Popular ISA picks in 2019
It’s the final week of the 2018/19 ISA season which means you only have a few days left to make use of the £20,000 tax allowance.
For those of you who have left it until the last minute, here are five tips from Chelsea Financial Services' managing director, Darius McDermott, ahead of the 10pm deadline on 5 April.
Ideas for last minute investors:
1. Use our Core Selection/ Selection lists to help you choose an investment fund from the thousands of options available in the UK.
2. Read our blogs, fund manager interviews and Viewpoint magazine for some inspiration.
3. If you are worried about investing in a single asset class, consider one of our four-strong range of VT Chelsea Managed funds.
4. If you really can’t decide, and don’t want to make a rash or hurried choice, you could place this year's allowance in Cash and make your fund selection at a later date. Remember, all switches are 0% charge through Chelsea.
To make things even easier we’ve also highlighted five funds which have been popular choices among our investors so far this ISA season. As you can see, all the external fund managers are well known to us and have been part of our Core Selection range for the past seven years – proving they have all stood the test of time.
Darius says: “The past six months have been challenging for investors. The last quarter of 2018 saw markets fall rapidly and while the first three months of this year have seen a recovery, wider concerns like Brexit and the US/China trade conflict have meant investor confidence is still a bit shaky. It is good to see many investors have stayed true to the managers they know and trust.”
1. Liontrust Special Situations
Managed by Anthony Cross and Julian Fosh this fund has been a stellar performer since its launch in 2005. The fund is a multi-cap UK ‘best ideas ‘portfolio, but typically will have a small-and mid-cap bias. Every stock in the portfolio must have; intellectual property; a distribution network or recurring revenues.
2. Rathbone Global Opportunities
This fund has been managed by James Thomson for more than a decade. He invests in undiscovered or out-of-favour growth companies. The portfolio normally consists of 40-60 stocks but tends to focus on mid-sized companies in developed markets. The fund also has a defensive bucket of holdings which are less economically sensitive, with slower and steadier growth prospects. Amazon (2.97%*) is currently the largest holding in the fund.
3. Schroder Asian Alpha Plus
This fund operates as a flexible, best ideas portfolio of 50-70 stocks with Matthew Dobbs using the large research team at his disposal for local market insight, quantitative screening and risk management. Matthew has been working on Asian equity portfolios since 1985 and has built a strong record in that time. Almost a quarter (24.3%*) of this fund is currently invested in Chinese equities.
4. M&G Global Dividend
Manager Stuart Rhodes’ main aim is to grow the fund's dividends over the long term, whilst maximising total return by investing across a wide range of geographies, sectors and size of company. The fund has around 40 stocks, typically held for three years. Almost half (49.4%*) of the portfolio is currently held in US equities. The fund has a yield of 2.94%*.
5. VT Chelsea Managed Monthly Income
“The VT Chelsea Managed funds are continuing to be popular among our investors since their launch in June 2017,” says Darius.
“We’ve seen some good flows into our Monthly Income vehicle in 2019, as investors look for alternatives in a low growth environment. The fund yields 4.46%* and is well-diversified across Europe (25%), UK (24%) the US and Asia Pacific ex-Japan (both 19%*).
*Fund fact sheets, 28 February 2019
Past performance is not a reliable guide to future returns. You may not get back the amount originally invested, and tax rules can change over time. Darius's views are his own and do not constitute financial advice.