Post by GSV3MIaC on Apr 7, 2017 19:56:10 GMT
For tracking (anything) there are now a range of ETFs available with generally pretty low charges .. HL do a lousy job rating ETFs or ITs, but if you head over to Morningstar, they will tell you what they think for free. Personally I would not track the FT100 / high yield companies on a dare (stuffed full of banks, tobacco companies, and 'too big to fail .. oops' outfits), but it's always an option if you like that sort of thing. As usual, you are buying at the wrong time - go back pre-brexit and buy an emerging markets or Asia Pacific tracker or something else denominated in foreign currency. 8>.
Counterparty risk is a major problem, although the devil is in the detail and there are many different flavours. Synthetic ETFs are particularly problematic
Yes, I would only consider ETFs which actually hold the securities in question, and which have a cautious approach to stock lending. Even then, the costs of getting in/out over a short period (which is what the OP was seeming to want) are significant (HL's dealing costs (twice), plus stamp duty at 0.5% plus whatever small spread there is). Their main attraction is that you can almost always find one to track what you want, and the management charges are usually a lot smaller than the equivalent UT/OEIC.
As several people have noted, now is definitely not the best time to be putting a short term punt on almost any of the stock markets.