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Post by Ace on Sept 7, 2019 8:40:56 GMT
Hi all, can anyone suggest a suitable alternative to Vanguard's Life Strategy funds.
I have a 6 figure sum that I'm looking to invest in a world index tracker, and I already have a substantial amount in Vanguard's LS 100% equity fund. I have a fear of putting too many eggs in one provider's basket, so would like to choose another. I'm hoping that someone has already researched a reasonably priced alternative.
I have sufficient short term cash and plenty of P2P investments, so not looking for advice on whether my decision is sensible, and would prefer it if this thread didn't turn into a passive v active management debate. I made my decision on that front quite a while ago. For the record, I don't enjoy the discipline of researching stocks and I don't believe it's possible for me to pick an IFA that can reliably beat the world index.
I would be interested in any views as to whether it's a sensible decision to diversify across multiple world index tracker fund providers, or whether this is considered unnecessary. I realise that the multiple providers will essentially be investing in the same underlying equities, I'm simply trying to minimise the impact of a single provider running into trouble.
TIA
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Post by dan1 on Sept 7, 2019 8:46:36 GMT
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IFISAcava
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Post by IFISAcava on Sept 7, 2019 9:14:29 GMT
Hi all, can anyone suggest a suitable alternative to Vanguard's Life Strategy funds. I have a 6 figure sum that I'm looking to invest in a world index tracker, and I already have a substantial amount in Vanguard's LS 100% equity fund. I have a fear of putting too many eggs in one provider's basket, so would like to choose another. I'm hoping that someone has already researched a reasonably priced alternative. I have sufficient short term cash and plenty of P2P investments, so not looking for advice on whether my decision is sensible, and would prefer it if this thread didn't turn into a passive v active management debate. I made my decision on that front quite a while ago. For the record, I don't enjoy the discipline of researching stocks and I don't believe it's possible for me to pick an IFA that can reliably beat the world index. I would be interested in any views as to whether it's a sensible decision to diversify across multiple world index tracker fund providers, or whether this is considered unnecessary. I realise that the multiple providers will essentially be investing in the same underlying equities, I'm simply trying to minimise the impact of a single provider running into trouble. TIA I have moved money into both the Fidelity World Tracker and the L&G International Index, when crystallising gains from various Vanguard trackers. One of the things to look at is which index they track, MSCI (Fidelity, some Vanguard), FTSE (L&G International, some Vanguard), S&P Global (L&G Global 100). Some diversification may be gained there, but I suspect huge overlap (and I haven't researched the indices in any detail at all). Fidelity and L&G have fractionally lower fund fees, but there's very little in it.
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travolta
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Post by travolta on Sept 7, 2019 11:58:54 GMT
I'd suggest more diversity when so much money is involved . Unless you are a complete muppet you could do it yourself , with weekly checks. I have yet to find a respectable fund manager and was 'wounded by woodford' .
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macq
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Post by macq on Sept 7, 2019 11:59:49 GMT
As you are not looking for advice or at pasive verses active - i could suggest that VLS 100% is not quite the same as a pure world/global tracker so you may have a bit of leeway but even then you need to check the index to see if its including say EM or developed world etc as to what you want. By picking VLS 100 i assume you don't want bonds etc but in the same vain as VLS you have HSBC global Strategy which is cheap and comes in different versions such as balanced or cautious etc with different % of equity amounts.You also have L&G multi asset funds numbered 1 - 10 doing the same thing as VLS but HSBC & L&G have more freedom to change the mix (but within targets) then Vanguard who are pretty set Could also be worth looking at something like L&G Global Infrastructure index fund or Global REIT dividend index for a different play
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2019 12:10:29 GMT
Do you want to understand the process of fund selection or do you just want the selection? Do you want a management control mechanism to support these investments or will you be "firing and forgetting"?
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bigfoot12
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Post by bigfoot12 on Sept 7, 2019 12:19:05 GMT
I would be interested in any views as to whether it's a sensible decision to diversify across multiple world index tracker fund providers, or whether this is considered unnecessary. I realise that the multiple providers will essentially be investing in the same underlying equities, I'm simply trying to minimise the impact of a single provider running into trouble. I split my passive investments mainly between iShares and Vanguard. I don't think for a second that either of these will fail, and even if they did I won't expect to lose much. I also think that in most cases they are investing in the same underlying companies. However after Bear Sterns and then Lehman, and almost RBS and HBOS I find it easier to sleep at night by splitting. The costs and complexity are not that much higher. There is a further advantage that I can move between different but correlated investments to lock in capital gains or losses. I am unable to answer your main question as Vanguard is the only all world investment I have. (I haven't looked at the lse listed IWRD, but it does seem to be denominated in GBP.) EDIT: TOP TIP if you split your investment across more than one platform try to avoid buying shares/funds in more than one place as it makes working out CGT more difficult.
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macq
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Post by macq on Sept 7, 2019 13:20:46 GMT
Random dogs? bloody cheek
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Post by Ace on Sept 7, 2019 22:12:47 GMT
Do you want to understand the process of fund selection or do you just want the selection? Do you want a management control mechanism to support these investments or will you be "firing and forgetting"? I'm inherently lazy. I was looking to short-circuit the time taken to investigate the various world index tracker funds by benefiting from the investigations that others has already performed and are kind enough to share. I would then investigate the recommendations. I was definitely looking to fire and forget. I'm not expecting to need these funds unless I am unfortunate enough to require long-term care in the, hopefully distant, future. Thanks to all for your replies so far.
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hazellend
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Post by hazellend on Sept 7, 2019 22:17:41 GMT
Do you want to understand the process of fund selection or do you just want the selection? Do you want a management control mechanism to support these investments or will you be "firing and forgetting"? I'm inherently lazy. I was looking to short-circuit the time taken to investigate the various world index tracker funds by benefiting from the investigations that others has already performed and are kind enough to share. I would then investigate the recommendations. I was definitely looking to fire and forget. I'm not expecting to need these funds unless I am unfortunate enough to require long-term care in the, hopefully distant, future. Thanks to all for your replies so far. I use ETFs rather than funds (much cheaper on HL platform). What about ishares IWDA or SWDA (accumulating). They both track the all world index without emerging markets Confession, I don’t diversify at all. I only use vanguard all world ETF and sometimes their developed world ETFs if I’m crystallising gains. I’ve satisfied myself that my money is safe with vanguard, even if vanguard went bust/got nuked.
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hazellend
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Post by hazellend on Sept 7, 2019 22:19:45 GMT
Do you want to understand the process of fund selection or do you just want the selection? Do you want a management control mechanism to support these investments or will you be "firing and forgetting"? I'm inherently lazy. I was looking to short-circuit the time taken to investigate the various world index tracker funds by benefiting from the investigations that others has already performed and are kind enough to share. I would then investigate the recommendations. I was definitely looking to fire and forget. I'm not expecting to need these funds unless I am unfortunate enough to require long-term care in the, hopefully distant, future. Thanks to all for your replies so far. I use ETFs rather than funds (much cheaper on HL platform). What about ishares IWDA or SWDA (accumulating). They both track the all world index without emerging markets Confession, I don’t diversify at all. I only use vanguard all world ETF and sometimes their developed world ETFs if I’m crystallising gains. I’ve satisfied myself that my money is safe with vanguard, even if vanguard went bust/got nuked. At some point I will probably move all investments to vanguard.co.uk and switch to index funds in the process. I have avoided VLS Because they are overweight U.K. but have no opinion on whether that is a good thing or not
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Post by martin44 on Sept 7, 2019 22:22:25 GMT
Do you want to understand the process of fund selection or do you just want the selection?
@bobo ... nail ... head !
It seems to be a recurring theme on this website that people just want to be spoon fed the answers, as if there were some magical, one size fits all answer to riches.
To those people, I say grow up.
Get it into your skulls that an "execution-only" account is just that, i.e. you are meant to be the one making the decisions, not some random dogs on the internet.
And if those people can't cope with the process involved in selection, then either :
(a) Open an advisory or discretionary account and pay someone to hold your hand; or
(b) Take your money and put it in the bank
There is no one size fits all answer. X might work for one person, but may be completely innapropriate for another person's financial circumstances or risk profile.
@wallstreet You seem to find ample computing time to poo poo posters legitimate financial queries with your derogatory replies... Poking people in the right direction might be a better alternative, not any kind of advice... or maybe say nothing if its not your cup of tea.
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Post by Ace on Sept 7, 2019 22:51:02 GMT
Do you want to understand the process of fund selection or do you just want the selection? @bobo ... nail ... head ! It seems to be a recurring theme on this website that people just want to be spoon fed the answers, as if there were some magical, one size fits all answer to riches. I'm so sorry to have riled your delicate disposition. I wasn't looking to be spoon-fed a magical answer to getting rich. I was simply looking to benefit from the research of others who had already investigated a specific topic and were kind enough to share their findings. I am perfectly happy to look into the recommendations and take full responsibility for any actions I take as a result. To those people, I say grow up. Thanks for your suggestion, but I am in fact already fully grown. Get it into your skulls that an "execution-only" account is just that, i.e. you are meant to be the one making the decisions, not some random dogs on the internet. I am perfectly aware of this, and happy to take responsibility for my actions. I didn't ask anyone to tell me what I'm meant to do. And if those people can't cope with the process involved in selection, then either : (a) Open an advisory or discretionary account and pay someone to hold your hand; or I'm so sorry to have riled you again. I thought I made it perfectly clear that I had ruled out this solution as being suitable for me.
(b) Take your money and put it in the bank Thanks for your suggestion, but I thought I made it perfectly clear that this was not something I wanted to consider for these funds. There is no one size fits all answer. X might work for one person, but may be completely innapropriate for another person's financial circumstances or risk profile. Thanks again, but I'm already aware of that. I was asking for the results of others investigation into a specific issue. Please see inline responses in blue italics above. Thanks for taking the time to reply @wallstreet . I realise that you are a very well informed investor, but there really is no need to take such offense at a perfectly reasonable question. Perhaps it would be better for us both if you ignored my posts from now on.
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Post by Ace on Sept 7, 2019 23:00:38 GMT
I'm inherently lazy. I was looking to short-circuit the time taken to investigate the various world index tracker funds by benefiting from the investigations that others has already performed and are kind enough to share. I would then investigate the recommendations. I was definitely looking to fire and forget. I'm not expecting to need these funds unless I am unfortunate enough to require long-term care in the, hopefully distant, future. Thanks to all for your replies so far. I use ETFs rather than funds (much cheaper on HL platform). What about ishares IWDA or SWDA (accumulating). They both track the all world index without emerging markets Confession, I don’t diversify at all. I only use vanguard all world ETF and sometimes their developed world ETFs if I’m crystallising gains. I’ve satisfied myself that my money is safe with vanguard, even if vanguard went bust/got nuked. Thanks for your reply hazellend , would you care to elaborate on how you've arrived at the conclusion that money is safe with vanguard. If I could convince myself of this it would save me spending time investigating other providers, as I'm perfectly happy with vanguard funds. Will also have a look at their ETFs in that case.
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hazellend
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Post by hazellend on Sept 8, 2019 6:56:02 GMT
I use ETFs rather than funds (much cheaper on HL platform). What about ishares IWDA or SWDA (accumulating). They both track the all world index without emerging markets Confession, I don’t diversify at all. I only use vanguard all world ETF and sometimes their developed world ETFs if I’m crystallising gains. I’ve satisfied myself that my money is safe with vanguard, even if vanguard went bust/got nuked. Thanks for your reply hazellend , would you care to elaborate on how you've arrived at the conclusion that money is safe with vanguard. If I could convince myself of this it would save me spending time investigating other providers, as I'm perfectly happy with vanguard funds. Will also have a look at their ETFs in that case. Obviously I am a vanguard fan so DYOR but this article gives a decent summary jlcollinsnh.com/2012/09/07/stocks-part-x-what-if-vanguard-gets-nuked/
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