Cautious investors lose again
I have been advised to invest in a cautious fund in the stock market but have read about how some cautious funds are really quite risky. Are they suitable? It really depends what the word ‘cautious’ means. It’s purely marketing twaddle for me, and I don’t believe investors are well enough informed on what it […]
Barclays financial planning – Exit stage right
It’s not been a great start to 2011 for the banks in terms of fines for the advice they have given. Barclays were walloped £11m by the FSA but agreed to settle in advance for £7.7m for advice relating to two Aviva funds of the global balanced income fund as well as the Global Cautious […]
Easiest way to invest
I have been advised to invest into a tracker fund but have also read about exchange traded funds (ETF) as they are cheaper. Is that wise? We all have our pension funds, mortgage repayment vehicles, investments and ISAs etc. Each of these is invested into an investment fund which is a spread across a range […]
Money for nothing but it can be for free
I read a column recently explaining that if I used a direct broker for my investments that I was losing out as they were effectively charging me but not giving advice. Is this correct? I’ll make this complicated subject as easy as possible. You can buy an investment product through an Independent Financial Adviser, a […]
New Year’s Financial Resolutions
New Year’s resolutions. They probably take 5 days on average to break. It’s probably because they are made with a bloated stomach and zero blood in your alcohol stream, but with little real drive or belief for the actual benefit at the end. If a real benefit was that you worked for four days and […]
Banks’ Contrived Combination Investments
I have seen some advertisements for combination investments with Barnsley Building Society and Yorkshire Building Society. They offer a high interest rate, but it appears that I don’t get their savings rate, unless I go into another investment plan. Most banks and building societies have been ‘found out’ over the years and are left wanting in terms […]
Structured Products and Guaranteed Products – Are They Worth the Risk?
Following on from last week’s introduction to structured products/guaranteed products, I’ll answer a few questions we have been asked by readers, namely, how transparent they are, what are the charges, and how risky they really are. Structured products are as transparent as Wayne Rooney’s contract negotiations. Unlike most investments where the value of your portfolio […]
What is China’s investment story?
Is China a spent investment story or do you feel it’s a place to be investing your money? In 2008 I sold out of China and Asia, for that matter and bought back again in May 2009. I’d had a great run for four years to 2008 but saw the noise around oil as a […]
Uncovering Hidden Charges
When asked about how stressful the responsibility can be for investing advice for the public, I balance the thought with how stressful my life would be should I not be qualified to make the decisions I do. It is only with a healthy cynicism that I have been able to break through worlds of emperors’ […]
Pensions, if insurance companies really cared
Personal pensions, or any pension for that matter, are about as exciting as getting a DVD extended version of a Halifax advert for Christmas. That said, pensions are one of the biggest investments we will ever make, yet we have the most amazing apathy towards them. They are complicated and have just become more and […]
Potential for Catastrophic Losses
When something doesn’t make sense, it isn’t sensible. President Obama proudly announced he would ‘fight’ the banking institutions who were using our money to buy up investments in commodities making record profits at the same time. The natural reaction to this was that banks’ share prices took a tumble. Interestingly Mr Obama announced this on the 21st Jan ’10. What is perhaps worrying is how commodity prices have reacted.
Cautious Investors Could Lose Millions
Cautious investors could easily become fooled by some of the investment options available on the high street; and judging by the millions poured into so called ‘guaranteed products’ investors must clearly be reading information I am not.