Investment & Investing

I'm looking for someone who knows a lot more about investments and pensions than I do because it's their job. Someone who would be able to advise me on the best route to take with regard to said investments and pensions.

What you're asking for doesn't exist, you're looking to trust people that can't be trusted.
The biggest favor you can do yourself is to read around until you understand what is being offered to you at what cost (yes it's tedious crap).
4 bits of commonsense that I wish I'd had;

• Your interests are different to any advisor's interests
  
• No one will treat your money with the same respect you will
  
• Don't invest in anything you don't understand completely
  
• Keep any investment under your sole control
  

What you're asking for doesn't exist, you're looking to trust people that can't be trusted.
The biggest favor you can do yourself is to read around until you understand what is being offered to you at what cost (yes it's tedious crap).
4 bits of commonsense that I wish I'd had;

[]Your interests are different to any advisor's interests
[]No one will treat your money with the same respect you will
[]Don't invest in anything you don't understand completely
[]Keep any investment under your sole control

I guess this is what Jeez was getting at but it didn't come across that way. Put like this I can see that the points you make do indeed make common and good sense. I think my free trial subscription to The Economist needs to be put to good use.

what you're asking for doesn't exist - nonsense

[]your interests are different to any advisor's interests - nonsense
[]no one will treat your money with the same respect you will - further nonsense
[]don't invest in anything you don't understand completely- very wise
[]keep any investment under your sole control - also very wise

ftfy

^Hmm didn't think they were contentious points.

It's in the advisors interest to maximise his income, it's in your interest to minimise it, clear conflict of interest.
"[Fees] are so high that the industry is actually destroying value for the UK investor at least as fast as the stock market can create it... And the highest cost of all are personnel costs, wages and bonuses."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/dec/17/treasury-warned-over-traders-fees

Secondly if your advisor led investments tank, does he feel the pain ? Does he tote up the days / weeks / years of salary that have just vaporised ? Can he respect your money like you do? No, clearly not because it's not his f*cking risk.

This just boils down to a good adviser vs bad adviser.

Good adviser - good advice, gauges appetite for risk, empowers his clients to take control of their decisions and facilitates the appropriate investment. Get lots of referrals, long term clients.
Bad adviser - Will persuade you to invest in what is best for him/her, irrespective of how that fits in with client requirements. Never works for the same client twice.

I completely see your point, but what you are saying could be applied to any sales position. When you go into Evans you could easily get sold something that is entirely inappropriate for your needs.
It is your responsibility to be a good client too.

p.s - your cited article is about traders not IFAs

^^ Fair point about sales position, I think what makes it a little different is the complexity,fragility and opacity of the underlying products.

I'm unconvinced that a suspect risk assessment questionnaire 'facilitates appropriate investment' because I think the underlying assumptions have proved to be without foundation. I don't think advisors thinking has changed as a result of 2008.

The article I cited was the only one I could think of that was a reasonably neutral short record of the issues surrounding many of the products even a good advisor can offer you.
If you extend the basic premise with an advisor's fee on top (~ 1% per annum) and more futile fund churn to justify the fee, then what you have is a really strong case to get down to the library while you can.

[URL="http://www.fundingcirlce.com"][/URL]* https://www.fundingcircle.com/

*anyone?

Would be interesting to hear the experiences from someone who has been doing it for a while. Seems there are different tactics one can use. Any horror stories? Any competitors of these guys offering better deals?

wtf have you linked too!??
youre private stash???

lol

huh? what the hell happened there?
link seems to be pointing to the correct place now.

I'll repeat it:
https://www.fundingcircle.com/

Is there a forum for finance that has the personality of LFGSS?
.

What about this one? http://www.trade2win.com/boards/foyer/

They've got a "what are you listening to right now" thread, a 5th Floor style argument thread and a flounce thread.

popcorn
get in there chaps
log in and troll to your hearts content

senior members 145 posts
amateurs, rank amateurs

So, I know about ISAs etc. But what I don't understand well is the mechanics of setting one up and investing. What's the easiest way to find out the cheapest one with the lowest fees? I'd be looking just to stick £100 a month or so into a FTSE 100 tracker with a direct debit. Does anyone here do that? I'm conscious that annual fees could quickly eat away any negligible gains over the next few years.

Use a discount broker to sort it out for you. You need to buy funds from a provider but they will charge you more dorrah, whereas a broker can wangle you the same rates for less.

Moneysavingexpert has the info you need: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/isa-discounts

Art.

I've just put £80k into a portfolio wrap with standard life.. Needs to be there for minimum of 10 years to get a decent return, though.

should have bought that fleet of 40 or so rare time trial and team bikes that was on ebay a while back
i have a feeling bike price rises for rare 70's and 80's stuff will outstrip stock markets for the next decade or so !

plus you get some pretty fine steeds to blast about on

What about this one? http://www.trade2win.com/boards/foyer/

They've got a "what are you listening to right now" thread, a 5th Floor style argument thread and a flounce thread.

Very interesting point made about Building Societies in that forum. I knew a bloke who worked for HM Treasury Department. He created the mechanism for converting bank societies in banks. One by one they met him and within the space of 15 years the way our money was managed, the place where you got your mortgage or put your savings changed for ever. High st banks became investment banks and our money was exposed to significant risk in global markets.

That bloke passed away about 10 years ago. I am pleased he didn't see the harm it caused, he was a really nice person. At his funeral the heads of all those building societies paid contribute to his involvement, no doubt wringing their hands pleased with the pay off to stakeholders and investors. :(

How do bike parts stand up as an investment? For instance would paying £2.5k for the Super Record 80th Anniversary gruppo make you any money in the long run?

So Royal Mail sold off for 330p the start trading for 450p today. WTF, the government has taken a approx hit of £10 bil on the pension fund, then undervalued a profitable company by around £720 mil. WTF?

Government = cretins

Someone's lining their pockets out of this.

^ this
who wants to bet the current industry minister will be hired by the company that eventually takes over the royal mail
it's just one big knocking shop, they're all helping each other up the greasy pole to lizardville

Goldmans and UBS were the advisors.

I'm guessing that they did not mistakenly undervalue the business.

Meaning that someone took a decision* to undervalue it on purpose.

Probably for a combination of reasons - financial gain for friends and family, but more likely for political gain.

• Very illegally. I hop some cunt goes down for it. Although they won't.