got 450k to invest...ideas?

Lionandweasle13

we have around 450k to invest. We dont need an monthly income from it and can tie it up for a year at least. We are very risk averse but would like to get some ideas on what we might realise in terms of interest or dividends or whatever after a year. We already have a buy to let and would not be looking for another one. Thoughts.......

wmb194

Lionandweasle13 said:

we have around 450k to invest. We dont need an monthly income from it and can tie it up for a year at least. We are very risk averse but would like to get some ideas on what we might realise in terms of interest or dividends or whatever after a year. We already have a buy to let and would not be looking for another one. Thoughts.......

If it's just a year then you're looking at savings accounts.

https://moneyfactscompare.co.uk/savings-accounts/

eskbanker

As above, save rather than invest but split the £450K into chunks to ensure FSCS protection for up to £85K per institution per person, i.e. £170K for joint accounts.

dunstonh

we have around 450k to invest. We dont need an monthly income from it and can tie it up for a year at least.

With such a short term, investing would be inappropriate.   You should stick with savings.

That is unless you are not planning to spend £450k in around 1 years time.

 We are very risk averse

What risks are you averse to?
If you mean investment risk then if you go too low on investment risk you then increase shortfall risk and inflation risk.

 We already have a buy to let and would not be looking for another one. 

I thought you said you were risk averse?   BTL is just as risky, more in some cases than a balanced portfolio.   

Stubod

..."risk averse", and "investing for a year"????.....forget it, you need savings accounts, or if you fancy a bit of a "gamble" get yourself some premium bonds......

Hoenir

No one would ever suggest considering a BTL property for short term savings. 

Rather than what you'll potentially gain. More a question of not losing any of your capital. As it would appear that the money has been earmarked for a specific purpose.  Your personal tax situation will have a bearing on the most suitable options. 

Linton

Lionandweasle13 said:

we have around 450k to invest. We dont need an monthly income from it and can tie it up for a year at least. We are very risk averse but would like to get some ideas on what we might realise in terms of interest or dividends or whatever after a year. We already have a buy to let and would not be looking for another one. Thoughts.......

Are you really expecting to spend £450k in a year’s time? If so put it somewhere  very safe such as NS&I where it would be guaranteed by the government though the returns are not the best. Broadly speaking the higher the returns the higher the risk, though below inflation returns mean that your money is loosing real value because of inflation. Which is of course should be considered a risk.

If your withdrawals will be spread over several years please give more information as to how much and when.  For the long term there are a wide range of options but it is not worth exploring these until we have some idea of your objectives.

Labtebricolist

As said above, you need to think through:

How much of if might you need to spend in just over a year?  All of it?  20% of it?  Some other percentage.

When you say you’re very risk averse what do you mean by that?  Could you simply not tolerate any possibility of a reduction in value?  If so then savings accounts are probably the best.  However, could you put 10 or 20 per cent of it into a fund and stand the idea that portion might lose some of its value?  If so, the answer looks very different.

If the majority is going to be saved then you’re up against the FSCS deposit limit and you will need to split it between different banks.  I’ve found platforms like HL active savings good for this, but you’re going to be getting rates in the region of 4% pa- this might change your mind on whether you really want a no-risk strategy.

In short:  calculate your liquidity needs, work out your risk appetite, and decide how much time you want to spend administering it.  That will help frame the questions.