WEBVTT - How to Start Your Investment Journey 0:00:02.720 --> 0:00:07.200 Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio News. 0:00:16.600 --> 0:00:19.239 Welcome to MEREN Talk to Your Money. The personal finance 0:00:19.360 --> 0:00:21.880 edison of MEREN talks money. In these weekly episodes, we 0:00:21.960 --> 0:00:24.360 talk about the best strategies for making the most of 0:00:24.520 --> 0:00:27.400 your money. I'm MEREN sum Stweb and with me senior 0:00:27.440 --> 0:00:29.720 reporter and Money Distilled author John Steppack. 0:00:29.800 --> 0:00:32.680 Hi, John, Hi Melton. It's not happy New Year anymore, 0:00:32.760 --> 0:00:32.920 is it? 0:00:32.920 --> 0:00:36.400 We did that last week, so it's just measurable in 0:00:36.440 --> 0:00:36.800 your year. 0:00:38.440 --> 0:00:41.320 I'm folding rather as we suspect it isn't it? Never mind, 0:00:41.360 --> 0:00:43.480 More of that later. This is another one of those 0:00:43.520 --> 0:00:47.320 episodes where we built but this is not God. This 0:00:47.440 --> 0:00:49.199 is one of those episodes where we bring in an 0:00:49.280 --> 0:00:51.960 expert voice to help us tackle the question of the 0:00:51.960 --> 0:00:54.240 week as well. John and I know a lot. Amazingly, 0:00:54.320 --> 0:00:58.400 we don't know everything. So with us today is Holly mackay, 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:01.560 Founder and see of Boring Money, a go to resource 0:01:01.600 --> 0:01:05.240 to help normal people make smart investment decisions. Welcome Holly, 0:01:05.319 --> 0:01:06.240 Thank you for joining us. 0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:07.959 Him aren good for you. 0:01:08.880 --> 0:01:11.160 Now we're asking a lot of you today. We've got 0:01:11.200 --> 0:01:13.920 a lot of listener questions in on the same sort 0:01:13.959 --> 0:01:16.520 of topics. Everyone wants to know how to get started 0:01:16.600 --> 0:01:19.559 on investing. What do I do to kick the journey off? 0:01:19.760 --> 0:01:21.880 So we want to talk about things like what platforms 0:01:21.920 --> 0:01:24.720 you'd recommend for beginners, what is it reasonable. 0:01:24.200 --> 0:01:26.520 To pay, and how do you how do you choose? 0:01:26.560 --> 0:01:28.560 How do you get started with choosing a platform and 0:01:28.600 --> 0:01:32.240 then choosing the investments to put into whatever wrapper is 0:01:32.319 --> 0:01:35.080 it is that you've chosen on the platform. So I'm 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:38.280 going to start with something so basic that you're going 0:01:38.319 --> 0:01:41.480 to think it's ridiculous, but it's still important. What Holly 0:01:41.840 --> 0:01:43.759 is an investment platform? 0:01:43.880 --> 0:01:46.839 No, it's a good question, Baron. I mean, I think 0:01:46.920 --> 0:01:50.880 of it like it's a combo between a department store 0:01:51.040 --> 0:01:54.960 and a storage deposit unit. So it's somewhere you go 0:01:55.080 --> 0:01:58.800 to buy your investments, and then once you've bought them, 0:01:59.400 --> 0:02:01.640 is someone that actually keeps them for you and does 0:02:01.680 --> 0:02:04.480 all all the admin, gives you that website you can 0:02:04.560 --> 0:02:08.600 log onto. So really, the investment platform, it's just a 0:02:08.639 --> 0:02:10.680 word right that says it's where you go and buy 0:02:10.720 --> 0:02:13.600 and hold investments in twenty twenty five. 0:02:14.360 --> 0:02:16.600 Okay, so that's what you would do if you're doing 0:02:16.600 --> 0:02:19.120 it DIY, And then if you were to use a 0:02:19.200 --> 0:02:22.679 Wealth Manager or an IFA, etc. You would go through them, 0:02:22.800 --> 0:02:24.200 but they would be using their own. 0:02:24.080 --> 0:02:27.960 Platform exactly exactly the sort of tech that they all use. 0:02:28.080 --> 0:02:31.200 But I think what's really interesting, particularly for people not 0:02:31.440 --> 0:02:35.080 using an advisor, is the massive growth we've seen of 0:02:35.160 --> 0:02:38.240 these platforms. And I was looking today actually at some 0:02:38.360 --> 0:02:42.200 stats they've grown seventy eight percent over the last five years. 0:02:42.800 --> 0:02:45.640 Everyone's sort of holding their money and buying sort of 0:02:45.680 --> 0:02:47.960 things this way. So it's really the go to for 0:02:48.080 --> 0:02:50.079 DIY investors in particular. 0:02:50.680 --> 0:02:52.400 And most people will know the big names. 0:02:52.440 --> 0:02:54.640 They'll have heard of Huggridge, Landsdown, they'll have heard of 0:02:54.720 --> 0:02:57.200 Interactive Investor, They'll have heard of Aja Bell. 0:02:58.040 --> 0:02:59.320 But there are many more. 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:01.640 And if we're looking at the universe that an ordinary 0:03:01.639 --> 0:03:04.679 person coming to this fresh might choose from, how many 0:03:04.720 --> 0:03:09.560 are they choosing from? How many reputable, profitable brands are 0:03:09.600 --> 0:03:11.120 there that you would say we could go to. 0:03:11.360 --> 0:03:14.480 So there are some reputable ones that probably aren't profitable today, 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:17.080 but kind of those that I think are worthy of 0:03:17.200 --> 0:03:20.080 consideration is about sort of thirty five to forty in 0:03:20.120 --> 0:03:22.519 the market. I've got test account. O. 0:03:22.639 --> 0:03:25.000 God, oh that's more than I thought of. It is terrible. 0:03:25.760 --> 0:03:28.880 Oh, my phone is like my sort of search unit. 0:03:29.040 --> 0:03:32.480 I have about thirty two accounts. I think test accounts 0:03:32.520 --> 0:03:36.000 sort of out there with with DIY investment platforms, which 0:03:36.040 --> 0:03:38.800 makes my sort of annual tax return quite interesting. 0:03:40.640 --> 0:03:42.400 God, I bet I'd like to back off, by the way, 0:03:42.400 --> 0:03:44.680 from saying it's terrible. It's not terrible. It's wonderful. We 0:03:44.720 --> 0:03:47.640 love competition, We adore competition. The more competition the better, 0:03:47.760 --> 0:03:49.040 but it does make it hard to. 0:03:49.040 --> 0:03:50.080 Choose, so it does. 0:03:50.440 --> 0:03:52.839 What are the criteria? So we're coming at this. We've 0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:54.880 got we've we've we've done a bit of googling. We've 0:03:54.880 --> 0:03:57.400 got a list of thirty five. What criteria are we 0:03:57.440 --> 0:03:57.960 looking for? 0:03:58.240 --> 0:04:01.160 I think they're in. The very first thing people need 0:04:01.200 --> 0:04:04.960 to be honest with themselves about is how confident are 0:04:05.000 --> 0:04:08.280 they and how much choice do they actually want? Because 0:04:08.280 --> 0:04:10.840 for many people, out of their choices a nightmare. It's 0:04:10.880 --> 0:04:13.400 actually complicated. It does your head and you've got other 0:04:13.440 --> 0:04:16.960 things you'd rather focus on. So I think really people 0:04:17.000 --> 0:04:21.479 should answer initially, how interested in this am am? I? 0:04:21.680 --> 0:04:23.880 Do I want to learn? Do I want to check in? 0:04:24.000 --> 0:04:26.240 Do I want to choose? Or does that sound like 0:04:26.320 --> 0:04:29.240 hell on earth to me? Because the answer to that 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:33.320 question will pretty much split the type of option you 0:04:33.440 --> 0:04:38.120 have into two. If you're the sort of person that says, oh, no, 0:04:38.320 --> 0:04:40.560 too much chores, I haven't got time. I've got other 0:04:40.560 --> 0:04:44.200 fish to fry. You want someone that can pretty much 0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:46.719 do it all for you and manage it for you, 0:04:46.960 --> 0:04:49.279 and that might point you to something that we call 0:04:49.320 --> 0:04:53.080 a robo advisor, so more on them later. If you're 0:04:53.120 --> 0:04:55.880 someone that says, actually, no, you know, I am interested 0:04:55.880 --> 0:04:56.400 in this stuff. 0:04:56.440 --> 0:04:56.880 I want to. 0:04:56.800 --> 0:04:59.640 Build a portfolio. I want to choose between some shares 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:02.760 and some whatever it might be, then you'll be in 0:05:02.800 --> 0:05:05.960 the market for a more traditional type platform. So for me, 0:05:06.880 --> 0:05:09.400 that's the very sort of first question. People should ask 0:05:09.440 --> 0:05:12.240 how much choice door I want? How competent do I feel? 0:05:12.560 --> 0:05:15.040 Okay, well, why don't we start right there. Let's assume 0:05:15.120 --> 0:05:18.840 that we are the person who wants to invest, knows 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:21.919 they should invest, but really doesn't want to get to involve. 0:05:22.000 --> 0:05:24.800 Let's talk about robo advisors first. So these are platforms 0:05:24.839 --> 0:05:28.080 that will effectively make the decisions for you. You input 0:05:28.120 --> 0:05:31.320 your your information, input what you perceive is your risk 0:05:31.400 --> 0:05:34.480 levels perhaps, and then it'll create a portfolio for you 0:05:34.560 --> 0:05:36.400 and you don't need to do anything except for top 0:05:36.440 --> 0:05:38.720 that portfolio up on a monthly or an annual basis, 0:05:38.760 --> 0:05:41.000 whatever suits you use, is that. 0:05:40.360 --> 0:05:42.599 That's exactly right. My kind of thing of it, My 0:05:42.680 --> 0:05:46.560 analogy is it's like someone that might say I want 0:05:46.560 --> 0:05:49.880 to eat, but I'm rubbish at cooking as well, buy 0:05:49.920 --> 0:05:52.200 a ready meal please, So for me, they're the ready 0:05:52.240 --> 0:05:55.040 meal of the investment world. You can go, as you say, 0:05:55.080 --> 0:05:59.320 to a website, you can answer some pretty straightforward questions 0:05:59.320 --> 0:06:02.680 about your atta to money, your time frames, etc. And 0:06:02.720 --> 0:06:05.120 they'll spit out a sort of suggestion view. You can 0:06:05.160 --> 0:06:07.599 set it up and off you go. So you know 0:06:07.720 --> 0:06:09.839 some of the biggest names in that space where we 0:06:09.880 --> 0:06:14.080 have groups such as Nutmeg, there's money Box people might 0:06:14.120 --> 0:06:16.880 have heard, or in the pensions world, you've got Pensions Be. 0:06:17.839 --> 0:06:21.560 So there are I would say about ten sort of 0:06:21.640 --> 0:06:25.119 to fifteen incredible players in this space now for people 0:06:25.160 --> 0:06:28.040 to look at. I think what's great about these options 0:06:28.080 --> 0:06:30.440 as well is that you can set them up to 0:06:30.520 --> 0:06:34.080 accept direct debits as well, so you really can set 0:06:34.400 --> 0:06:37.720 and forget and really only have to check in every 0:06:37.720 --> 0:06:40.960 sort of six to twelve months and try and set 0:06:41.040 --> 0:06:43.719 up these direct debits so you're chipping in little and 0:06:43.839 --> 0:06:47.120 often you're not just buying everything at one point in 0:06:47.160 --> 0:06:50.440 the market. You're kind of drip feeding into markets. So 0:06:50.520 --> 0:06:53.120 there is and and the tech has got so much 0:06:53.160 --> 0:06:56.239 better around these options too, and the apps are pretty good, 0:06:56.320 --> 0:06:59.680 so people can can check in with their investments as 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:02.400 list or as often as they want. 0:07:02.680 --> 0:07:04.400 And what would you expect that to cost? What do 0:07:04.400 --> 0:07:05.040 you pay for that? 0:07:05.240 --> 0:07:08.800 And is there a difference in how you might choose 0:07:08.839 --> 0:07:11.120 based on how much money you have? I mean, let's 0:07:11.160 --> 0:07:13.280 say you're starting with five hundred pounds and putting in 0:07:13.280 --> 0:07:14.000 one hundred a month. 0:07:14.280 --> 0:07:15.200 Is there when you might. 0:07:15.160 --> 0:07:17.640 Choose that is different to when you would choose if 0:07:17.680 --> 0:07:20.160 you were, for example, putting in ten thousand pounds and 0:07:20.200 --> 0:07:21.800 then adding two thousand pounds a yew? 0:07:21.880 --> 0:07:23.760 How does it work? What would you expect to pay. 0:07:23.720 --> 0:07:25.840 In terms of this sort of first question? What should 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:29.040 people pay? Roughly? I think for this option which is 0:07:29.080 --> 0:07:32.480 all in so it includes admin, includes all the investments, 0:07:33.000 --> 0:07:37.520 it's anywhere between about zero point seventy five and one 0:07:37.520 --> 0:07:40.360 percent a year. So to translate that into pound terms, 0:07:40.600 --> 0:07:44.320 it's about seventy five pounds to one hundred pounds a 0:07:44.440 --> 0:07:49.960 year for every ten thousand pounds you have to invest. Now, 0:07:50.280 --> 0:07:53.800 one way they do differ is in investment performance, because 0:07:53.840 --> 0:07:56.760 of course there's team sitting there running the money, and 0:07:56.800 --> 0:07:59.280 we track at boring money. We track on a coarty 0:07:59.400 --> 0:08:05.600 basis performance and we can see there is great difference 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:08.840 between these groups in how well they're doing based on 0:08:08.920 --> 0:08:12.040 what they're picking and based on what they're doing under 0:08:12.040 --> 0:08:15.720 the bonnet. So one thing people should look at is 0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:21.040 the performance over time. Now, as you'll know, kind of 0:08:21.080 --> 0:08:25.600 looking at this over a relatively short term can be misleading, 0:08:25.680 --> 0:08:28.360 particularly if we look back at twenty twenty four, where 0:08:28.840 --> 0:08:31.960 to be honest, anyone that through darted or board and 0:08:32.040 --> 0:08:35.320 landed anywhere near the S and P five hundred will 0:08:35.360 --> 0:08:39.439 have done pretty well. But people should look at performance, 0:08:39.440 --> 0:08:41.840 and we do sort of track that and make that 0:08:41.920 --> 0:08:44.199 available on our website. 0:08:44.559 --> 0:08:46.480 Okay, we're not going to let you just skip over that. 0:08:46.559 --> 0:08:50.800 We want to know. We want to know who's doing 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:53.240 the best over the last five years or so. Who 0:08:53.240 --> 0:08:54.880 are there? Who are the couple that stand out? 0:08:54.920 --> 0:08:57.280 Do you think, as I sort of said before, it 0:08:57.320 --> 0:09:00.320 depends how spicy you want your your investments. So there's 0:09:00.360 --> 0:09:03.880 different what they call risk profiles for those people that 0:09:04.040 --> 0:09:06.160 were saying, look, this is long term money, I can 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:09.240 ride out some ups and downs. You'll typically put in something. 0:09:09.280 --> 0:09:12.080 They've all got really silly names like Ambitious or a 0:09:12.200 --> 0:09:16.000 grill or adventurers, but that just means you're all in 0:09:16.040 --> 0:09:19.400 the sort of shares rather than anything more more cash. 0:09:19.600 --> 0:09:23.200 Like now, if we look at that risk profile, actually 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:27.480 groups that have done well, and that'springked mind, are HSBC, 0:09:27.920 --> 0:09:32.800 in Pact, money Box, aj BELL have done well because 0:09:32.840 --> 0:09:38.360 they've typically common denominator tended to have more money allocated 0:09:38.440 --> 0:09:42.920 to the US than to other markets, and that's typically 0:09:43.000 --> 0:09:47.440 been mods driven returns. But also if we look back 0:09:47.520 --> 0:09:51.480 over the last few years, you'll recall, you know, the 0:09:51.600 --> 0:09:55.319 hiatus we had with Liz Truss is not so many 0:09:55.400 --> 0:09:59.240 mini budget when the bond markets sort of behave really 0:09:59.280 --> 0:10:04.920 abnormally and did weird things. What actually happened then is 0:10:04.960 --> 0:10:10.280 that the so called low risk stuff did really badly 0:10:10.679 --> 0:10:13.640 because bonds didn't behave as they were supposed to. They 0:10:13.679 --> 0:10:16.880 weren't being the safe, goody goodies in the portfolios, so 0:10:16.960 --> 0:10:20.040 they had a bit of a hiatus. And what that 0:10:20.200 --> 0:10:23.560 meant is that some people who picked a low risk 0:10:23.640 --> 0:10:27.920 option got a really nasty shock. And luckily some of 0:10:27.960 --> 0:10:31.800 the banks and banks hate risk, so there's loads of 0:10:31.840 --> 0:10:34.480 compliance people that are running around in banks going don't 0:10:34.480 --> 0:10:37.440 do anything naughty, don't do anything risky, so they're lower 0:10:37.520 --> 0:10:41.840 risk portfolios ten to sort of load up on the 0:10:41.920 --> 0:10:45.720 things that went really nuts during Liz Trust's mini budget, 0:10:45.840 --> 0:10:49.400 like government bonds and things. So you've actually had a 0:10:49.440 --> 0:10:54.760 period where groups that were very, very cautious didn't do 0:10:54.920 --> 0:10:57.720 particularly well. So some of the banks in particular have 0:10:57.840 --> 0:11:01.520 had sort of bad performance periods over the last two years. 0:11:03.000 --> 0:11:05.520 I mean, I hope that answers your question. There are 0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:07.000 some groups that do better. 0:11:07.760 --> 0:11:10.560 Something you just said Erelow I think is also really interesting, 0:11:10.600 --> 0:11:17.280 the point about the slightly I guess intellectually mechanical way 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:20.400 that the risk set up is put together so that 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:24.520 boinds are saying as low risk and shares are saying 0:11:24.559 --> 0:11:28.680 as high risk, and that is historically a reasonable assumption, 0:11:29.360 --> 0:11:33.040 but sometimes things do go pair shaped and at the 0:11:33.080 --> 0:11:36.280 moment also we've also kind of left a forty year 0:11:37.040 --> 0:11:40.320 bond bull market and actually now boinds are causing quite 0:11:40.320 --> 0:11:44.920 a lot of trouble in markets generally. I know that 0:11:45.360 --> 0:11:48.240 obviously this is a podcast for beginners. But I think 0:11:48.320 --> 0:11:50.520 is that maybe a reason for people to also just 0:11:50.640 --> 0:11:53.960 be a little bit cautious whenever and to understand that 0:11:54.000 --> 0:11:57.160 these definitions are are don't necessarily mean you can't lose 0:11:57.200 --> 0:11:59.680 money even if you are invested in the low risk 0:12:00.080 --> 0:12:01.040 say the things. 0:12:01.200 --> 0:12:06.319 I might be a bit controversial here for DILI investors 0:12:06.679 --> 0:12:12.400 who pick a low risk option, it is often because 0:12:12.440 --> 0:12:16.360 people have just got the hebgb's about investing, rather than 0:12:17.000 --> 0:12:22.160 people sort of taking a measured view on volatility. And actually, 0:12:22.480 --> 0:12:25.280 I think for anyone with a timeframe of less than 0:12:25.480 --> 0:12:29.800 three years, if you look at where interest rates are today, 0:12:31.000 --> 0:12:33.240 I can't think why you'd invest in a low risk 0:12:33.280 --> 0:12:35.960 sort of I SUP portfolio rather than in a really 0:12:36.040 --> 0:12:39.120 decent pain cash kind of basis. You can still get 0:12:39.640 --> 0:12:42.440 you four point seventy five percent istion the sort of 0:12:42.520 --> 0:12:47.640 top paying easy access accounts. That's pretty good, right. So 0:12:47.920 --> 0:12:52.400 for me, especially given the volatility of recent years, I 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:57.080 personally question why you're a beginner and you're looking to 0:12:57.120 --> 0:12:59.400 make your money work hard, but you've got that time 0:12:59.480 --> 0:13:03.520 frame of two to three years. Interest rates are so 0:13:03.640 --> 0:13:07.719 high at the moment relatively speaking, and looking at the 0:13:07.840 --> 0:13:10.720 hiatus that we've had in their bomb markets and sort 0:13:10.720 --> 0:13:15.800 of inflation still uncertain for me. I think robo advisors 0:13:15.800 --> 0:13:18.640 and these ready made options really come into their own 0:13:19.000 --> 0:13:21.640 for people with time frames of five years or more, 0:13:22.120 --> 0:13:24.959 in which case we should be looking at at least 0:13:25.040 --> 0:13:27.560 you know, if there's five options, at least actions three, 0:13:27.720 --> 0:13:28.400 four or five. 0:13:29.240 --> 0:13:31.920 Yeah, So basically it comes don't risk actually been in 0:13:31.960 --> 0:13:36.040 a functioning time frame rather than your own level of 0:13:36.280 --> 0:13:38.280 fear or not about investing. 0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:41.920 Is there is there one of the robo advisors in 0:13:41.960 --> 0:13:45.880 your mind that stands out as having the correct mix 0:13:46.080 --> 0:13:49.040 of low fees and good performance and not asking you 0:13:49.080 --> 0:13:52.280 to actively recommend one in particular, But is there one 0:13:52.280 --> 0:13:55.560 that over the last say, five to seven years, has 0:13:55.600 --> 0:13:56.920 shown that that mix. 0:13:57.679 --> 0:14:00.959 Here's an interesting point. I think the row advisors got 0:14:01.000 --> 0:14:04.000 all the press. It sort of came to sort of fame, 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:05.560 well fame in my world. 0:14:06.280 --> 0:14:10.000 We're all these, you know, for being the disruptors. They've 0:14:10.000 --> 0:14:14.080 got better apps, they slicker, they're shiny, and they're better 0:14:14.160 --> 0:14:18.959 to use. But if you're after a low cost there. 0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:20.600 Are other ways, and we can come on to talk 0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:23.080 about this that will be lower costs. If you look 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:26.160 at the robo advisors, They are not the cheapest way 0:14:26.240 --> 0:14:30.960 to get that ready meal. You're actually better off buying 0:14:31.200 --> 0:14:34.440 what it's called a multi asset fund from a big 0:14:34.520 --> 0:14:37.120 name like a Vanguard or a black Rock on one 0:14:37.160 --> 0:14:40.720 of the traditional platforms and having it there. That will 0:14:40.800 --> 0:14:45.400 cost you probably half or sort of two thirds of 0:14:45.440 --> 0:14:48.320 what you would pay a robo advisor. So actually, a 0:14:48.320 --> 0:14:51.240 really important point here is it comes down to what 0:14:51.320 --> 0:14:55.080 do people value. Some people might say, actually, I like 0:14:55.160 --> 0:14:56.880 the idea of an app, I like the idea of 0:14:56.880 --> 0:14:59.720 getting good articles. I like the idea of being in touch. 0:15:00.160 --> 0:15:03.400 Mind paying a wee bit more for that. But if 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:07.880 you're someone that wants rock bottom, listen to the next 0:15:07.920 --> 0:15:10.720 bit of the podcast when we talk about the auditional platforms, 0:15:10.760 --> 0:15:13.360 because they might be a bit less sexy, you know, 0:15:13.440 --> 0:15:15.400 in their sort of tech and how they sort of 0:15:15.440 --> 0:15:19.320 deliver stuff to you, but they will be cheaper than 0:15:19.360 --> 0:15:22.840 a robo advisor. If we had to look at. 0:15:22.720 --> 0:15:23.760 The robo advisors. 0:15:23.760 --> 0:15:26.960 To your question, we're just in the middle of doing 0:15:27.000 --> 0:15:29.640 our annual kind of best buys and sort of digging 0:15:29.680 --> 0:15:33.800 around behind the scenes. If you bount with monso you know, 0:15:33.840 --> 0:15:37.200 their ux and their sort of solution is pretty good, 0:15:38.080 --> 0:15:42.360 not mega being around for the longest they remain competitive. 0:15:42.440 --> 0:15:46.280 They remain good. If you have pensions you want to consolidate, 0:15:46.480 --> 0:15:49.280 pension b are good. But they are not the cheapest 0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:52.080 you know there, And so I think it's up to 0:15:52.200 --> 0:15:55.040 people to be clear on what they want. How much 0:15:55.080 --> 0:15:57.160 do they want the app and the service and all 0:15:57.200 --> 0:15:59.640 of the bells and whistles, or how much do they 0:15:59.680 --> 0:16:00.840 want them lowest cost? 0:16:01.360 --> 0:16:02.880 Okay, brilliant, thank you. 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:05.840 Right, let's move on then to the traditional platforms or 0:16:05.880 --> 0:16:08.040 the platforms that might be more more DIY. 0:16:09.000 --> 0:16:12.400 So I think with these platforms, cost is a really 0:16:12.440 --> 0:16:19.200 sort of fundamental part of it. Comparing cost is not straightforward. Now, 0:16:19.440 --> 0:16:21.920 some of your listeners will have heard of Hard Greaves Landsdown. 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:25.680 They're the biggest platform in the UK by some way. 0:16:26.400 --> 0:16:30.600 They are renowned for being pretty expensive. They cost zero 0:16:30.600 --> 0:16:34.120 point four five percent for funds that you hold on 0:16:34.400 --> 0:16:39.320 that platform. However, and here's the cat if you only 0:16:39.400 --> 0:16:44.560 hold shares or exchange traded funds or investment trusts, there's 0:16:44.600 --> 0:16:47.680 a cap on an ISA there of forty five pounds 0:16:47.720 --> 0:16:51.480 a year. So actually, this platform, which kind of has 0:16:51.480 --> 0:16:55.720 a reputation for being expensive, if you only use exchange 0:16:55.760 --> 0:17:00.400 traded funds and shares, for example, they are fantastic value. 0:17:00.960 --> 0:17:03.720 So I think what, unfortunately I for your list as 0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:06.800 they need to do is be quite specific when looking 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:10.560 at the costs about what sort of investments they've got 0:17:11.040 --> 0:17:15.720 in this platform, how often they're likely to trade, because 0:17:15.760 --> 0:17:19.240 some platforms will charge about ten quid a trade, others 0:17:19.320 --> 0:17:22.680 might charge nearer a pound if you do it as 0:17:22.720 --> 0:17:26.359 part of a regular investing program. So people need to 0:17:26.480 --> 0:17:30.840 kind of be quite specific about what their portfolio looks 0:17:30.960 --> 0:17:34.199 like and go and work out the fees. This is 0:17:34.240 --> 0:17:37.440 of course a very boring headbanging exercise to do. Or 0:17:37.680 --> 0:17:42.080 do have a price calculator on our website that we've 0:17:42.119 --> 0:17:45.440 built for people which will give them you can put 0:17:45.480 --> 0:17:47.600 in how much you've got and we'll sort of tell 0:17:47.600 --> 0:17:49.399 you what the fees and charges will be. 0:17:49.720 --> 0:17:52.080 Do you need to pay to use that calculator, Harlie, No, 0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:53.280 you don't do. 0:17:53.359 --> 0:17:56.280 Any of them stand out in terms of like I 0:17:56.280 --> 0:18:00.000 suppose if you're it's that I can a base platform 0:18:00.200 --> 0:18:03.360 for someone who actually does quite a lot of shit 0:18:03.480 --> 0:18:06.879 trade and on this aide, but has a kind of 0:18:07.119 --> 0:18:08.840 bored in portfolio setting there. 0:18:09.520 --> 0:18:11.399 Okay, I mean I think with this you can just 0:18:11.400 --> 0:18:14.640 sort of throw scenarios at me because it is of course, 0:18:14.680 --> 0:18:19.439 it depends what range of stuff you want to trade. 0:18:19.480 --> 0:18:21.960 So if you want to read quite a broad range 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:25.480 of things and you want to include, say, for example, 0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:30.359 international shares, then something like an interactive or an aj 0:18:30.560 --> 0:18:36.520 bell are pretty good options. Also, Saxo have have some 0:18:36.600 --> 0:18:39.000 new sort of starter deals with people who want to 0:18:39.040 --> 0:18:44.959 trade sort of US equities, which is quite interesting. At 0:18:45.000 --> 0:18:46.879 the other end of the spectrum, if you have people 0:18:46.920 --> 0:18:50.719 sort of starting out with an ISA, don't particularly have 0:18:50.800 --> 0:18:53.639 sort of large amounts, want to learn, want a decent 0:18:53.800 --> 0:18:58.960 app Trading to one two doesn't charge people for holding 0:18:59.359 --> 0:19:03.160 an ISO, so that can be interesting. As I mentioned, 0:19:03.200 --> 0:19:07.919 if you have just exchange traded funds or shares or 0:19:07.960 --> 0:19:12.440 investment trusts and you've got quite a large portfolio, I 0:19:12.520 --> 0:19:15.879 actually think the hard Greaves landsdown are brilliant value. You know, 0:19:15.960 --> 0:19:21.240 they are expensive if you have funds in your portfolio, 0:19:21.320 --> 0:19:23.560 as I've sort of mentioned, but if you've just got 0:19:23.600 --> 0:19:30.000 those what's called listed securities, they're fantastic value. And their service, 0:19:30.119 --> 0:19:33.960 for example, is typically good. When you phone someone up, 0:19:34.440 --> 0:19:36.960 you get through quite quickly and you speak to a 0:19:37.119 --> 0:19:40.640 sort of you know, typically polite young growd from brittel 0:19:40.800 --> 0:19:43.080 Uni who seems to know what they're on about, and 0:19:43.600 --> 0:19:46.280 you know, so it's really worse. I think people being 0:19:46.400 --> 0:19:50.000 clear on do I want the lowest charges, how much 0:19:50.000 --> 0:19:53.080 do I want a human being to talk to, or 0:19:53.119 --> 0:19:55.880 how much do I want to sort of a nice app? 0:19:56.040 --> 0:19:59.400 Those are the things that I think will drive people's decisions. 0:20:00.000 --> 0:20:02.280 A lot of our listeners will be investment trust investors, 0:20:02.920 --> 0:20:05.640 so higris Land would make sense for LAMB. The only 0:20:05.640 --> 0:20:07.280 thing I find with their website is it can be 0:20:07.359 --> 0:20:09.080 quite difficult to analyze your portfolio. 0:20:09.600 --> 0:20:13.399 I find not too bad for research. What I find 0:20:13.440 --> 0:20:15.800 behind the scenes more and is it quite often will 0:20:15.840 --> 0:20:18.439 break down. These platforms can look really shiny, can't they 0:20:18.480 --> 0:20:21.000 When you go onto the public site and it all 0:20:21.040 --> 0:20:24.520 looks lovely. Then sometimes you become a customer and you 0:20:24.560 --> 0:20:27.240 get into their secure site and you feel that you've 0:20:27.280 --> 0:20:31.200 stepped into a different world. I often there's a disconnect 0:20:31.280 --> 0:20:35.400 between wanting to find out about stuff and research it 0:20:35.840 --> 0:20:37.280 and do something I e. 0:20:37.520 --> 0:20:38.040 Buy it. 0:20:38.520 --> 0:20:43.840 I personally find har Grease relatively good there. I think 0:20:44.119 --> 0:20:48.320 Aged Bell are also strong on that. I think interactive 0:20:48.400 --> 0:20:54.000 investor have got a lot better, really interesting insights, not 0:20:54.200 --> 0:20:58.880 just for investment trusts and shares, but also for funds. 0:20:59.119 --> 0:21:02.280 So I still find those guys are typically better than 0:21:02.320 --> 0:21:03.880 some of the newer. 0:21:05.160 --> 0:21:06.480 Kind of wanna be you. 0:21:06.400 --> 0:21:09.439 Know, a competitors, sort of a rising up through the 0:21:09.560 --> 0:21:11.240 ranks in terms of research. 0:21:11.680 --> 0:21:13.520 And I suppose the other thing we should say about 0:21:13.560 --> 0:21:17.040 these big platforms particularly relevant at the moment with and 0:21:17.119 --> 0:21:19.440 again we'll have a podcast later in the week about 0:21:19.520 --> 0:21:23.679 investment trusts and the saber activist intrusion into the gentle 0:21:23.680 --> 0:21:26.399 world of UK investment trust But one of the interesting 0:21:26.400 --> 0:21:29.320 things about the platforms is how they've worked very hard 0:21:29.320 --> 0:21:31.600 to make it easy for you to vote on your shares, 0:21:31.640 --> 0:21:33.080 and we think that's quite important. 0:21:33.320 --> 0:21:35.640 The easier it did, the better. 0:21:35.920 --> 0:21:38.080 It is, Merron. I mean, there's still a really long 0:21:38.119 --> 0:21:40.240 way to go in terms of the tech, isn't there. 0:21:40.320 --> 0:21:44.000 It's still now as easy and whereas it should be. 0:21:45.040 --> 0:21:48.400