Oxford University Bonds?

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  • vigman
    vigman Posts: 1,377 Forumite
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    Thanks everyone

    The only advised investment that lost were the unit trusts in 1997. I didn't follow up a complaint as the financial advisor helping me died suddenly and I didn't want to put in a complaint about him

    All othe losses were of my own making. No this is not the whole picture but certainly have done better with actual items and commodities than stocks and shares. I also own property.

    I can't win in one way. I bought Max Oil shares (yes risky) and they increased considerably. I could (should in hindsight!) have cashed out quickly with a reasonable profit. When they nose dived I thought I would not lose my nerve but they were soon de-listed from AIM (plus I was in hospital during the fall period) and the whole investment lost.

    The OU bond idea was just as my son has started investing and works for an associated branch of OU. Not quite up to the £100,000 Chistmas present yet!

    I'd be happy to pay a reasonable fee for professional advice but feel a bit put off by the unit trust experience

    Thanks again

    Vigman
    Any information given in my posts or replies is intended to be of interest and/or help to members of the forum. I cannot guarantee that this is accurate or up to date.
  • redpete
    redpete Posts: 4,692 Forumite
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    But you havent really invested, you have made serial gambles. When you choose a single company's shares a lot will be down to luck.

    Also, you are considering this 'investment' as a gift, so why does your attitude to risk come into it at all? You buy something for £50 and give it away. You are £50 down, it will never be any more nor any less.
    loose does not rhyme with choose but lose does and is the word you meant to write.
  • vigman
    vigman Posts: 1,377 Forumite
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    edited 7 December 2017 at 9:53AM
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    redpete wrote: »
    But you havent really invested, you have made serial gambles. When you choose a single company's shares a lot will be down to luck.

    Also, you are considering this 'investment' as a gift, so why does your attitude to risk come into it at all? You buy something for £50 and give it away. You are £50 down, it will never be any more nor any less/QUOTE]

    I initially only asked about where I might buy the university bonds and what a minimum investment might be.

    I would have no concern about risk if I could buy say £100 of these and give them as a gift and am slightly puzzled by the last comment?

    Is buying 15+ different individual company shares and trading them in X-O as a part of my investing really a succession of serial gambles? Some are blue chip some are risky. I've researched the companies in share discussion sites and made a judgement on how I think they may perform. I just didn't use a management company when trading.

    Property, ISAs, and interest paying accounts along with antiques and gold bought in the past at low cost make up most of my investments. The most I have had in shares is around £5k

    Like many of us I would like to find a home for say £100k cash at a safe 4-5% but this does not seem possible at the moment.

    I may put £10k in a S&S ISA managed by Hargreaves Lansdown to see if I can do better than the new NSI 2.2% 3 year fix. Issue 56 Growth Bond.

    My concern about large risk is for my wife's security. Ten years ago I was given approximately eight years to live and as I do have serious health issues I don't want to risk LARGE amounts that she may need in the future.

    Vigman
    Any information given in my posts or replies is intended to be of interest and/or help to members of the forum. I cannot guarantee that this is accurate or up to date.
  • martinthebandit
    martinthebandit Posts: 4,422 Forumite
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    http://monevator.com/the-permanent-portfolio/

    This has always made sense to me
  • Malthusian
    Malthusian Posts: 10,938 Forumite
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    edited 7 December 2017 at 1:09PM
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    vigman wrote: »
    Is buying 15+ different individual company shares and trading them in X-O as a part of my investing really a succession of serial gambles? Some are blue chip some are risky.

    Yes. In the 19th century that might have been considerered a diversified portfolio. Not any more.

    A portfolio of 15 shares has a significant risk of permanent loss if a few of the shares go bust or do a BP, and the others don't perform well enough to make up for it. Risk of permanent loss means the portfolio may never make money no matter how long you wait. A diversified portfolio of tracker funds has almost zero possibility of permanent loss unless the investor panics and cashes in or invests with borrowed money. The vast majority of investors should not be taking on any risk of permanent loss.

    If you had used an adviser they would have helped you avoid your losses or, in the very slim chance that you found a bad one, you would be entitled to redress.
    martinthebandit wrote: »
    http://monevator.com/the-permanent-portfolio/

    This has always made sense to me

    Unsuitable for most investors as only a quarter of the portfolio is invested in assets that can be expected to deliver real growth. It's simultaneously extremely cautious (only 25% in equities and 50% in cash and gilts) and extremely speculative (25% in a single commodity with no yield). There's no logic to it other than picking four assets at random and splitting the investment between them, which is very old-fashioned.

    Very few UK investors should be investing any money at all in conventional UK gilts because they can get better returns from cash with less risk, unless they're so loaded they're effectively an institution. This is why it's often a mistake to take investment advice from people writing in a different country under a completely different set of economic conditions.

    If a UK adviser had been recommending the same products and the same funds for the past 10 years, they'd be a rubbish adviser, a stick-in-the-mud too lazy to update their knowledge. But if advice is old enough then somehow it ceases to become out-of-date and becomes an eternal verity.
  • redpete
    redpete Posts: 4,692 Forumite
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    vigman wrote: »
    Is buying 15+ different individual company shares and trading them in X-O as a part of my investing really a succession of serial gambles? Some are blue chip some are risky. I've researched the companies in share discussion sites and made a judgement on how I think they may perform. I just didn't use a management company when trading.
    I was commenting on the information you had given in previous posts although 15+ individual shares is by no means low risk and without knowing what they are I can't comment on the diversity of those shares.

    I reckon any one of the unit trusts i have include shares in at least 50 companies and more likely 100+, I've also diversified across different areas of the world.

    But then if I only had £5k in shares I wouldn't be too worried about controlling risk or diversification.
    loose does not rhyme with choose but lose does and is the word you meant to write.
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