Which S&P500 tracker

dont_use_vistaprint

Within ii there’s the Vanguard S&P500 UCITS ETF and the UBS S&P500 Index C 

in terms of SIPP & Trading accounts is one of these better , what do the different letters in the names mean for the purpose of investing ,  I can google the terms but pretty meaningless still when would you choose one verses the other ?

thanks

ColdIron

One is an ETF and the other an OEIC, read up on the differences in detail. Some platforms have different charging structures for each but I don't believe that applies to ii. The Vanguard fund is by far the larger

They track the same index so performance should be near as dammit identical before the fund fee which is very cheap for both

OEICs have different classes (that 'C') with different fund fees (institutional/retail investors) but you will usually only be offered one

I hope that will not be your only investment

dont_use_vistaprint

ColdIron said:

One is an ETF and the other an OEIC, read up on the differences in detail. Some platforms have different charging structures for each but I don't believe that applies to ii. The Vanguard fund is by far the larger

They track the same index so performance should be near as dammit identical before the fund fee which is very cheap for both

OEICs have different classes (that 'C') with different fund fees (institutional/retail investors) but you will usually only be offered one

I hope that will not be your only investment

Thanks yes I read up on the terms but tbh doesn’t really help make decisions because it doesn’t give any context or guidance on when you would choose each or why 

If you were tracking s&p500 Which would you choose and why ? 

If it was my only investment would that make a difference which one I should pick ? Or does one aim to make more money or  is is one more suitable for ‘experts’ ? 

AlanP_2

dont_use_vistaprint said:

ColdIron said:

One is an ETF and the other an OEIC, read up on the differences in detail. Some platforms have different charging structures for each but I don't believe that applies to ii. The Vanguard fund is by far the larger

They track the same index so performance should be near as dammit identical before the fund fee which is very cheap for both

OEICs have different classes (that 'C') with different fund fees (institutional/retail investors) but you will usually only be offered one

I hope that will not be your only investment

Thanks yes I read up on the terms but tbh doesn’t really help make decisions because it doesn’t give any context or guidance on when you would choose each or why 

If you were tracking s&p500 Which would you choose and why ? 

If it was my only investment would that make a difference which one I should pick ? Or does one aim to make more money or  is is one more suitable for ‘experts’ ? 

They both aim to track the same index so are both aiming to make the same amount of money (give or take the respective fund charges).

I would choose the ETF version sometimes and the OEIC sometimes - It all depends on the platform charging structure and the amount being invested.

On my platform (Fidelity) the charge is 0.35% of fund value per year but there is a capped annual charge for exchange traded investments (such as an ETF) at £90, they do however charge £7.50 to trade an ETF.

I already have ETFs  and ITs to a high enough value that I am at the £90 cap therefore holding an additional S&P ETF would only cost me £7.50 (the trade fee).

If I was investing a few thousand then great, but if I was doing a £25 per month DD then paying £7.50 each time wouldn't be sensible so I would go for the OEIC version which, on Fidelity , has no trade fee but attracts the 0.35% ongoing platform fee.

In essence "it all depends" on your platform and it's charging structure, trading frequency, amounts involved etc.


The other consideration is that the ETF can be sold instantly (at market price) whilst the LSE  is open, the OEIC on the other hand is priced once per day after the market closes so you get "tomorrows" price effectively when your sell order goes through. Again "it all depends" if that matters to you.


As to whether it was your only investment - the point being alluded to is that invested in just 1 market in just 1 country is a high risk / high volatility approach that I for one wouldn't consider (I like to sleep comfortably at night).

dont_use_vistaprint

AlanP_2 said:

dont_use_vistaprint said:

ColdIron said:

One is an ETF and the other an OEIC, read up on the differences in detail. Some platforms have different charging structures for each but I don't believe that applies to ii. The Vanguard fund is by far the larger

They track the same index so performance should be near as dammit identical before the fund fee which is very cheap for both

OEICs have different classes (that 'C') with different fund fees (institutional/retail investors) but you will usually only be offered one

I hope that will not be your only investment

Thanks yes I read up on the terms but tbh doesn’t really help make decisions because it doesn’t give any context or guidance on when you would choose each or why 

If you were tracking s&p500 Which would you choose and why ? 

If it was my only investment would that make a difference which one I should pick ? Or does one aim to make more money or  is is one more suitable for ‘experts’ ? 

They both aim to track the same index so are both aiming to make the same amount of money (give or take the respective fund charges).

I would choose the ETF version sometimes and the OEIC sometimes - It all depends on the platform charging structure and the amount being invested.

On my platform (Fidelity) the charge is 0.35% of fund value per year but there is a capped annual charge for exchange traded investments (such as an ETF) at £90, they do however charge £7.50 to trade an ETF.

I already have ETFs  and ITs to a high enough value that I am at the £90 cap therefore holding an additional S&P ETF would only cost me £7.50 (the trade fee).

If I was investing a few thousand then great, but if I was doing a £25 per month DD then paying £7.50 each time wouldn't be sensible so I would go for the OEIC version which, on Fidelity , has no trade fee but attracts the 0.35% ongoing platform fee.

In essence "it all depends" on your platform and it's charging structure, trading frequency, amounts involved etc.


The other consideration is that the ETF can be sold instantly (at market price) whilst the LSE  is open, the OEIC on the other hand is priced once per day after the market closes so you get "tomorrows" price effectively when your sell order goes through. Again "it all depends" if that matters to you.


As to whether it was your only investment - the point being alluded to is that invested in just 1 market in just 1 country is a high risk / high volatility approach that I for one wouldn't consider (I like to sleep comfortably at night).

Thanks that’s very helpful. On interactive investor I pay a flat fee of £11.99 a month & all trades cost £3.99 so I think both are equal in terms of costs. Being able to sell in real time is important though, but is this truly the case for ii customers - if you sell an ETF during LSE trading you get the price that  is on the screen or is that just for brokers and you get the price when they process your request  ? 

Also I just thought of another question something I was reading on a while back about this index being dominated by the Mag7 due to size. do either of these trackers do anything to balance that out and would you be able to tell from the name / codes of an S&P 500 tracker if this was being done or would you have to read up in detail

AlanP_2

dont_use_vistaprint said:

AlanP_2 said:

dont_use_vistaprint said:

ColdIron said:

One is an ETF and the other an OEIC, read up on the differences in detail. Some platforms have different charging structures for each but I don't believe that applies to ii. The Vanguard fund is by far the larger

They track the same index so performance should be near as dammit identical before the fund fee which is very cheap for both

OEICs have different classes (that 'C') with different fund fees (institutional/retail investors) but you will usually only be offered one

I hope that will not be your only investment

Thanks yes I read up on the terms but tbh doesn’t really help make decisions because it doesn’t give any context or guidance on when you would choose each or why 

If you were tracking s&p500 Which would you choose and why ? 

If it was my only investment would that make a difference which one I should pick ? Or does one aim to make more money or  is is one more suitable for ‘experts’ ? 

They both aim to track the same index so are both aiming to make the same amount of money (give or take the respective fund charges).

I would choose the ETF version sometimes and the OEIC sometimes - It all depends on the platform charging structure and the amount being invested.

On my platform (Fidelity) the charge is 0.35% of fund value per year but there is a capped annual charge for exchange traded investments (such as an ETF) at £90, they do however charge £7.50 to trade an ETF.

I already have ETFs  and ITs to a high enough value that I am at the £90 cap therefore holding an additional S&P ETF would only cost me £7.50 (the trade fee).

If I was investing a few thousand then great, but if I was doing a £25 per month DD then paying £7.50 each time wouldn't be sensible so I would go for the OEIC version which, on Fidelity , has no trade fee but attracts the 0.35% ongoing platform fee.

In essence "it all depends" on your platform and it's charging structure, trading frequency, amounts involved etc.


The other consideration is that the ETF can be sold instantly (at market price) whilst the LSE  is open, the OEIC on the other hand is priced once per day after the market closes so you get "tomorrows" price effectively when your sell order goes through. Again "it all depends" if that matters to you.


As to whether it was your only investment - the point being alluded to is that invested in just 1 market in just 1 country is a high risk / high volatility approach that I for one wouldn't consider (I like to sleep comfortably at night).

Thanks that’s very helpful. On interactive investor I pay a flat fee of £11.99 a month & all trades cost £3.99 so I think both are equal in terms of costs. Being able to sell in real time is important though, but is this truly the case for ii customers - if you sell an ETF during LSE trading you get the price that  is on the screen or is that just for brokers and you get the price when they process your request  ? 

Also I just thought of another question something I was reading on a while back about this index being dominated by the Mag7 due to size. do either of these trackers do anything to balance that out and would you be able to tell from the name / codes of an S&P 500 tracker if this was being done or would you have to read up in detail

The quote you are offered on ii will be the price you buy / sell at if you accept the quote and proceed.

A tracker fund if the type you are looking at is just that it passively "tracks" the relevant index with no active management involved. 

The only exceptions are equal weighted trackers which, fir the S&P 500 would allocate 0.2% to each stock listed but these are not as common as the market-cap weighted ones you are looking at.