Reviewing Investment Platforms

newbieni

Hi All,

I have £20k invested in Vanguard with the following fund, I'm happy with how it's been performing with a return of 63%. My investment is within an ISA wrapper and I contribute £200 per month to the pot. My question is, with the rate hikes is this the best place to maximise my returns?

LifeStrategy® 100% Equity Fund - Accumulation

Thanks in advance 

Albermarle

Although an increase in fees is not welcome, it is only a minor issue compared to what you are actually invested in.
So in fact you are asking two completely separate questions.

1) Should I move to a different investment platform, to try and save on charges?
2) Is VLS100 the best investment for me?

( you can buy VLS 100 on other platforms) 

friolento

Find your best platform here:

 https://monevator.com/compare-uk-cheapest-online-brokers/. You can hold VLSxxx with several of them.

Whether VLS100 is your best choice, nobody can attempt to tell because you haven’t given any information about yourself and your investment goals, which are important factors in choosing your investment. Assuming you are satisfied with VLS100, you can review your platform costs though you might find there’s not much variance, and an ISA transfer might not be cost effective.

newbieni

friolento said:

Find your best platform here:

 https://monevator.com/compare-uk-cheapest-online-brokers/. You can hold VLSxxx with several of them.

Whether VLS100 is your best choice, nobody can attempt to tell because you haven’t given any information about yourself and your investment goals, which are important factors in choosing your investment. Assuming you are satisfied with VLS100, you can review your platform costs though you might find there’s not much variance, and an ISA transfer might not be cost effective.

What additional information do you need?

friolento

Your age, your financial obligations, your risk tolerance, your pension provisions for starters

newbieni

friolento said:

Your age, your financial obligations, your risk tolerance, your pension provisions for starters

Age - 41
Pension - £103k on a £41k salary. I contribute 13% and my employer is maxed at 11.5%. I have been told this is too low.
I am currently mortgage free and I intend to stay that way, I am in the process of buying a new house with my wife, I am able to do this with savings. That will mean I only have my £20k ISA which I am not going to touch. Once my house is sold I should have a decent amount of additional capital, probably £100k.
My only other big financial commitment is £500 pm for child care.
I'm comfortable with some level of risk.

Linton

newbieni said:

friolento said:

Your age, your financial obligations, your risk tolerance, your pension provisions for starters

Age - 41
Pension - £103k on a £41k salary. I contribute 13% and my employer is maxed at 11.5%. I have been told this is too low.
I am currently mortgage free and I intend to stay that way, I am in the process of buying a new house with my wife, I am able to do this with savings. That will mean I only have my £20k ISA which I am not going to touch. Once my house is sold I should have a decent amount of additional capital, probably £100k.
My only other big financial commitment is £500 pm for child care.
I'm comfortable with some level of risk.

The type of fund you are using and the platform seems reasonable for your stated situation provided you are happy to continue investing during a major crash which you will probably experience at least once before you retire.  Investment nerds could quibble with both but over the long term I would expect any change to your current choice of platform and fund to be pretty marginal.  Certainly far less important than a decision to increase your contributions.

Putting the money into a pension would be somewhat more tax-efficient than an ISA but it is not accessible until you are 57/58. You may want to build up your immediately accessible money a bit first.

At your age I think it is time to start serious retirement planning - ie when do you want to retire, how much income will you need, and hence how much you should contribute now to your pension to meet those objectives.