Author: Helen Barklam
Helen Barklam is Editor of Investment Guide. Helen is a journalist and writer with more than 25 years experience. Helen has worked in a wide range of different sectors, including health and wellness, sport, digital marketing, home design and finance. Helen aims to ensure our community have a wealth of quality content to read and enjoy.
Index-linked savings certificates are tax-free bonds issued by National Savings and Investments (NSI). These bonds are no longer available to the general public, but are still available to existing savers who can opt to renew for a 2-year, 3-year or 5-year term on maturity. Historically, these investments were a way of linking your investment to the Retail Price Index (RPI) to ensure that your cash savings kept pace with inflation. In addition, NSI paid a small fixed rate of interest on top of RPI. However, in May 2019, NSI changed its policy to state that any maturing certificates which are…
Are you intrigued to learn more about fine wine investment? Perhaps you are actively considering investing in fine wine? Either way, this ‘investing in wine’ guide will seek to meet your needs by giving you all of the information you need to get started on your wine education or investment journey. Investing in wine Passion vs. investment You may love wine. Drinking it, smelling it, tasting it, enjoying it with friends. That’s great and I do too, but it’s important to ensure that a love of wine does not cloud your judgement when considering fine wine as a prospective investment.…
Pound cost averaging is the concept of drip feeding your cash into an underlying investment rather than investing in one larger lump sum. The concept is most typically cited when considering making an investment in the stock market via individual shares or funds. The rationale for pound cost averaging is that equity markets can be volatile, which means the value of investments could fluctuate significantly in the short term. By drip feeding your cash into the markets, you are providing yourself with some protection in case the market falls shortly after you have invested. Of course, the problem is that…
An investment fund is an investment vehicle which pools the funds of many individual investors. These funds are actively managed by a professional fund manager, or passively managed in the case of exchange traded funds (‘ETFs’). Regardless of structure, funds typically focus on one singular asset class. However, some funds are multi-asset and hold a combination of asset classes. The most common asset classes include equities, debt (gilts, investment grade bonds, high yield or junk bonds) and alternative investments (property, commodities). This article will explain how various types of investment funds differ, including: Types of investment fundPublic open-ended fundsPublic closed-ended…
Execution only share dealing is where a broker purely executes an investors buy or sell instructions, rather than providing any investment advice to that investor or acting on the investors behalf based on granted authority. Most private investors use execution only investment platforms as opposed to advisory brokers (who provide advice) or discretionary brokers (who act on your behalf), both of which feature higher costs. Examples of execution only investment platforms are Hargreaves Lansdown, AJ Bell YouInvest, Interactive Investor and Fidelity. If you are looking for an execution only share dealing platform, read our cost comparison articles covering the best…
In this article, we help you to find the cheapest online share dealing platforms for buying and holding shares / ETF investments in a general investment account. If you would like to invest in funds, you will need to read our separate comparison of fund platforms as fees do vary by type of investment. Total platform fees often vary depending on how frequently you trade and the overall size of your investment portfolio. As such, we will look to provide a cost comparison across all platforms for regular investors and frequent traders, and for investments totalling £10,000, £20,000, £50,000, £75,000,…
What is an ISA? An Individual Savings Account (ISA) is a type of savings or investment account where you can save or invest entirely tax-free. Each year, the Government sets an ISA allowance which represents the maximum amount you can save or invest via ISA accounts. In the current tax year (2020/21 tax year), the ISA limit is set at £20,000. What are the different types of ISA? There are currently five different types of ISA, four of which are subject to the individual £20,000 ISA allowance and available to adults only (16+). The Junior ISA is subject to its…
This ‘investing in tracker funds and ETFs’ guide starts with the basics of what index trackers are and expands to explain how to index trackers vary and the best online share dealing platforms to purchase tracker funds and ETFs cost-efficiently. What are index tracker investments? Index tracker funds (also known as trackers) and ETFs are investments which attempt to match the performance of a specific investment index. For example, an investment tracker fund or ETF may attempt to match the performance of the FTSE 100, FTSE 250 or S&P 500. You cannot invest directly into the index itself, so the…
This ‘investing in shares online’ guide starts with the basics and expands to explain the various supply and demand drivers which impact share prices and the best online execution share dealing accounts to use for your investments. What are share investments? When you purchase a share, you are acquiring a stake in a business. Company shares can either be private (in which case shares are traded privately and prices are negotiable) or public (in which case the shares are traded on a stock market with prices fluctuating based on supply and demand). Shares are one of two ways in which…
