Lump sum investment

[ayshfm1]

With any luck I'll have anywhere from 150-200K to invest in a few months, I want invest it to provide a dividend income to cover my day to day expenses, doesn't need to do all of it and sustainable is more important. It will be held outside of a wrapper.

I'm thinking a few investment trusts, that are not correlated with UK stock market. Want small spread, good diversity, return smoothing, defensive but with growth, if possible, capital and income. I know - would sir like a cherry on top as well?

I know very little about IT's but like the income smoothing, I do own some CTY, but that adds to my UK over exposure. Hence canvassing those that know more as basis for research.

Background

Don't consider the cash question/or sequence of return risk, 50K worth of Premium bonds covers that.
Don't be overly concerned about the 4% rule, I have an ISA that will continue to re-invest and will be added to when funds are not needed. Under most scenarios this should ensure I never run out of money and provide a fallback.
I have HYP SIPP that will cover off my needs more or less (rather on the more side). Ideally it should provide the bulk of my discretionary spending. I hold quite a lot of miners, UK stock market is good for them, so would be somewhat adverse to holding a mining IT.
I toyed with chucking the lot into VWRL, but the yield is poor and the US risk high

The SIPP and ISA are both HYP's though they would not be discussable on the Practical board as they contain things that render them not fully HYP by the definition used over there. They are very heavily FTSE100 based and are the usual suspects plus some (Prefs/ETF's etc), which is where the worry comes from, too UK concentrated, but the income thrown off is juicy.

The aim being to have the 150-200K provide a sort of base income that should tolerate UK shocks and keep bread on the table, albeit sans butter and jam, should that concentration come back to bite me. I think normal spend is circa 16K, but absolutely pared down it might be as low as £9600. If I had to be specific on my wish list, income production in that range rising with inflation would be the would be the goal.

[AleisterCrowley]

I know very little about IT's but like the income smoothing
Couldn't you do that yourself ? Just pay dividends into a buffer account and set up a standing order into your current account?
I assume ITs that smooth returns pitch the payout at or below the expected average return, and just retain some cash for the 'bad years', unless they have some secret formula...

[ayshfm1]

I don't think the scenario I'm countering is very likely, and whilst it's not happening I get a nice dollop of extra cash but if it does happen I get protection albeit at a minimum level. If I haven't done it, how long would the depression last? Would I exhaust the premium bond cash buffer? Impossible to quantify.

Since the resources exist to counter the improbable, whilst still getting benefit if things paddle along normally, why not try?

I could just hold the money in cash as a huge buffer, but inflation would murder it over a 10 year timeline, even so sometimes I think this is the safest option.

[LooseCannon101]

I look for total return, not just income. Why not take a little capital out each year?

A highly diversified global equity investment trust e.g. Witan, Alliance or F&C or a world equity index tracker should be a reasonable hedge against currency devaluation and offer good growth over the long term. F&C which I own has delivered about 8% total return per year on average over the past 20 years.

[Wuffle]

'Outside of wrapper'.
In general, is it not the case that while working income tax allowance is used up.
While retired, state pension reduces income tax allowance to 3 grand (personal allowance less 180 p/w) which is a quarter of the CGT allowance, so that is where you should be looking, investments with a wilfully reduced income.

W.