Savings and Investments thread

Mendonca In Asdas said:

Interested to hear whether people are still piling into American markets, and what there percentage exposure as a percentage of portfolio is to American markets?

Not sure piling is the right word for mine, but 39% currently in the US in my SIPP, 34% UK, 6% Europe, 6% Japan, 6% APAC, 6% cash, few % remainder elsewhere.

PragueAddick said:

So 6800 for me @Rob7Lee

Prague says 6800, I'm selling everything!

Mendonca In Asdas said:

Interested to hear whether people are still piling into American markets, and what there percentage exposure as a percentage of portfolio is to American markets?

My SIPP (along with many of my clients holdings) are approx

25% US
22% UK
10% Europe
10% Asia (Japan, China etc)
33% Fixed Interest, Property & cash. 

Mendonca In Asdas said:

Interested to hear whether people are still piling into American markets, and what there percentage exposure as a percentage of portfolio is to American markets?

I have 5x as much in my ISA/Investment (won't earn enough to pay CGT so all tax free) account as I do in my pension at the moment... 

I restructured my portfolio a few months back due to the US being the only party in town and I'm now:

67% North America
13.5% UK
4% EU
4% Japan
Rest is emerging markets/RoW

100% equities, but starting next tax year I'm going to have about £10-£15k in Fixed income US inflation linked bonds which have a yield of about 6.7% in case I do get made redundant!

Warren Buffett spoke of the 90/10 rule which was quite simply put 90% of your cash in an S&P 500 tracker with an exceptionally low fee, and the other 10% in short term government bonds in case you need cash. 

I'll probably be following that rule until I'm mid to late 50s.

Mendonca In Asdas said:

Interested to hear whether people are still piling into American markets, and what there percentage exposure as a percentage of portfolio is to American markets?

In my SIPP I took some profit out of my US funds and put it into a couple of underperformers to rebalance it a bit

IdleHans said:

PragueAddick said:

Rob7Lee said:

PragueAddick said:

Covered End said:

PragueAddick said:

So 6800 for me @Rob7Lee

Is this a typo?

Yes it is🤣 brain frazzled by a shit performance bith on the pitch and the commentary team.

8600 please, @Rob7Lee😉

Sorry, can only accept the first answer 

You know, I wouldn’t complain that much if you enforced that. I can’t think of a time since we started this when its more difficult to call, at least the way I call it, which is based on little more than a feeling for how likely future events influence market sentiment.

However, my case for special treatment is that I entered my first score just after Bolton had gone ahead and Charlotte and Brownie were indulging themselves in peak chunter😉

Totally agree with this - markets seem to be defying logic at the moment. So much uncertainty and potential bad news, I think global markets are being dragged along to an extent by the relentless upward march of the US market led by the AI and now quantum computing bubbles. I think, depending inter alia on how batshit Trump's protectionism becomes, how bad their foot and mouth is, the impact of deportations of agricultural and manual workers, things might take a dip/dive. Not to say these issues are confined to the US, there are plenty of areas of concern in Europe and elsewhere too.

You could guess the FTSE at 10,000 or 6,800 and I wouldnt have a clue which is likely to be more accurate. FWIW I'm holding off on my guess, but I've always been useless at this game.

The only thing I'd say about the FTSE100 is that by historical standards it is well undervalued. I think I posted on here the other week how poorly its performed since the year 2000 compared to the previous 20 years. Yes, the 80's saw the Big Bang and Thatcher's drive of privatisation.......and the 2000's have seen the Financial Crash, Brexit & a worldwide pandemic. But 1987 also saw Black Monday which wiped 20% of the value of the FTSE100 in a single day. 

Whilst the US is highly overvalued the UK has underperformed compared to almost all other major markets. 

golfaddick said:

IdleHans said:

PragueAddick said:

Rob7Lee said:

PragueAddick said:

Covered End said:

PragueAddick said:

So 6800 for me @Rob7Lee

Is this a typo?

Yes it is🤣 brain frazzled by a shit performance bith on the pitch and the commentary team.

8600 please, @Rob7Lee😉

Sorry, can only accept the first answer 

You know, I wouldn’t complain that much if you enforced that. I can’t think of a time since we started this when its more difficult to call, at least the way I call it, which is based on little more than a feeling for how likely future events influence market sentiment.

However, my case for special treatment is that I entered my first score just after Bolton had gone ahead and Charlotte and Brownie were indulging themselves in peak chunter😉

Totally agree with this - markets seem to be defying logic at the moment. So much uncertainty and potential bad news, I think global markets are being dragged along to an extent by the relentless upward march of the US market led by the AI and now quantum computing bubbles. I think, depending inter alia on how batshit Trump's protectionism becomes, how bad their foot and mouth is, the impact of deportations of agricultural and manual workers, things might take a dip/dive. Not to say these issues are confined to the US, there are plenty of areas of concern in Europe and elsewhere too.

You could guess the FTSE at 10,000 or 6,800 and I wouldnt have a clue which is likely to be more accurate. FWIW I'm holding off on my guess, but I've always been useless at this game.

The only thing I'd say about the FTSE100 is that by historical standards it is well undervalued. I think I posted on here the other week how poorly its performed since the year 2000 compared to the previous 20 years. Yes, the 80's saw the Big Bang and Thatcher's drive of privatisation.......and the 2000's have seen the Financial Crash, Brexit & a worldwide pandemic. But 1987 also saw Black Monday which wiped 20% of the value of the FTSE100 in a single day. 

Whilst the US is highly overvalued the UK has underperformed compared to almost all other major markets. 

When you think at the turn of the century the FTSE100 was at nearly 7,000 points. So it's taken those 24 years to grow by 20%. Compare that to the NASDAQ which was Circa 4,000 now over 20,000, or the S&P500 1,400 to 6,000.

I don't think that makes us undervalued and the US overvalued, more over UK listed companies have simply performed very poorly compared to those across the pond

Huskaris said:

Covered End said:

Huskaris said:

Mendonca In Asdas said:

Interested to hear whether people are still piling into American markets, and what there percentage exposure as a percentage of portfolio is to American markets?

I have 5x as much in my ISA/Investment (won't earn enough to pay CGT so all tax free) account as I do in my pension at the moment... 

ISA's are tax free including CGT, so you could have an unlimited sum with no liability to CGT.

Ah sorry, to be clear I have an ISA and an investment account outside of that which is cash I took out of premium bonds because I was sick of the terrible returns.

But because I only put the cash in, in December it's very unlikely I'll hit the CGT threshold on £32.5k by end of March.

You only pay CGT when you realise your gains. Paper profits arent taxed.

Huskaris said:

IdleHans said:

Huskaris said:

Covered End said:

Huskaris said:

Mendonca In Asdas said:

Interested to hear whether people are still piling into American markets, and what there percentage exposure as a percentage of portfolio is to American markets?

I have 5x as much in my ISA/Investment (won't earn enough to pay CGT so all tax free) account as I do in my pension at the moment... 

ISA's are tax free including CGT, so you could have an unlimited sum with no liability to CGT.

Ah sorry, to be clear I have an ISA and an investment account outside of that which is cash I took out of premium bonds because I was sick of the terrible returns.

But because I only put the cash in, in December it's very unlikely I'll hit the CGT threshold on £32.5k by end of March.

You only pay CGT when you realise your gains. Paper profits arent taxed.

Yeah £20k worth will be in April as it's the my cash I'll be using to move into an ISA. Annoying that I have to sell and rebuy. I'm sure the company I use basically make you buy at the highest rate over a good few hours and sell at the lowest...

Ah, I see, that makes sense. In that case, I hope you haven't made too much profit 

Nug said:

As someone who has both my ISA and personal pension with Vanguard I have pretty much the whole lot invested in US and Global index funds. I’m concerned with what is going to happen with a Trump lead US and how that impacts the global economy. I’m 55, not thinking I’ll have to touch either until I’m 65ish, although you never know right. What should I be looking at to spread the risk a bit? Bonds? I get so confused with the vast array of them andwhen I look up the data they seem to perform so poorly. Any thoughts on what might be a good area to look at. When people mention cash is that a Money Market Fund? For years I’ve always just stuck with index funds and done pretty well at it.

Bonds might look like they aren't performing well but they aren't supposed to. Their main objective in a portfolio is as a diversifyer and to counteract the losses when shares fall. 

For some free advice look at Royal London Sterling Extra Yield fund and Schroder High Yield Opportunities - both consistent good  performers. Also look at the Strategic Bond sector as the fund managers have free remit to invest in Bonds globally, both Corporate & Sovereign, and so not just tied to Gilts. 

Rob7Lee said:

golfaddick said:

IdleHans said:

PragueAddick said:

Rob7Lee said:

PragueAddick said:

Covered End said:

PragueAddick said:

So 6800 for me @Rob7Lee

Is this a typo?

Yes it is🤣 brain frazzled by a shit performance bith on the pitch and the commentary team.

8600 please, @Rob7Lee😉

Sorry, can only accept the first answer 

You know, I wouldn’t complain that much if you enforced that. I can’t think of a time since we started this when its more difficult to call, at least the way I call it, which is based on little more than a feeling for how likely future events influence market sentiment.

However, my case for special treatment is that I entered my first score just after Bolton had gone ahead and Charlotte and Brownie were indulging themselves in peak chunter😉

Totally agree with this - markets seem to be defying logic at the moment. So much uncertainty and potential bad news, I think global markets are being dragged along to an extent by the relentless upward march of the US market led by the AI and now quantum computing bubbles. I think, depending inter alia on how batshit Trump's protectionism becomes, how bad their foot and mouth is, the impact of deportations of agricultural and manual workers, things might take a dip/dive. Not to say these issues are confined to the US, there are plenty of areas of concern in Europe and elsewhere too.

You could guess the FTSE at 10,000 or 6,800 and I wouldnt have a clue which is likely to be more accurate. FWIW I'm holding off on my guess, but I've always been useless at this game.

The only thing I'd say about the FTSE100 is that by historical standards it is well undervalued. I think I posted on here the other week how poorly its performed since the year 2000 compared to the previous 20 years. Yes, the 80's saw the Big Bang and Thatcher's drive of privatisation.......and the 2000's have seen the Financial Crash, Brexit & a worldwide pandemic. But 1987 also saw Black Monday which wiped 20% of the value of the FTSE100 in a single day. 

Whilst the US is highly overvalued the UK has underperformed compared to almost all other major markets. 

When you think at the turn of the century the FTSE100 was at nearly 7,000 points. So it's taken those 24 years to grow by 20%. Compare that to the NASDAQ which was Circa 4,000 now over 20,000, or the S&P500 1,400 to 6,000.

I don't think that makes us undervalued and the US overvalued, more over UK listed companies have simply performed very poorly compared to those across the pond

Don't forget to compare apples with apples (there's a mix of market cap weighted vs price weighted, and with/without dividends in there).  FTSE 250 compares better for returns.

The FTSE is going up because the pound is crashing due to a mix of budget and dollar strength in turn due to fewer expected rate cuts.  The FTSE 250 however, is struggling because it's hardest hit by the budget.  

My UK strategy was a mix of private equity and FTSE 250 over FSTE 100 and that's played well until the last couple of weeks.  I'm now winding that down where I'm within 5% of my target price.

Today's going to be an interesting day for my investments. Looks like it's going to be a bumpy ride for tech stocks in particular.