Investing using Trading 212

slhqoue

I listened to Martin's investment podcast and have decided to give it a go. My savings are currently in a Trading212 cash ISA (£23,000), and so I've decided to use Trading212 over Vanguard for ease and simplicity.

First of all, would you recommend opening a Stocks ISA, Invest or CFD account?

I'm thinking of investing £8000.

£7500 in either the Vanguard Global pie or the BlackRock Core pie. Which would you recommend of these two and why?

£400 in the Daily Dividends user created pie.

£100 in an individual share TBC.

How does this sounds and does anyone have any advice for further places to research any of this before making a final decision? 

ColdIron

slhqoue said:

First of all, would you recommend opening a Stocks ISA, Invest or CFD account?

Martin wasn't talking about CFDs. These are a very different proposal from traditional investments that just happen to be hosted by the same site. They are very high risk especially for novices

They are so high risk that they are required to display the likelihood of loss on their site, did you read T212s? (bolding not mine)

• CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 75% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Ayr_Rage

Is your £8000 new money or are you moving it out of your cash ISA?

I am with T212, read the warnings about how many lose with CFDs and don't go there unless you really understand how they work.

I have just moved all of my T212 cash ISA into a Stocks ISA, very easy to do in the app and then purchased shares, I picked my own so will not make any comment as to investment choice, that's up to you, do your research first!

One thing I particularly like is that you can buy fractional shares and therefore invest all of your funds without leaving small cash balances.

I have also decided to transfer a stocks ISA from Hargreaves Lansdown to T212.

It is now day 3 of the transfer process and both sides have been very fast with updates, the in specie transfer of my 70,766 ALW shares is now in progress, hopefully it won't take too long although the "up to 14 days" warning has appeared.

Eyeful

Your post suggests you are new to investing, so some important points to take note of:

1. Investing means putting your money at risk.

2. The longer you invest for the higher your odds of winning the game.
    Their are no guarantees that you will win, you could lose.

3. Think of investing without touching that money for at least 10 years.

4. Have an emergency fund of at least 6 months of household expenses, in a savings account before you invest.

5. Stay away from CFD,  very high risk!

6. Investing in a single share is high risk.

7. Watch this before investing in anything, it should answer the question you asked:
    https://www.kroijer.com/

8. This may be of interest to you:
    https://www.biglawinvestor.com/meet-the-gotrocks-family/

9. Use tax shelters (Pension, Stocks & Shares ISA's) when possible.

R_P_W

Use their S&S ISA, you can then transfer funds from your cash ISA in the T212 app instantly.  Stay well away from the CFD!

You haven't mentioned how old you are, what your objectives for investing are or anything really about your wider financial situation.

No one can really give you any financial advice on what to invest in, but I'd say keep it simple.  Personally I just invest into a global ETF as that gives good diversification across geography and sectors.  Two popular ones are the Vanguard All world which is VWRP and Invesco All world which is FWRG.  They are both pretty similar although the FWRG does have lower fees.

I personally have two ETFs that allow me to achieve the same outcome as the VWRP but at lower fees.  So in my ISA and SIPP I put 90% into the Vanguard Developed World VHVG and 10% in Vanguard Emerging Markets VFEG.

I've also dabbled a bit with that Dividend pie when I first started out and I also was buying a few individual stocks.  Some worked out well and some didn't.  I took the decision to basically just keep everything simple be 100% into my 2 x ETFs.  I found with individual shares I was checking them too often, listing to the media too much and trying to time the market etc.

slhqoue

R_P_W said:

Use their S&S ISA, you can then transfer funds from your cash ISA in the T212 app instantly.  Stay well away from the CFD!

You haven't mentioned how old you are, what your objectives for investing are or anything really about your wider financial situation.

No one can really give you any financial advice on what to invest in, but I'd say keep it simple.  Personally I just invest into a global ETF as that gives good diversification across geography and sectors.  Two popular ones are the Vanguard All world which is VWRP and Invesco All world which is FWRG.  They are both pretty similar although the FWRG does have lower fees.

I personally have two ETFs that allow me to achieve the same outcome as the VWRP but at lower fees.  So in my ISA and SIPP I put 90% into the Vanguard Developed World VHVG and 10% in Vanguard Emerging Markets VFEG.

I've also dabbled a bit with that Dividend pie when I first started out and I also was buying a few individual stocks.  Some worked out well and some didn't.  I took the decision to basically just keep everything simple be 100% into my 2 x ETFs.  I found with individual shares I was checking them too often, listing to the media too much and trying to time the market etc.

Thanks, that's really helpful advice. I'm interested in why you invested in VHVG and VFEG over VWRP. You said that these ETFs have lower fees? I couldn't find this information easily available on Trading212, though maybe I'm looking in the wrong place. Is there any reason why you avoid the S&P 500 Vanguard fund?

Aidanmc

slhqoue said:

R_P_W said:

Use their S&S ISA, you can then transfer funds from your cash ISA in the T212 app instantly.  Stay well away from the CFD!

You haven't mentioned how old you are, what your objectives for investing are or anything really about your wider financial situation.

No one can really give you any financial advice on what to invest in, but I'd say keep it simple.  Personally I just invest into a global ETF as that gives good diversification across geography and sectors.  Two popular ones are the Vanguard All world which is VWRP and Invesco All world which is FWRG.  They are both pretty similar although the FWRG does have lower fees.

I personally have two ETFs that allow me to achieve the same outcome as the VWRP but at lower fees.  So in my ISA and SIPP I put 90% into the Vanguard Developed World VHVG and 10% in Vanguard Emerging Markets VFEG.

I've also dabbled a bit with that Dividend pie when I first started out and I also was buying a few individual stocks.  Some worked out well and some didn't.  I took the decision to basically just keep everything simple be 100% into my 2 x ETFs.  I found with individual shares I was checking them too often, listing to the media too much and trying to time the market etc.

Thanks, that's really helpful advice. I'm interested in why you invested in VHVG and VFEG over VWRP. You said that these ETFs have lower fees? I couldn't find this information easily available on Trading212, though maybe I'm looking in the wrong place. Is there any reason why you avoid the S&P 500 Vanguard fund?

If you search for an ETF on T212 platform (desktop), scroll down the page and you will find the fees info,

Expense Ratio 0.22% for VWRP

Its probably a bit cheaper to hold 90% VHVG and 10% VFEG over 100% VWRP

I think a lot if not all of the S&P companies would be included in VHVG and VWRP anyhow

slhqoue

Thanks all. Great advice! I like the idea of the 90% in VHVG and 10% in emerging markets (VFEG). @R_P_W, I came across this idea in a YouTube video I watched just after you mentioned it by sheer coincidence.

Out of interest, any reason why you wouldn't put more than 10% into emerging markets given the 10 year outlook seems to be more positive than developed markets?

toothdoctor

Another vote for a low cost index fund such as VWRP @0.22%, FWRG @0.15%, ACWI @0.12% (all world ETFs) VHVG @0.12% (developed world ETF). Regular investing, set and forget

InvesterJones

slhqoue said:

Out of interest, any reason why you wouldn't put more than 10% into emerging markets given the 10 year outlook seems to be more positive than developed markets?

That outlook will already be priced in. By increasing exposure by more than market cap you're saying you think the outlook will be even more positive than everyone thinks (and everything else will be worse).