Big fan of InvestEngine, I think the platform and service is great, however one glaring omission which other platforms offer is individual share investments other than just ETFs.
Are there plans to introduce this functionality in the near future (rough timeline such as year or quarter) even if it is just for specific exchanges or markets/companies to begin with, I believe it would help to improve portfolio diversity further.
ETF’s are pants in the current environment. s&p gone nowhere in 1 1/2 years. Many are saying global recession is coming which could be bad for the market later this year. Would not surprise me if there is a lost decade which has been talked about. If not a lost decade maybe average around 5-6% per annum which will be lucky to leave you in profit after double digit inflation for 2 years in the UK.
On the other hand if you’re good at picking companies you could double your money in a few months as has happened with the likes of Tesla, Facebook or 30%+ gains with apple and alphabet and so on.
I’ve made a huge mistake investing mostly in ETF’s and playing it safe but it isn’t the way to go. Buy great businesses when they are at a discount if you actually want to see positive returns.
That’s a very big if and, if the experts fail to outperform despite the vast amount of data available to them, the chances of individuals making the right buys is likely to be lower.
If the company you buy goes bust you have zero. If a few S&P500 companies go bust you still have a solid investment.
The point of index trackers (not just ETFs) is that you can buy the haystack, not just the needle.
I don’t recommend this to anyone, but when I noticed the Nasdaq 100 had fallen more than other indices, because of its high tech company component, I sold some S&P500 and bought a chunk. The rebound has been fab. I guess it is akin to what Buffett used to do with individual companies.
Trackers have democratized investing and InvestEngine is wise to focus on one area. I recommend justetf.com for comparing ETFs but clearly IE cannot offer all of them and stay in business because each trade would be too small, creating difficulties with settlements. If I were IE I would limit the offer to 200 ETFs.
Combination of 2 is best. Holding Index Funds/ETF’s and individual shares depending on risk tolerance and what you are wanting to achieve. So called experts and fund managers don’t outperform the market because they have to buy whatever the situation if they are given funds to invest. If you are able to bide your time and only buy when great companies are trading at low prices during drawdowns and bear markets it’s difficult to lose. A lot is dependent on the individual investor’s circumstances. That’s my take anyway.
Yes, holding both is great… remember though you don’t need to hold everything with the same company. In fact it is probably better, many ‘shoe boxes’ to ensure you don’t blow up your entire account trading some speculative stocks, or throwing your entire life savings at a loosing BTC trade.
I hold ETF’s in IE mostly due to the low fees, i add monthly and mostly don’t sell, in 20yrs I hope it will be a nice amount of money to spend in retirement. The range is already sufficient for me, but great they keep adding new ETFs.
Great company and great service, keeping it simple for less knowledgeable investors is a plus in my book. Focusing on ETFs allows those who don’t have time to spend researching, following the market or day trading to grow their nest relatively risk free vs buying a single stock based on the recommendation of a friend.
I have a stock trading account for GBP which holds uk stocks, but ETFs are expensive on that platform in comparison. Another account for USD which holds just US stocks/options obviously each are just a portion of my investments along with property, bonds & cash.
Also markets are cyclical, you don’t need to stick to index investing. If you are sophisticated enough you might follow trends and rotate into different sectors or themes without having to pick the #1 company within a segment.
If you can’t pick the correct sectors, there is a good chance you are not going to be able to pick the correct ‘needle in the haystack’ and so the wider holdings that an ETF offers is going to cover your a$$ 9 times out of 10. What is it they say, a rising tide lifts all boats.
Its a fallacy to think you can be in the right names at the right times, all the time. Investing is not a get rich quick scheme…
"InvestEngine is the ETF investment platform for long-term investment, "
Not a trading platform, lots of those.
https://community.investengine.com/t/the-investengine-investment-strategy/933?u=snippy
I agree. Buying a mainstream long term sector when it is cheap, to add to your core global holdings, makes a lot of sense. For example, value buying through a high dividend yield global tracker like VHYL when it was cheap compared to the growth version VWRL, has paid off bigly of late, hitting new all time highs several times recently. I explained earlier in this thread a similar situation with EQGB with a 19% gain so far. I only sell at a new high to guarantee buying low and selling high. There’s always a good buy in solid long term market and when yiu sell at a high there’s usually something that’s sunk. Long term US Treasuries are cheap - but bonds scare me more than equities so just a little punt there with a possible big return eventually and some nice divis in between.