I,m loosing money--help

ldv400

Hi all ----The wife and I sold our house and went to a FA at the halifax on her advice we put 100,000 in a medium risk personal investment plan it has never been above 100,000 as I type it is at 98,000 I phoned her yesterday and she not to worry because it is going to jump upwards ? I need advice what would you do.

thanks

stevedb11

Hi, As with all investments, they go up and down, if its gone down 2% I would'nt worry too much,as the Stockmarkets have gone down a lot more than that recentley.
Over time it will recover, but it depends when you need your Original Investment.
Hope this helps.

jon3001

ldv400 wrote: »

on her advice we put 100,000 in a medium risk personal investment plan

And how long was this money to be invested? Stock market linked investments usually require a minimum of 5 years. You shouldn't be overly concerned with capital fluctuations in the meantime. In fact you can usually expect a couple of bear markets over a 10 year period.

ldv400 wrote: »

I phoned her yesterday and she not to worry because it is going to jump upwards ?

There's no way she can possibly know that.

ldv400

Hi thanks ---It has only been going for 10 month --- she said at the end of the first year it would (could) be worth 104,000 I would have been happy with it in a high investment acc, and the way things are at the moment I may have to get some funds quite quick? Can you cancell them quickly ?
Thanks

northern_munky

I saw a FA at the Halifax too, all she was interested in was trying to sell me the stocks and shares ISA and wanted me to put a big chunk of my wages in every month. It has put me off seeing anyone from there again.

Aegis

ldv400 wrote: »

Hi thanks ---It has only been going for 10 month --- she said at the end of the first year it would (could) be worth 104,000 I would have been happy with it in a high investment acc, and the way things are at the moment I may have to get some funds quite quick? Can you cancell them quickly ?
Thanks

Did she explain to you the risks and the timescales involved? If she didn't tell you that this money should be tied up for at least 5 years or so, and that there was downturn risk associated with the product, I would strongly suggest complaining about this to the bank and asking them to sort you out with a product more suited to your risk profile and investment goals.

However, a 2% decrease is nothing to worry about in the long run (at least not yet!), as most portfolios will have dropped over the last few days. Chances are that in the long run your investment will recover, but you might be better off consulting an Independent Financial Adviser rather than a tied agent, and switching your money into a diverse portfolio of funds ratehr than a single lump sum investment.

debbie42

If you do a search on this board you'll find plenty of posts about the difference between a tied FA (e.g. via the Halifax) and a truly Independent Financial Adviser. I'd never trust my money to the tied bank version having read the discussions.

As others have said, if you want this money in the short term (less than 5 years) then the sort of investment you are in is just not sensible. A savings plan would be better. If you're in it for the longer term, and don't want to manage the funds yourself, then see an IFA.

dunstonh

Oh dear. Another poor individual sold a rubbish Halifax product.

Above have already mentioned that its risk based and that means it can go down as well as up and you appear to accept that in one bit of your post as you say you are medium risk. However, you contradict that by being concerned over a tiny 2% drop. If you were really medium risk you would be closer to 10% down at this point.

You should never ever ever get your advice from a bank tied rep. They are insurance salesmen/women who have about 15 products to sell. Bank funds are almost universally rubbish and you are not getting proper financial advice, you are being sold an investment.

Please do not say that it is only invested in one fund. £100k should be a spread of 8-10 funds. However, you wont be in 8-10 funds as tied agents just don't have the remit to build proper investments.

Its not all bad news though. Go see an IFA and they should be able to re-register/stock transfer to a fund supermarket and get your investment done properly and more appropriate to your risk profile. They should also help you understand your investment more as it appears the Halifax rep is telling you things as fact that she cannot possibly know and you appear to know little about the workings.

Investing is a good thing but it needs to be done properly.

Alias_Omega

Should of bought premium bonds instead..

That way you get your cash back, you many win a prize too.

dunstonh

Alias_Omega wrote: »

Should of bought premium bonds instead..

That way you get your cash back, you many win a prize too.

Premium bonds are rubbish unless you are a higher rate taxpayer and you have utilised the rest of your tax free options first.

Aegis

Alias_Omega wrote: »

Should of bought premium bonds instead..

That way you get your cash back, you many win a prize too.

Hmmm... the statistics aren't going to back you on that one I'm afraid.

Probability wise, you'd normally win more by putting all your money into a high interest account and spending half your interest on Lottery tickets at the end of the year than you would with an equivalent amount invested in Premium Bonds. And the leftover interest would appreciate your capital at (probably) a faster rate than the prizes you'd win with Premium Bonds.

All in all, Premium Bonds are mediocre for higher rate taxpayers and appalingly bad for basic and below. It just amounts to gambling away your interest into a zero-sum lottery, which with the full holding is essentially gambling up to £1950 before tax (the amount if interest you could get in the best savings account at the moment).