Stocks & shares ISA

Not sure, but I have taken quite a number out in the past.

Are there platforms / providers you’ve had positive or negative experiences with?

I’ve been looking at Legal & General, which offers their own L&G funds, mostly index trackers, such as L&G international index tracker.

Maybe see an IFA ( independent financial advisor)

stillgame Legal & General will only advise you to invest in their own funds.
Mumofmadboys is spot on with her advice but you could also look at this
Hargreaves Lansdown’s recommended funds for 2019
HL is a platform through which you can manage investments. You don’t have to invest through them of course but we have found them very good. They have IPA’s if you need one.

We have found Hargreaves Lansdown good too.

I would use a company like Hargreaves Lansdowne rather than a bank or insurance company that will only sell you their own products. You need to check that their products have a history of being funds that show good growth and are up with the leading funds. Often insurance firms that only sell their own products are not the best in the market as they are to a certain extent protected from the full pressure of competition.

Trackers are OK and fairly steady without too many fluctuations; possibly they are the cheapest too as the charges are minimal.

However, HL is good if you want advice.

I had a chat with an independent IFA last year, who said the benchmark was the Vanguard Life Strategy fund (60%?). It has very low charges also. I’m currently with NFU who have been ok but am looking to open a Vanguard account. Might be worth a look. Trustnet website is good.

Thanks for differing views, the L&G set up is a bit similar to the NFU one.

Reason I was thinkingof using L&G as the provider is that there aren’t any platform charges or buying or selling charges, just the differing annual charges for the funds, although of course it’s only L&G funds.

The active L&G funds had very poor performance. However some of the L&G index tracking funds had good performance and around 0.5% annual charge.

Some of the L&G funds were available on the HL platform with a lower annual charge, but then you have to add the HL platform charge and any selling and guying fees to it.

Out of interest I checked the statistics for the L&G international index tracker fund and it had growth of 71.71% over the last five years and it’s annual charge was 0.51% through the L&G ISA.

But all stock markets have been growing over the last ten years since the 2008 crash so I’m not sure that now is the right time to get a tracker fund as I imagine they are likely to go down over the next few years.

stillgame one thing you need to decide is whether you want capital growth or income from your investments.
Some funds will give you more growth, whereas others will provide a higher rate of return.

You all sound as if you know what you’re talking about, so could I ask for a bit of advice? We downsized 9 years ago, bought a smaller place and put the profit from the house sale into an Investment Bond with Friends Life (now Aviva). It’s served us very well (we’ve taken a regular income from it, to cover bills) up to about 6 months ago - there’s been a big dip in the capital in that time. We saw an IFA and he switched funds within Aviva. It’s stabilised a bit, but still up and down. Should we stick with it / cash it in / buy a Lottery ticket?! Any advice? Thanks

You won’t get much income from a cash savings account lisa and unless you’re very lucky, none from buying a lottery ticket.
It depends on your own situation & priorities. I’m more interested in income than capital growth so I don’t get too worried if the value of my ISA drops a bit, as long as it provides a steady return.
The only person who can answer your question really is your IFA.

Thanks jane - We’ve never invested before and got rather complacent with the fund as it was doing so well. Just a bit of a shock to see it dropping these last few months. Husband keen to withdraw the money - “Then at least we won’t be watching it disappear” - and then decide what to do with it in a while. We’re seeing the IFA again next week. Thanks again.

Cash Isas give such a dismal rate at the moment that I am considering cashing mine and buying some Premium Bonds - at least I will have a bit of excitement each month.

However, if you want to be sure of a steady return, I wouldn't recommend it.

I’m getting 1.4% on my cash ISA.

My premium bond winnings are averaging over 1% but less than 1.4%, but it is exciting at the start of each month wondering if it will be the million this time.

I want growth rather than income at the moment. In my current ISA I’ve got some accumulation funds and some income funds, but for the income funds I have the income reinvested to buy further shares in the funds.

I would expect that nearly all funds linked to the stock market will have dropped over the last few months as the market has plummeted. If you think it has bottomed out it would be a good time to buy as they can only go up but if you think Brexit or other forces will continue the downward trend don't buy.

Interesting that some of you like HL, I heard on a consumer programme that their charges are high. However they are a big company so must have lots of trusting investors.

Other forms of investment are available! Only accept advice from someone who is qualified to give it. IFAs should charge you a fee, if they don't they are crooks.

nonnie it’s possible to negotiate with HL re charges. They did have some less than flattering publicity which they seem to have taken on board.
stillgame if your premium bond winnings are 1%, the value of your capital is actually decreasing even if you reinvest your winnings, because of inflation.

Unfortunately almost everyone with premium bonds will be losing money in real terms because of inflation, apart from those few who win the larger prizes who will massively beat inflation. I think I’m getting around 1.2% from premium bonds at the moment.

Thats why stocks and shares isa seem attractive.

Thanks Jane I didn't realise HL's fees weren't set. Agree that the chances of keeping up with inflation with PBs is very small

Brexit may only be of some significance if you are only buying into a UK only fund. Even if it has any affect on uk funds I doubt it will have impact on global funds. Also biggest uk listed companies are really international companies so unlikely for bexit to have much impact on them.

Of course there is also the effect of the trade conflict between America and China, that is having an effect on stock markets all over.

I just wrote a rather long post then GN did it's usual 'crashing' trick!

In essence - investments should be age-dependent too. Any stock market investment could be risky so perhaps may not be suitable for older people. If you're a fit 50 something, StillGame, or 60ish, then it is probably worth it, but perhaps not for over 70s, although 'drip-feeding' monthly could be a good idea.