Investment Thread

[JustJack]

If you want to stay invested in equities but want to reduce risk, look at buying investment trusts. Have a look at Brunner, Witan and Scottish American for example. I'm also in a specialised one which is going to do extremely well on the back of the massive rise in online shopping (and Brexit!), Aberdeen Standard European Logistics Inc.

I'm potentially looking at alternative investments rather than a pension when I next change employers- has anyone done this or is it too much of a risky strategy?

What do you mean by 'alternative'? Alternative investment is stuff like art and wine, compared to traditional investment, such as stocks.

 

[JustJack]

I'm potentially looking at alternative investments rather than a pension when I next change employers- has anyone done this or is it too much of a risky strategy?

That was my policy for the first 30 years of my career. I used the money to build up a large share portfolio, but you need to know what you're doing. Always re-invest the dividends. Don't invest in companies or markets you don't understand. I decided to contribute to the employer's pension for the last ten years as a bit of extra insurance. Of course you will also have the state pension, assuming the government hasn't done away with it by the time you retire, or moved the starting age to 95!

Drip feed, average your cost, compound profit/dividends.

It's honestly something they could teach in secondary school, and they should.

 

[waynekerr55]

I'm potentially looking at alternative investments rather than a pension when I next change employers- has anyone done this or is it too much of a risky strategy?

That was my policy for the first 30 years of my career. I used the money to build up a large share portfolio, but you need to know what you're doing. Always re-invest the dividends. Don't invest in companies or markets you don't understand. I decided to contribute to the employer's pension for the last ten years as a bit of extra insurance. Of course you will also have the state pension, assuming the government hasn't done away with it by the time you retire, or moved the starting age to 95!

There's a fella I've had dealings with around Google for Education who I recently found out he's written a book on dabbling in shares

https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/jamie-e-smith/making-money-from-stocks-and-shares/9781845284312/

He'd posted on LinkedIn the other day that he was asked if he'd like to update the book by the publisher and he said no as the principles remain broadly the same

 

[Best_loser]

Dr Martens heading for a 4 billion valuation
They almost went bust in 2003
Shows how some brands can come back from a kick in the head

 

[Baker]

I see Deliveroo are floating in the next couple of months with a valuation of around £7bn on the LSE.

Anyone else thinking of having a dabble?

 

[JustJack]

I see Deliveroo are floating in the next couple of months with a valuation of around £7bn on the LSE.

Anyone else thinking of having a dabble?

They've only made a profit this year I think? due to Coronavirus giving them a boost

From what I've read, before that, their model was similar to restaurants, what Spotify is to musicians, a bit of a s**t deal, but a deal none the less

 

[JackSomething]

Don't dabble myself and have very little idea how it all works, but found this Reddit/Game Stop stuff fascinating. The idea that a load of individuals have worked together to thwart the hedgefunds is great and has obviously ruffled a lot of Wall Street feathers.

With politicians across the aisles in America both condemning actions taken to protect the Wall Street big guns and with the FCA over here now seeming to get involved, it would be fantastic to see this lead to tighter regulation of the financial markets. Anything done to try and rein in the 1% has to be a good thing. Being a cynic though, I can't see it going anywhere in the long run.

 

[JustJack]

Don't dabble myself and have very little idea how it all works, but found this Reddit/Game Stop stuff fascinating. The idea that a load of individuals have worked together to thwart the hedgefunds is great and has obviously ruffled a lot of Wall Street feathers.

With politicians across the aisles in America both condemning actions taken to protect the Wall Street big guns and with the FCA over here now seeming to get involved, it would be fantastic to see this lead to tighter regulation of the financial markets. Anything done to try and rein in the 1% has to be a good thing. Being a cynic though, I can't see it going anywhere in the long run.

The only thing Reddit did was gather enough people to exploit them, there is a lot of people who followed like sheep, without necessarily a clue what they were doing.

 

[JackSomething]

Fair enough, but if it led to a load of hedge funds losing out, then great.

If any of the individuals from Reddit invested more than they should have and lost out, then that's their own fault.

 

[Best_loser]

Maybe a lot of people don't mind losing some money to destroy a few hedge funds

 

[Best_loser]

Asos have bought the top shop brands and remaining stock, all stores will close

 

[Glyn1]

I'm thinking of investing in bitcoin, on a very small basis. Please can anyone recommend somewhere to do that?

 

[JustJack]

I'm thinking of investing in bitcoin, on a very small basis. Please can anyone recommend somewhere to do that?

So there are two ways you can proceed.

1) Create an account on an exchange, such as Coinbase or Binance, if you just want to buy and not really worry about trading for other coins, then use Coinbase, you simply pay off of your card etc, and they will hold your coins on the exchange

BUT if you keep them on the exchange, you do not own the private keys to the coins,, if Binance/Coinbase is to get hacked, your coins are in danger, likewise any other nefarious means

2) Buy a 'cold' wallet, the best models are Trezor, Ledger or Safepal (always buy off the manufacturers website)

You then buy on the exchange (which will become a gateway for you), and then transfer over to your cold wallet, where you will have complete ownership to the keys.

Essentially the keys are the password that you use to send your coins to another destination, which you would keep it in a very secure place.

I recommend number 2 wholeheartedly, if you want to invest in cryptocurrency, another £50 on security is very low price, for peace of mind.

 

[Glyn1]

Thanks JustJack, this is exactly the information that I needed.

 

[Lifelong]

Just where can you put your hard earned savings these days to earn a reasonable rate of interest without any risk? The simple answer is nowhere.
I’ve dabbled in the stock market over the years, done ok on some not so on others. Done a couple of longish term stock market linked products, one for 15 years another for 10, barely had my money back.
Very fortunate to have a couple of good pensions, know of some people coming up to pensionable age who’s private pensions, linked to the stock market, have taken a massive hit over the last couple of years..it’s very concerning for them.
Been looking at this Bitcoin m’larky and it seems quite complicated where you could easily lose a lot of money in a short space of time..not for me.