Pru fund growth stocks and shares

jazzy23

Hi there, these particular funds charge 1.45 and sometimes profit gets eaten away by fees - however, they smooth over the stockmarket ups and downs.  I am wondering whether its better to get a lower fee managed stocks and shares ISA like Wealthify - they seem to be robo isas.... as opposed to people - are people using these isas? - what do people think?

eskbanker

Before considering what the best answer is, what's the question?

In other words, what are you trying to achieve with your investing, over what timescale, what's your risk tolerance, etc?

jazzy23

eskbanker said:

Before considering what the best answer is, what's the question?

In other words, what are you trying to achieve with your investing, over what timescale, what's your risk tolerance, etc?

I have 7 years before I need the money - I am highmedium with risk.  I am putting this money aside alongside my pension.  I have a pension in a SIPP

eskbanker

If you're going to be needing the money in seven years, that's towards the bottom end of typical investment timeframes, so it would make sense to be looking at derisking.

If you're keen to drive down costs, robo providers will be better than the Pru figure you quote, but they'll still be some way above the costs of using mainstream products from standard investment platforms, in that if you bought into typical multi-asset funds on the likes of IWeb, total costs will be a smaller fraction, albeit you need to spend a bit more time researching options....

MX5huggy

Use trust net to plot this fund against some better value options (Lifestrategy 60, MyMap, HSBC Global Strategy) does it behave differently to those? 

Not which one has performed the best, but does the line wiggle in a materially different manner?

dunstonh

i there, these particular funds charge 1.45 and sometimes profit gets eaten away by fees 

Your savings account has fees that eat into the interest rate. The only difference is that they don't tell what that margin is (typically its higher than fund fees).

  I am wondering whether its better to get a lower fee managed stocks and shares ISA like Wealthify - they seem to be robo isas..

The Pru funds are a niche option that are aimed at clueless investors who don't want to learn or understand volatility.   They are not exempt from falls but they smooth that volatility out.    That smoothing comes at a cost which is why it costs more.   For me, they are an option of last resort.

Robos are a good option for people who also don't want to know what they are doing and put the quality of the app software above the quality of the investments or the charges.   They are typically not that good value for money.

Typically, a platform is the lowest cost method (although it can also be the most expensive if you pick the wrong solutions)

are people using these isas? 

Yes.  However, they haven't taken off as much as they thought they would and I believe all robo providers are loss making and being supported by investors/owners who hope to either get to profit or be sold to a consolidator.  Some failed and have shut down.

jazzy23

Thanks all. I am not clueless  I have am unmanaged sipp but wanted something managed to even things out. However when I was sold it, I was completely  clueless!!!