[Closed] Where do you put yours (money and investments, that is)?

So point me at a stocks & shares ISA or 2 to consider - have a fair bit tied up in Cash ISA that should be working harder

Property 50% (1.5 houses, owned outright)
Pensions 45% (One SIPP, One Final Salary, One Defined Contribution)
ISA 5%

The ISA & SIPP are an experiment, happy to take risks e.g. bought a Gold ETF at the start of year, rode the 20% rise and then sold it all last month and bought something else...

Try something ethical. Might not offer returns in line with tobacco companies, but seriously - are you all happy propping that industry up?

There are ethical fund trackers etc. too.

As for diversification, 100% agree. Hence monthly few quid in a tracker. It evens out the peaks and troughs, so if the market goes down, your 20 quid buys a little more, and when it goes up, it buys a little less. And the costs of a computer that picks stocks once every quarter when the make-up of the FTSE 250/100 is adjusted, are minimal.

Utilities is the other single stock or single sector I'd look at. Water, Leccy, Gas etc. also tend to be recession-proof and pay big dividends (probably find a lot of pension funds investing there). Some will call that unethical too. Investing in what others believe should be state owned.

Whatever, make sure it's wrapped up via ISA.

Try something ethical. Might not offer returns in line with tobacco companies, but seriously - are you all happy propping that industry up?

No-ones propping up the fags trade apart from the smokers...

In my belly 🙂

Under the floor boards...mind you just found some woodworm....

At the moment some overpayment of the mortgage to get some buffer and to chip away at the capital, and employer pension schemes for me and mrsEd which are both good schemes. I did do AVCs and I'm going to start a sipp now these have stopped. But until the nursery fees are all done this is taking up what we could invest in trackers/portfolio. I'd give myself 6/10 because it's organised but could be a bit more adventurous

£2900 to last until august. Best find the next gig...eek!

[quoteLondon flats for my pension as like tobacco stocks the capital prices and rents have only gone 1 way.

Lol troll

Interesting! Will look at tobacco companies.

Allthepies,have you considered the effects of litigation on the tobacco companies.Bernie Saunders for president anybody!And emerging market debt collapse could also cut demand for deathsticks.

Me,80% equities and bonds(shortly to be 90%),Rest in cash,Zopa and gold ETFs.Nought in housing and minimal pension.A bit desperate I know.

Tobacco etc. historically have reasonably good returns, and even when UK/EU/US might be swaying towards e-fags, the rest of the world can't get enough baccy.

And within a week, the World starts to turn...

[url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36355497 ]Axa[/url]

historicaly they have been good though.

How ever this just highlights exactly why doing your own research into where you invest your money is critical.

following "tips" is a good way to set your self up for a fall - by the time they are common knowledge they are nearing the top of the market more often than not.

How would one go about investing in the Solar industry, rather than just one company?

I'm no lentil-knitting hippy but tobacco companies have been so dishonest and destructive for such a long time that I won't touch their shares. I do have a mix of other shares (including some investment trusts which increase diversity and reduce risks a bit). Plus the house, of course.

Doing research and "picking winners" is a waste of time though. Just invest in a diverse range of companies and hold tight. In the long run, this is always the best (achievable) strategy. You'll always get the odd lucky gambler who claims to have known what was going to do up/down, but for every one of them, there are just as many who were convinced of the opposite.

Jimmy, there are investments in solar power parks (foresight, bluefield) but not the technological side that I'm aware of.

historicaly they have been good though.

Maybe so, but dumping $1.7bn of shares onto the market isn't going to prop the price up. Others will follow, you may depend upon it.

This is the tipping point.

To really make good returns you need to have some hot info ahead of the market. You won't find that onthe internet.

I've got money in Tobacco via Neil Woodford's fund. He has three tobacco companies in his top 10 funds (about 17% overall). https://woodfordfunds.com/our-funds/weif/fullportfolio/ (you need to register to see the portfolio).

Nice partial quote.

This is the tipping point.

If you're investing for dividends (which is why most hold tobacco) then the share price isn't that relevant. It's still a very profitable industry.

Doing research and "picking winners" is a waste of time though. Just invest in a diverse range of companies and hold tight.

That looks like pretty dangerous advice to me. I'd say do maximum research and weigh your bets accordingly.

Bill, how do you think you are going to out-research the people who do this professionally full time?

Bill, how do you think you are going to out-research the people who do this professionally full time?

Plenty of very successful private investors, it is a skill to be learnt. Professional investors are often hampstrung by the size of their funds - they also charge very high fees - the universe into which they can commit significant amounts is much smaller.

"Bill, how do you think you are going to out-research the people who do this professionally full time?"

what makes you think you have to?

contrary to whats being suggested above which is the equivalent of throwing a dart at the racing post you need to at least do due dilligence on your investment to minimise the risk of losing significant sums.

Plenty of very successful private investors, it is a skill to be learnt.

That's rather like saying there are plenty of very successful poker players, although at least my statement is demonstrably true. But true or not, it's hardly helpful to anyone looking to invest a bit of spare money.

Bill, how do you think you are going to out-research the people who do this professionally full time?

You won't, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't do any research. Blindly investing in a fund without being aware of what you're buying is just daft.

That's rather like saying there are plenty of very successful poker players, although at least my statement is demonstrably true. But true or not, it's hardly helpful to anyone looking to invest a bit of spare money.

Why not, they might decide to use the money to help acquire a new skill, they are very few fund managers whose fees are justified by their value added on a consistent basis. Hence why there is a good argument for low cost trackers.

Agree re fund managers, that was basically my point about just buying a diverse portfolio and sitting on it (yes, a tracker would also be reasonable for many people). But where are these private investors making a killing? Do you mean me? 😆

Mello

As said earlier, it's not just about tips and individual shares. Anyone with a range of shares will have one/some that go nicely but the key measure is what has happened to your portfolio. Mine grew by 30% last year but a bit off that since then, having moved into different territory. I don't dismiss professional researchers at all, I look at what they're investing in. It's not difficult although often they have different priorities. There's enough information on the net to keep you engaged in your research for ages. I've found out all sorts of interesting things about the hassle and cost of moving oil between Colombia and Ecuador, the percentage chances of hitting good quality black gold in Paraguay, the future of cannabis-based pharmaceuticals alongside sourcing the best quinine for tonic water, and so on. All this stuff has potential £ signs on it.

30% Property
20% Pension
40% home equity
10% cash

I just checked my directly invested portfolio and the real stars are....tobacco. I heard axa last week sold their tobacco holdings but they do sell medical insurance.

Anyway, the capital values are academic for income seekers. The net yield on the portfolio of c 10 mega caps is 5%. The capital value is intact but there's big winners and big losers.

I havent been following my inv performance too closely lately, so though Id have a quick shuftie:

2yr holdings:
European Mid Cap: +5%
European Oppty: -15%
US Mid Cap: +30%
Asia Pac: +20%
US Small: +16%

overall, +11%, so a v modest 5%pa. But that's the value of diversification too.

FTSE 250 ISA has done about 8% over the same period. (c.3.75%pa)

Land Securities direct shareholding has done better at c.35% over 4yrs. (8%pa)

My pension inv last year though, only went up by the value of my contributions. 🙄

I'm reasonably happy with all of those - nothing to set the world on fire, but more importantly Im not paying someone tons of money to make similar decisions (or worse). The HSBC FTSE tracker has a great low fee of just 0.18%. My Pension is 1% pa with Aviva - not too expensive, but hardly value for money given how crap Aviva can be as inv managers. And all my direct dealing I do through Share.com for £7.50 per quarter - no other dealing fees.

I just checked my directly invested portfolio and the real stars are....tobacco. I heard axa last week sold their tobacco holdings but they do sell medical insurance.

Will oil, mining and banks all in the doldrums there aren't many big dividend payers left. Tobacco is one of the few left!

oil majors have stood me well this year both in "value" gain and dividend payouts......YTD

Worth considering the Vanguard Lifestrategy funds IMO.

http://monevator.com/using-vanguard-lifestrategy-funds-life/

Last few of years looking at around 15% pa average. I am not very diversified so one fund mainly keeping that high but at risk. Pondering liquidising the lot just before the EU vote even though that would leave me an ISA problem.

Pondering liquidising the lot just before the EU vote even though that would leave me an ISA problem

Why? You can keep cash balances in most S&S Isas. If you're tied up in, say, a Fundsmith ISA it should be possible to transfer to an ISA platform provider.

Yes a large part of my investments are with Fundsmith directly. I also have an III ISA fund (and SIPP) with some but a lesser amount. I just need to get around to doing a transfer.

35% ISA Stocks and shares - Vanguard 60 equity
33% - Cash (you never know)
5% - Alternative lending (Lending works @ 6%)
27% - Standard life pension

I also don't consider my home equity an investment, as the opposite debit entry wipes out the credit (debits and credits are the wrong way round for a balance sheet entry, but always think that confuses people).

home equity an investment, as the opposite debit entry wipes out the credit

home "equity" is that portion of gross value NOT netted off with your mortgage.

Doesn't that mean you have to estimate the sales value of your home? People typically over-estimate this value.