be high, especially in relation to the relatively small size of the funds.

truescot

I genuinely appreciate all these comments, I've pretty much lived hand to mouth for 50 years, so haven't had to know any of this stuff.

Although I would prefer all the money in one place for simplicity, I also thought of a 5th option in my position: leave the 12k where it is and put the 6.5k in a high interest cash account (JISA?). Maybe even a 5 year fixed rate if available so that I can forget about it till daughter is 20!

Malthusian

truescot said:

Although I would prefer all the money in one place for simplicity, I also thought of a 5th option in my position: leave the 12k where it is and put the 6.5k in a high interest cash account (JISA?). 

If she is likely to withdraw all the money and spend it when she turns 18 (16 in Scotland; the rest of this post assumes 18), that wouldn't be a bad idea with only a three year timeframe. But it would if she's likely to leave most of it invested for the medium to long term (e.g. for a future house deposit).

At 15 she should really be involved in this conversation so you can take her plans into account and she can get used to the idea of investments, how they go up and down, how they have done better for her than cash, etc, before she gains control in three years.

If it was a £5,000 lump sum in 2009, then £12,000 today sounds like pretty average performance. The Mixed Asset 40-85% Shares Sector is up by pretty much that figure since 2009, depending on where in the year you start. (Which is no bad thing - average performance for a medium-risk fund is a lot better than it would have done in cash.)

Maybe even a 5 year fixed rate if available so that I can forget about it till daughter is 20!

As she is absolutely entitled to the money at 18, that would be an inappropriate investment. Plus if she is unlikely to take the money out within 5 years, you / she can probably afford to take some investment risk.

Eyeful

By not taking the time to understand the basics of investing from the two videos I have suggested to you, then you will not be in a position to explain it to her. Many pensions to day, require people have a basic understanding of investing, other wise they are at the mercy of FA's who may steer them into poor performing, high charging funds. This leads to much more money in the FA's pocket & much less in the pensioners fund at the end. Its long term but needs to be thought about.
  

truescot

Eyeful said:

By not taking the time to understand the basics of investing from the two videos I have suggested to you, then you will not be in a position to explain it to her. Many pensions to day, require people have a basic understanding of investing, other wise they are at the mercy of FA's who may steer them into poor performing, high charging funds. This leads to much more money in the FA's pocket & much less in the pensioners fund at the end. Its long term but needs to be thought about.
  

I have actually watched the videos and thank you for sharing them. I'm just not sure it helps me decide what to do with the Quilter CIA I have inherited in trust for my daughter, in terms what I should do with the extra money I have inherited which has been earmarked for her.

More broadly,  although there are even some terms in the videos that I have to familiarise myself with, I am also still trying to get my head round how they might relate to my personal situation and stage of life, but that's possibly for another day.  Whilst the principles of the video are fairly easy to understand, the practicalities of implementing this strategy are something I am still completely unsure of. And I have been warned off IFAs, so unsure where specific guidance would come from.

Not everyone is an investor (or wants to be), but I have inherited a situation which I am keen to approach wisely.

Eyeful

If you are not understand or are not sure then there is nothing wrong with putting money in an account ISA account earning interest.
Good luck & I hope the following will be of help to you.
https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/saving/article-1583863/Best-savings-rates-Junior-Isas-children-s-accounts.html

dunstonh

Eyeful said:

If you are not understand or are not sure then there is nothing wrong with putting money in an account ISA account earning interest.
Good luck & I hope the following will be of help to you.
https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/saving/article-1583863/Best-savings-rates-Junior-Isas-children-s-accounts.html

JISAs cannot be held in trust. 

Yes there is something wrong with taking an action as a trustee because the trustee doesn't understand things.   The actions should be what is best for the beneficiary. Not what is best for the trustee.

truescot

Once again I genuinely appreciate  folk taking the time to comment, butas I'm still unsure what specifically I should do with regards the inherited CIA, I will seek professional advce on this occasion, even though some would caution against it

Eyeful

Thank you duntonh for making the point about JISAs.

But if the £6.5k mentioned by the OP is not being generated from within the trust, but from his own recourses, surely he can put it into a JISA of his own choice. Why must he put it into the trust?