What do you think of my portfolio?

[Gumble]

Hi, I'm new here and have seen how useful and knowledgeable many of you contributors are so was hoping you could help me evaluate my plans.

This is all in a SIPP. I want to pick a set of ETFs, passive and active, that I can add to and grow over the years with an aim to only rebalance every now and then, not actively trade. I'm mid 40's so lets say 20+ years of investing so thinking long term. I'm not interested in bonds but do want to balance my portfolio through a mix of ETFs.

I started around 18 months ago and did have a range of 9 ETFs (balanced geographically) but a lot of Baillie Gifford funds. I decided I needed to start again so sold out of all of these a few weeks back and am now sitting on cash that I will reinvest once I see the market settling a little, in the meantime I want to have my plan ready, which is:

LGGL: World Tracker 0.11% costs - 40%
LWFV: World Value Tracker 0.3% costs - 10%
BRWN: Blackrock World Mining 0.99% costs - 10%
TMPL: Temple Bar 0.51% costs - 10% (give 74% UK exposure)
SMT: Scottish Mortgage 0.34% costs - 10% (some adventure!/fun)
XDWF: Banking World Tracker 0.25% costs - 10%
Emerging Markets - undecided how yet - 10% (either a tracker or maybe PHI/BGS/BGCG 3.33% each)

The above does mean I am quite US heavy but any world tracker will be, my thoughts is it that after the world tracker, I have value, mining, UK bias, adventurous, banking, emerging covered. I know the US being tech heavy could see some further downside at the moment and I will likely hold in cash until the time seems right to me.

Interested in the long term view of this mix - am i missing anything, and I overcomplicating to have I got it about right?

Would be great to hear your thoughts

[richfool]

Hi, I'm new here and have seen how useful and knowledgeable many of you contributors are so was hoping you could help me evaluate my plans.

This is all in a SIPP. I want to pick a set of ETFs, passive and active, that I can add to and grow over the years with an aim to only rebalance every now and then, not actively trade. I'm mid 40's so lets say 20+ years of investing so thinking long term. I'm not interested in bonds but do want to balance my portfolio through a mix of ETFs.

I started around 18 months ago and did have a range of 9 ETFs (balanced geographically) but a lot of Baillie Gifford funds. I decided I needed to start again so sold out of all of these a few weeks back and am now sitting on cash that I will reinvest once I see the market settling a little, in the meantime I want to have my plan ready, which is:

LGGL: World Tracker 0.11% costs - 40%
LWFV: World Value Tracker 0.3% costs - 10%
BRWN: Blackrock World Mining 0.99% costs - 10%
TMPL: Temple Bar 0.51% costs - 10% (give 74% UK exposure)
SMT: Scottish Mortgage 0.34% costs - 10% (some adventure!/fun)
XDWF: Banking World Tracker 0.25% costs - 10%
Emerging Markets - undecided how yet - 10% (either a tracker or maybe PHI/BGS/BGCG 3.33% each)

The above does mean I am quite US heavy but any world tracker will be, my thoughts is it that after the world tracker, I have value, mining, UK bias, adventurous, banking, emerging covered. I know the US being tech heavy could see some further downside at the moment and I will likely hold in cash until the time seems right to me.

Interested in the long term view of this mix - am i missing anything, and I overcomplicating to have I got it about right?

Would be great to hear your thoughts

Hi Gumble, Re your first ETF listed, did you mean LGGG as opposed to LGGL

[Gumble]

No, LGGL. When I get a moment I'll look into LGGG to see the difference though

[Gumble]

Having checked now I see that LGGG is the same but in GBP and slightly cheaper - so yep, amendment to plan already made - thanks Richfool

[Hariseldon58]

Interesting portfolio, for what’s it worth, some comments;

The L&G World tracker does follow a less common index , Solactive Core Developed Markets Large & Mid Cap USD Index , seems to give very similar performance to the Vanguard FTSE Developed World tracker, (0.12%) , it has some ESG features, interesting choice.

Temple Bar investment trust has not done so great, curious why not a Uk Index ( my personal choice for the UK is 50:50 mix of FTSE 100/FTSE 250)

Curious if this a long term portfolio, with little trading, why add a specialist banking index ?

The Value tracker is something that offered a lot of promise when introduced, but the results have been ‘mixed’ for many of the smart beta trackers. Vanguard UK withdrew its range of Factor ETFs.

The mining fund (BRWM i think ), these typically do very well for a while then badly…the price is below that of 10 years ago.

For an equity portfolio perhaps an All World tracker, HSBC have a fund at .13% pa, you could just leave it alone and you’d probably find the returns over a period of years to be satisfactory, lot less work.

[richfool]

Yes, BRWM is very cyclical.

I hold BRWM and it sunk underwater last year and stayed there for some time, until the last few days when it has soared back into the black. It is currently considered to be an appropriate investment with the prospect of higher inflation. Comments about "commodity super cycles" abound. Be prepared for ups and downs.

[77ss]

Yes, BRWM is very cyclical.

I hold BRWM and it sunk underwater last year and stayed there for some time, until the last few days when it has soared back into the black. It is currently considered to be an appropriate investment with the prospect of higher inflation. Comments about "commodity super cycles" abound. Be prepared for ups and downs.

Cyclical indeed. I bought last year, to complement my hoiding in RIO, and have been very pleasantly surprised by its recent performamce.

As ever, ones returns will depend on the price paid. An earlier poster said that the share price is now lower than 10 years ago. On the other hand it has gone up almost 4-fold in the past 6 years!

Some of my holdings (FCIT, SGRO etc) I don't pay too much attention to - in effect they are passssive investments. Others. such as RIO, AZN and, now BRWM are much more closely watched.

I wonder whether BRWM really has a place in a passive portfolio.

[xxd09]

Have to agree with Hariseldon58
You have made a complete portfolio change after 18 months -do you have staying power?-needed for a successful passive investing portfolio
You have a complicated portfolio -difficult to follow and understand
A global equities index tracker as suggested would do the same job with one fund only
Simple cheap easy to understand and beats over 80% of active funds
Best left alone to do its thing ie compounding
It is however very boring but chopping and changing will probably lead to poor long term results
I would suggest you have a few thousand in a”play” portfolio “ to gamble with-if you feel the need but leave your main savings pot well alone
xxd09

[Gumble]

Interesting portfolio, for what’s it worth, some comments;

The L&G World tracker does follow a less common index , Solactive Core Developed Markets Large & Mid Cap USD Index , seems to give very similar performance to the Vanguard FTSE Developed World tracker, (0.12%) , it has some ESG features, interesting choice.

Temple Bar investment trust has not done so great, curious why not a Uk Index ( my personal choice for the UK is 50:50 mix of FTSE 100/FTSE 250)

Curious if this a long term portfolio, with little trading, why add a specialist banking index ?

The Value tracker is something that offered a lot of promise when introduced, but the results have been ‘mixed’ for many of the smart beta trackers. Vanguard UK withdrew its range of Factor ETFs.

The mining fund (BRWM i think ), these typically do very well for a while then badly…the price is below that of 10 years ago.

For an equity portfolio perhaps an All World tracker, HSBC have a fund at .13% pa, you could just leave it alone and you’d probably find the returns over a period of years to be satisfactory, lot less work.

Hi Harisedon58, thanks for your comments, much appreciated as you can probably tell by my interesting portfolio!
First looking at a world tracker as thats the most important thing to get right, I had not realised that the L&G option followed a slightly different index so not actually by choice. It's been quite confusing, or maybe I am overcomplicating things, trying to get the right world index tracker. I know Vanguard are the most popular but for some reason not available on AJBell, or at least I cant find it so I've just looked at costs.Should I be looking at SWRD or LCWD to follow the right tracker, or LCWL so it is in GBP?
Answering a post further down on why I have over complicated and not just looked at a straight world tracker for all my funds, is that rightly or wrongly I see a world tracker as too USA heavy, of course it will be as it is the biggest economy and has the biggest companies, hence my reason for diversifying a bit, and in answer to your comment re. long term view, I think you have highlighted that I am clearly looking at long term in some respects but short term in others with value, banking and mining funds.
On each of those funds, hers my thinking, not saying its right but it's how i came to these conclusions:

Temple Bar, was recommended by AJBell's shares magazine last week which is why I looked at it, recent strong performance and helped with adding more UK bias

BRWM (you are right, typo) - held as a hedge I guess, doing great right now so may sell out of this when it stops growing and re-invest more into the world tracker, damn it i'm trading again!!

Value - I keep hearing about the move from tech/growth to value and its why I found myself with this one

Banking - had read how the banking sector are expected to do well this year so found this one. I think my plan would have been to hold until the cycle moves back from Value to Growth and sell out then, investing into the world index

SMT - well... i just cant ignore the past performance and like the attitude of BG in general, holding unlisted companies etc...

Emerging Markets, these dont get covered by the world tracker, and those that do seem to be more expensive. I wanted to expose to EM

So there you see the way my brain works... and now it hurts!!!

[Gumble]

Have to agree with Hariseldon58
You have made a complete portfolio change after 18 months -do you have staying power?-needed for a successful passive investing portfolio
You have a complicated portfolio -difficult to follow and understand
A global equities index tracker as suggested would do the same job with one fund only
Simple cheap easy to understand and beats over 80% of active funds
Best left alone to do its thing ie compounding
It is however very boring but chopping and changing will probably lead to poor long term results
I would suggest you have a few thousand in a”play” portfolio “ to gamble with-if you feel the need but leave your main savings pot well alone
xxd09

Hi xxd09
Thanks for looking at my plan, and yep all that you say is right! In my head i do want to have a simple long term plan, and I still believe that I can do this if I am able to put together the right plan that I can believe in. That was my aim 18 months ago but I now see that I put together a great plan, that I believed in, in a growth/over active market and not necessarily for the long term. remember that is all I have known really having started my SSIP May 2020.
I think my concern about only holding a a world tracker is a few things:
-very US heavy
-emerging markets not covered where strong growth can come from (and volatility)
-tech heavy currently

Agree with you on having a separate pot for a 'play portfolio' and not trying to mix it into here. Which world tracker would you suggest (note AJBell seems to not have the Vanguard ETFs)
Thanks

[GeoffF100]

I think my concern about only holding a a world tracker is a few things:
-very US heavy
-emerging markets not covered where strong growth can come from (and volatility)
-tech heavy currently

...(note AJBell seems to not have the Vanguard ETFs)

An All-World tracker will include Emerging Markets. Strongly growing markets are do not usually give better returns to shareholders than stagnant ones. Nonetheless, including Emerging Markets does provide extra diversification.

The US and tech are currently generating huge profits with rapid growth. That is why they have high market capitalisations. Do you know more than the market?

AJ Bell certainly does provide access to Vanguard ETFs. I have held both VWRL and VEVE with them.

[Gumble]

I think my concern about only holding a a world tracker is a few things:
-very US heavy
-emerging markets not covered where strong growth can come from (and volatility)
-tech heavy currently

...(note AJBell seems to not have the Vanguard ETFs)

An All-World tracker will include Emerging Markets. Strongly growing markets are do not usually give better returns to shareholders than stagnant ones. Nonetheless, including Emerging Markets does provide extra diversification.

The US and tech are currently generating huge profits with rapid growth. That is why they have high market capitalisations. Do you know more than the market?

AJ Bell certainly does provide access to Vanguard ETFs. I have held both VWRL and VEVE with them.

Thanks Geoff, and yes i'm corrected again, i've checked and both VWRL and VEVE are available in AJBell. I think I'm going mad with all my research.
I can see the consensus is that I need to put everything into a world tracker and stop messing around with things, I think it will help me sleep easier in the turbulent times and believe it or not, I actually like simplicity and logic even if my original post shows little of that!
I can always use my ISA for playing around.
So question now is about which World Tracker. Vanguard seems to be the flagship or the one most talked about and there seems to be so many indexes that are tracked all be it similar
- VEVE @ 0.12% tracks the FTSE developed world index
- LCWL @0.12% tracks the MSCI World Index
- VWRL @ 0.22% tracks the FTSE all world index

VEVE v LCWL - same cost, virtually same 3 year annualised, different indexes tracked, any advantage/personal choice between them?
VEVE v VWRL - VEVE is cheaper and a better 3 year annualises, VWRL includes emerging markets but i'm now wondering if that is just a fictional advantage given the extra cost, lower return last few years and the fact that the developing counties only account for under 7% of the holdings.

So that makes me thing VEVE is the way to go for a world tracker - anyone have a better option or thoughts on this?

Sorry for all the questions but when I finally feel like I've taken the time and made the right choice i'll be able to get behind it and stick to it.

Thanks all

[Hariseldon58]

Interesting portfolio, for what’s it worth, some comments;

The L&G World tracker does follow a less common index , Solactive Core Developed Markets Large & Mid Cap USD Index , seems to give very similar performance to the Vanguard FTSE Developed World tracker, (0.12%) , it has some ESG features, interesting choice.

Temple Bar investment trust has not done so great, curious why not a Uk Index ( my personal choice for the UK is 50:50 mix of FTSE 100/FTSE 250)

Curious if this a long term portfolio, with little trading, why add a specialist banking index ?

The Value tracker is something that offered a lot of promise when introduced, but the results have been ‘mixed’ for many of the smart beta trackers. Vanguard UK withdrew its range of Factor ETFs.

The mining fund (BRWM i think ), these typically do very well for a while then badly…the price is below that of 10 years ago.

For an equity portfolio perhaps an All World tracker, HSBC have a fund at .13% pa, you could just leave it alone and you’d probably find the returns over a period of years to be satisfactory, lot less work.

Hi Harisedon58, thanks for your comments, much appreciated as you can probably tell by my interesting portfolio!
First looking at a world tracker as thats the most important thing to get right, I had not realised that the L&G option followed a slightly different index so not actually by choice. It's been quite confusing, or maybe I am overcomplicating things, trying to get the right world index tracker. I know Vanguard are the most popular but for some reason not available on AJBell, or at least I cant find it so I've just looked at costs.Should I be looking at SWRD or LCWD to follow the right tracker, or LCWL so it is in GBP?
Answering a post further down on why I have over complicated and not just looked at a straight world tracker for all my funds, is that rightly or wrongly I see a world tracker as too USA heavy, of course it will be as it is the biggest economy and has the biggest companies, hence my reason for diversifying a bit, and in answer to your comment re. long term view, I think you have highlighted that I am clearly looking at long term in some respects but short term in others with value, banking and mining funds.
On each of those funds, hers my thinking, not saying its right but it's how i came to these conclusions:

Temple Bar, was recommended by AJBell's shares magazine last week which is why I looked at it, recent strong performance and helped with adding more UK bias

BRWM (you are right, typo) - held as a hedge I guess, doing great right now so may sell out of this when it stops growing and re-invest more into the world tracker, damn it i'm trading again!!

Value - I keep hearing about the move from tech/growth to value and its why I found myself with this one

Banking - had read how the banking sector are expected to do well this year so found this one. I think my plan would have been to hold until the cycle moves back from Value to Growth and sell out then, investing into the world index

SMT - well... i just cant ignore the past performance and like the attitude of BG in general, holding unlisted companies etc...

Emerging Markets, these dont get covered by the world tracker, and those that do seem to be more expensive. I wanted to expose to EM

So there you see the way my brain works... and now it hurts!!!

Perhaps you will be better off taking less notice of articles in magazines from your broker, (Temple Bar may have got over its significant issues or maybe not…) they want you to trade and be a good customer of theirs !!!

You have a minimal chance of timing markets, ie move from value to growth and back again, with the greatest respect the professional fund managers rarely get these things right and my chance and yours is down to chance and you have to time two market moves….



Your going to get similar comments from other people, the bulk of your money is probably best off in investments that you can just leave to grow for a long time. A world tracker is a good idea, an All World tracker will include Emerging Markets, personally I would invest in one that automatically reinvests income, ie a Accumulating share class , Vanguard have VWRP.L its on AJ Bell.

The temptation to take a view on markets and trade accordingly is strong, problem is if you do well, was it skill and good judgement or just luck ? I have been investing for 30+ years and have taken active decisions lots of times, sometimes it works out well, others not so well, for it means trading a lot and incurring a lot of expense, stamp duty, transaction costs, spreads, lesson learnt, keep it simple and get on with life.

Active managers rarely beat the index on a consistent basis, in theory it should be easy, just choose not to hold the “obviously” bad stocks !

[xxd09]

Glad to see that you have had plenty of good word index trackers suggested to you
Don’t waste time fine tuning - select one and get started.Time waits for no man or woman!
xxd09

[GeoffF100]

- VEVE @ 0.12% tracks the FTSE developed world index
- LCWL @0.12% tracks the MSCI World Index
- VWRL @ 0.22% tracks the FTSE all world index

VEVE v LCWL - same cost, virtually same 3 year annualised, different indexes tracked, any advantage/personal choice between them?
VEVE v VWRL - VEVE is cheaper and a better 3 year annualises, VWRL includes emerging markets but i'm now wondering if that is just a fictional advantage given the extra cost, lower return last few years and the fact that the developing counties only account for under 7% of the holdings.

VEVE tracks a better index than LCWL. It includes South Korea and has more stocks within each market. Vanguard also has a better reputation than Lyxor. Lyxor (Luxembourg based) was not able to claim back as much withholding tax as Vanguard (Ireland based), but that may have been fixed.

VWRL had 11% Emerging Markets on 31/12/21. If you want Emerging Markets, you can use VFEM. VWRL = 0.89*VEVE + 0.11*VFEM, which is 0.08% p.a. cheaper. Using the accumulating versions of the ETFs can save a little more in dividend currency conversion costs. For AJ Bell, the saving for VEVE would be 0.014 * 0.5% = 0.007%. (It will be more with most other brokers.) The recent poor performance of Emerging Markets is not relevant. About half the money is invested in China though, which is clearly a risk.

You have not mentioned bonds. 100% equities is very risky. VAGP is Vanguard's global bond fund hedged in to sterling. It is the mainstay of the bond element in their packaged funds.

[richfool]

- VEVE @ 0.12% tracks the FTSE developed world index
- LCWL @0.12% tracks the MSCI World Index
- VWRL @ 0.22% tracks the FTSE all world index

VEVE v LCWL - same cost, virtually same 3 year annualised, different indexes tracked, any advantage/personal choice between them?
VEVE v VWRL - VEVE is cheaper and a better 3 year annualises, VWRL includes emerging markets but i'm now wondering if that is just a fictional advantage given the extra cost, lower return last few years and the fact that the developing counties only account for under 7% of the holdings.

VEVE tracks a better index than LCWL. It includes South Korea and has more stocks within each market. Vanguard also has a better reputation than Lyxor. Lyxor (Luxembourg based) was not able to claim back as much withholding tax as Vanguard (Ireland based), but that may have been fixed.

VWRL had 11% Emerging Markets on 31/12/21. If you want Emerging Markets, you can use VFEM. VWRL = 0.89*VEVE + 0.11*VFEM, which is 0.08% p.a. cheaper. Using the accumulating versions of the ETFs can save a little more in dividend currency conversion costs. For AJ Bell, the saving for VEVE would be 0.014 * 0.5% = 0.007%. (It will be more with most other brokers.) The recent poor performance of Emerging Markets is not relevant. About half the money is invested in China though, which is clearly a risk.

You have not mentioned bonds. 100% equities is very risky. VAGP is Vanguard's global bond fund hedged in to sterling. It is the mainstay of the bond element in their packaged funds.

Thanks, that's useful information for me too. What I am not clear on, (if one was to opt for VEVE instead of VWRL), is to what extent VEVE includes Asia Pacific? Does, for example, VEVE include: Australia, Singapore, Hong Hong, South Korea and Taiwan, but exclude China? And is Vietnam considered an EM?

[Gumble]

- VEVE @ 0.12% tracks the FTSE developed world index
- LCWL @0.12% tracks the MSCI World Index
- VWRL @ 0.22% tracks the FTSE all world index

VEVE v LCWL - same cost, virtually same 3 year annualised, different indexes tracked, any advantage/personal choice between them?
VEVE v VWRL - VEVE is cheaper and a better 3 year annualises, VWRL includes emerging markets but i'm now wondering if that is just a fictional advantage given the extra cost, lower return last few years and the fact that the developing counties only account for under 7% of the holdings.

VEVE tracks a better index than LCWL. It includes South Korea and has more stocks within each market. Vanguard also has a better reputation than Lyxor. Lyxor (Luxembourg based) was not able to claim back as much withholding tax as Vanguard (Ireland based), but that may have been fixed.

VWRL had 11% Emerging Markets on 31/12/21. If you want Emerging Markets, you can use VFEM. VWRL = 0.89*VEVE + 0.11*VFEM, which is 0.08% p.a. cheaper. Using the accumulating versions of the ETFs can save a little more in dividend currency conversion costs. For AJ Bell, the saving for VEVE would be 0.014 * 0.5% = 0.007%. (It will be more with most other brokers.) The recent poor performance of Emerging Markets is not relevant. About half the money is invested in China though, which is clearly a risk.

You have not mentioned bonds. 100% equities is very risky. VAGP is Vanguard's global bond fund hedged in to sterling. It is the mainstay of the bond element in their packaged funds.

This is just excellent, so glad I asked the questions. So taking into account your comments on the costs, its better to run two funds, one for developed and one for developing - the maths makes perfect sense.
The accumulation comment I had not even thought about, in simple terms am I right that instead of a dividend paid to me, and dividends get reinvested into the fund growing the ownership of each holding fractionally each time, and in doing so saves any costs associated with handling the dividends/forex etc... Makes sense. So on that basis VHVG for developed tracker and VFEG for emerging, around a 90%/10% split should give the best value, most sensible way to achieve what I want. Am I right that these are the accumulating equivalent of VEVE/VFEM?
Re. Bonds, i admit I don't quite understand them, other than they are less risky, lower reward so my possibly naive thinking is that if I want to be in the market for say 20 years minimum then I don't want to put any money into something that isn't likely to make me much and can still lose, I'd rather take the risk and play on the basis that over time equities always come out the better bet.
Thank you again for your advice/knowledge

[Gumble]

Glad to see that you have had plenty of good word index trackers suggested to you
Don’t waste time fine tuning - select one and get started.Time waits for no man or woman!
xxd09

Yep you are right, just a few more fine tunes.... honest will get there soon!!

[Gumble]

Interesting portfolio, for what’s it worth, some comments;

The L&G World tracker does follow a less common index , Solactive Core Developed Markets Large & Mid Cap USD Index , seems to give very similar performance to the Vanguard FTSE Developed World tracker, (0.12%) , it has some ESG features, interesting choice.

Temple Bar investment trust has not done so great, curious why not a Uk Index ( my personal choice for the UK is 50:50 mix of FTSE 100/FTSE 250)

Curious if this a long term portfolio, with little trading, why add a specialist banking index ?

The Value tracker is something that offered a lot of promise when introduced, but the results have been ‘mixed’ for many of the smart beta trackers. Vanguard UK withdrew its range of Factor ETFs.

The mining fund (BRWM i think ), these typically do very well for a while then badly…the price is below that of 10 years ago.

For an equity portfolio perhaps an All World tracker, HSBC have a fund at .13% pa, you could just leave it alone and you’d probably find the returns over a period of years to be satisfactory, lot less work.

Hi Harisedon58, thanks for your comments, much appreciated as you can probably tell by my interesting portfolio!
First looking at a world tracker as thats the most important thing to get right, I had not realised that the L&G option followed a slightly different index so not actually by choice. It's been quite confusing, or maybe I am overcomplicating things, trying to get the right world index tracker. I know Vanguard are the most popular but for some reason not available on AJBell, or at least I cant find it so I've just looked at costs.Should I be looking at SWRD or LCWD to follow the right tracker, or LCWL so it is in GBP?
Answering a post further down on why I have over complicated and not just looked at a straight world tracker for all my funds, is that rightly or wrongly I see a world tracker as too USA heavy, of course it will be as it is the biggest economy and has the biggest companies, hence my reason for diversifying a bit, and in answer to your comment re. long term view, I think you have highlighted that I am clearly looking at long term in some respects but short term in others with value, banking and mining funds.
On each of those funds, hers my thinking, not saying its right but it's how i came to these conclusions:

Temple Bar, was recommended by AJBell's shares magazine last week which is why I looked at it, recent strong performance and helped with adding more UK bias

BRWM (you are right, typo) - held as a hedge I guess, doing great right now so may sell out of this when it stops growing and re-invest more into the world tracker, damn it i'm trading again!!

Value - I keep hearing about the move from tech/growth to value and its why I found myself with this one

Banking - had read how the banking sector are expected to do well this year so found this one. I think my plan would have been to hold until the cycle moves back from Value to Growth and sell out then, investing into the world index

SMT - well... i just cant ignore the past performance and like the attitude of BG in general, holding unlisted companies etc...

Emerging Markets, these dont get covered by the world tracker, and those that do seem to be more expensive. I wanted to expose to EM

So there you see the way my brain works... and now it hurts!!!

Perhaps you will be better off taking less notice of articles in magazines from your broker, (Temple Bar may have got over its significant issues or maybe not…) they want you to trade and be a good customer of theirs !!!

You have a minimal chance of timing markets, ie move from value to growth and back again, with the greatest respect the professional fund managers rarely get these things right and my chance and yours is down to chance and you have to time two market moves….



Your going to get similar comments from other people, the bulk of your money is probably best off in investments that you can just leave to grow for a long time. A world tracker is a good idea, an All World tracker will include Emerging Markets, personally I would invest in one that automatically reinvests income, ie a Accumulating share class , Vanguard have VWRP.L its on AJ Bell.

The temptation to take a view on markets and trade accordingly is strong, problem is if you do well, was it skill and good judgement or just luck ? I have been investing for 30+ years and have taken active decisions lots of times, sometimes it works out well, others not so well, for it means trading a lot and incurring a lot of expense, stamp duty, transaction costs, spreads, lesson learnt, keep it simple and get on with life.

Active managers rarely beat the index on a consistent basis, in theory it should be easy, just choose not to hold the “obviously” bad stocks !

Thanks for your comments, I think you and others have made me think more into this and yes I see a world tracker being the way forward, you will have seen some of my other answers showing how i'm fine tuning that plan right now.
Had not thought about the AJBell Shares Magazine in the way you mention - but now you say it, its pretty obvious!! I'm also seeing the 'active manages rarely beat index trackers' type of comment quite a lot.
I am going to have my fund SMT style holdings but maybe use my ISA for that (much lower funds in there) and have a straight forward world tracker plan in the SSIP - looking like 90% VHVG and 10% VFEG
Thanks for your help/comments/advise, its all helping me hone in on a plan

[GeoffF100]

Makes sense. So on that basis VHVG for developed tracker and VFEG for emerging, around a 90%/10% split should give the best value, most sensible way to achieve what I want. Am I right that these are the accumulating equivalent of VEVE/VFEM?
Re. Bonds, i admit I don't quite understand them, other than they are less risky, lower reward so my possibly naive thinking is that if I want to be in the market for say 20 years minimum then I don't want to put any money into something that isn't likely to make me much and can still lose.

The accumulating ETF's market spreads are wider than for the distributing versions. With AJB's relatively small 0.5% FX commission on dividends, it will take a long time to win back the increased spread.

Vanguard does not support the accumulating ETFs on its own platform. That might become an issue in the future if Vanguard cut its charges. Currently, AJB is much cheaper for a SIPP that is not in payment, but Vanguard is more competitive for SIPPs in payment, and offers more options.

If you are waiting 20+ years, you will probably be OK with 100% equities, provided that you are panic proof. You will only know that when the market crashes big time though. If you have bonds, you can potentially make a rebalancing profit, so they probably will not damp down the performance as much as you might expect.