'The prize fund rate on Premium Bonds will also increase by 0.25 percentage points to 1.40% and the odds will improve from 30,000 to one to 24,500 to one.
The number of prizes paid out each month will increase from 2.3 million to around 2.9 million - the highest number of prizes in any monthly Premium Bonds prize draw to date, NS&I said.
The changes will come into effect from the December 2017 draw.
The shake-up means that in December there will be an estimated four £100,000 prizes, up from three in November, and around nine £50,000 prizes, up from five.
There will be an estimated 18 prizes of £25,000 in December, up from 12 in November, around 42 £10,000 prizes, up from 28, and around 87 £5,000 prizes, up from 57.
The number of £1 million prizes will remain the same, at two, according to NS&I's estimates.'
The returns on this look quite good - and seems a sensible way to dabble in the property market - without the expense or risk of buying your own buy-to-let properties. Has anyone any experience of these or any recommendations - good or bad? https://propertypartner.co/.
'The prize fund rate on Premium Bonds will also increase by 0.25 percentage points to 1.40% and the odds will improve from 30,000 to one to 24,500 to one.
The number of prizes paid out each month will increase from 2.3 million to around 2.9 million - the highest number of prizes in any monthly Premium Bonds prize draw to date, NS&I said.
The changes will come into effect from the December 2017 draw.
The shake-up means that in December there will be an estimated four £100,000 prizes, up from three in November, and around nine £50,000 prizes, up from five.
There will be an estimated 18 prizes of £25,000 in December, up from 12 in November, around 42 £10,000 prizes, up from 28, and around 87 £5,000 prizes, up from 57.
The number of £1 million prizes will remain the same, at two, according to NS&I's estimates.'
Music to my ears having topped up to the maximum x4 this month in time for December.
The returns on this look quite good - and seems a sensible way to dabble in the property market - without the expense or risk of buying your own buy-to-let properties. Has anyone any experience of these or any recommendations - good or bad? https://propertypartner.co/.
theres loads of these cropping up now, returns aren't great and you are relying on capital growth (and 100% rental collection). Don't think I would.....
The returns on this look quite good - and seems a sensible way to dabble in the property market - without the expense or risk of buying your own buy-to-let properties. Has anyone any experience of these or any recommendations - good or bad? https://propertypartner.co/.
An interesting read, thank you. A complex scheme much of which is well over my head! But a few comments/questions.
Property Partner's real name is The London House Exchange Ltd. It is authorised by the FCA but interestingly its web site says the FSCS does not apply. That got me thinking. In the normal course of events you'd be acquiring units in an investment vehicle that "owned" the properties and, of which, you'd have percentage of all properties. But that would make it a collective investment scheme and thus the FSCS would apply.
So, I looked further. It seems that a separate company is set up for each property acquired and the company owns that property. You, as investor, buy shares in the company. Not a portion of the house itself. Of course, the company would be unlisted and as such potentially shareholdings in it would be illiquid. Particularly if the umbrella investment vehicle should itself have financial issues that meant that their facilities were no longer available to broker a matched buy/sell arrangement.
So, my interpretation, which might be wrong, is that a product such as this is unlikely to met your desire to have a degree of mitigation of risk. You could spread the risk by acquiring a very small shareholding in a number of the companies set up but what if there is a reduction in capital values generally - as currently seems to be happening in the residential market? In addition you need to read what the arranger says about gearing.
The relative complexity of the arrangements presumably layers on the various management fees and charges that apply?
The yield seems reasonable rather than great and variable. And it's not much different from what you'd get with a mainstream REIT investing in commercial real estate, for example.
'The prize fund rate on Premium Bonds will also increase by 0.25 percentage points to 1.40% and the odds will improve from 30,000 to one to 24,500 to one.
The number of prizes paid out each month will increase from 2.3 million to around 2.9 million - the highest number of prizes in any monthly Premium Bonds prize draw to date, NS&I said.
The changes will come into effect from the December 2017 draw.
The shake-up means that in December there will be an estimated four £100,000 prizes, up from three in November, and around nine £50,000 prizes, up from five.
There will be an estimated 18 prizes of £25,000 in December, up from 12 in November, around 42 £10,000 prizes, up from 28, and around 87 £5,000 prizes, up from 57.
The number of £1 million prizes will remain the same, at two, according to NS&I's estimates.'
Music to my ears having topped up to the maximum x4 this month in time for December.
Lucky you. Presumably you are registered online and have all the details updated. Because I am here to tell you that for those of us who might have forgotten their password and then find that they were also supposed to have a 'security phone number" you enter a nightmare world from the 1990s where they will get round to sending you a temporary password by post, and then you will call them back, and then they will connect you to somebody else who will ask you to select a new password. On the phone.
That's an hour of my life this evening I won't get back, and they are going to steal another.
And then there is the ridiculous form i still have to fill in regarding my late Mum's holdings.
'The prize fund rate on Premium Bonds will also increase by 0.25 percentage points to 1.40% and the odds will improve from 30,000 to one to 24,500 to one.
The number of prizes paid out each month will increase from 2.3 million to around 2.9 million - the highest number of prizes in any monthly Premium Bonds prize draw to date, NS&I said.
The changes will come into effect from the December 2017 draw.
The shake-up means that in December there will be an estimated four £100,000 prizes, up from three in November, and around nine £50,000 prizes, up from five.
There will be an estimated 18 prizes of £25,000 in December, up from 12 in November, around 42 £10,000 prizes, up from 28, and around 87 £5,000 prizes, up from 57.
The number of £1 million prizes will remain the same, at two, according to NS&I's estimates.'
Music to my ears having topped up to the maximum x4 this month in time for December.
Lucky you. Presumably you are registered online and have all the details updated. Because I am here to tell you that for those of us who might have forgotten their password and then find that they were also supposed to have a 'security phone number" you enter a nightmare world from the 1990s where they will get round to sending you a temporary password by post, and then you will call them back, and then they will connect you to somebody else who will ask you to select a new password. On the phone.
That's an hour of my life this evening I won't get back, and they are going to steal another.
And then there is the ridiculous form i still have to fill in regarding my late Mum's holdings.
Granny bonds, granny tech system.
Grrrr.
Lol, having recently set my wife up on NS&I I feel your pain. She couldn't register as apparently she had bonds already (not that she knew, seems they were bought in 1957! She's not that old by the way.......), so they couldn't do anything without her bond holders number (which she did't know) - nor would they tell her it! So fill out some form that they'll only send you by post and takes 3 weeks to arrive, fill it in and hey presto 2 weeks later we know her bond holder number. Then, still unable to register they send her a temporary password which takes only 5 days............
It's just holding some house sale proceeds for a while until I sort it all out.
Don't forget you can leave in any premiums bonds your late mother may have had for a while (think it's 6 months)
The returns on this look quite good - and seems a sensible way to dabble in the property market - without the expense or risk of buying your own buy-to-let properties. Has anyone any experience of these or any recommendations - good or bad? https://propertypartner.co/.
An interesting read, thank you. A complex scheme much of which is well over my head! But a few comments/questions.
Property Partner's real name is The London House Exchange Ltd. It is authorised by the FCA but interestingly its web site says the FSCS does not apply. That got me thinking. In the normal course of events you'd be acquiring units in an investment vehicle that "owned" the properties and, of which, you'd have percentage of all properties. But that would make it a collective investment scheme and thus the FSCS would apply.
So, I looked further. It seems that a separate company is set up for each property acquired and the company owns that property. You, as investor, buy shares in the company. Not a portion of the house itself. Of course, the company would be unlisted and as such potentially shareholdings in it would be illiquid. Particularly if the umbrella investment vehicle should itself have financial issues that meant that their facilities were no longer available to broker a matched buy/sell arrangement.
So, my interpretation, which might be wrong, is that a product such as this is unlikely to met your desire to have a degree of mitigation of risk. You could spread the risk by acquiring a very small shareholding in a number of the companies set up but what if there is a reduction in capital values generally - as currently seems to be happening in the residential market? In addition you need to read what the arranger says about gearing.
The relative complexity of the arrangements presumably layers on the various management fees and charges that apply?
The yield seems reasonable rather than great and variable. And it's not much different from what you'd get with a mainstream REIT investing in commercial real estate, for example.
Thanks for the explanation of how it works. Sounds quite complex and probably a fair level of risk as house markets appear to be declining in some parts of the country. Think I will look again at REITs.
The returns on this look quite good - and seems a sensible way to dabble in the property market - without the expense or risk of buying your own buy-to-let properties. Has anyone any experience of these or any recommendations - good or bad? https://propertypartner.co/.
Returns will be comparable to you buying a house to rent yourself. The returns are reduced by the maintenance costs/management charges, and in theory ought to be comparable to what you would have incurred yourself anyway. But you would shop around for the best price for management services and conveyancing etc, but this scheme gives no assurance that the estate agents, lawyers and management agencies are not all on sweet deals that eat into returns.
Central attraction is the ability to invest in property with small investments, so has merit if you are convinced that this market is where you want to be. Problem is a small investment in one property is not a diversified investment so is risky compared to the same amount being invested in say a conventional diversified equity fund which historically gives similar returns, albeit over different cycles. So you should diversify, but this means you need a bigger overall investment, so defeating the main advantage.
Most professional property investing is in commercial property. Almost invariably they are commercial properties selected on the quality of the lease and a focus on yields. Private rentals eat up far more of your rental income in costs because you the owner, not the tenant, pays for fixing the roof etc. Commercial leases will be on a repair and maintenance basis where the tenant has to fix the roof and keep it in good order. Rental yields for this reason have been 50% higher for commercial property over recent years compared to residential properties. Residential investment is all about relying on capital growth to provide a large proportion of total return.
For this reason I would not invest in private property unless i was happy to take the risk of property price bubbles collapsing. If that happens your total yield will fall dramatically and it would look an expensive investment.
So Standard life merger, are the shares likely to climb in value now its gone through?
Well, brokers seem to think so with a general consensus being a "strong buy". I have my doubts. I made a bad mistake buying into Aberdeen on the basis that they'd be a takeover target but their performance was so bad in the meantime that I'm still sitting on a loss post-merger! There will be cost savings but I read that there have been significant outflows from Standard's big fund because of poor stock-picking, that must impact income. IMO, the cost savings need to come from the Aberdeen side in the main and it's right, I think, that Standard has shifted into asset management and away from insurance business. The strong dividend yield will also underpin the share price. But I reckon there's a lot to be sorted and it could be a long haul. The average brokers' target price is about £5 from the current £4.25. If it gets there, I'm out.
Markets tanking today on fears of a trade war. That was coming, they have been going sideways since the last dip, so I was wondering if we have in fact already entered a bear market, or at least very modest capital returns in equity markets.
Commentators have already written about adopting a more "defensive" strategy. So my question is, what does such a strategy look like, in 2018, what do you invest in? Traditionally the answer has been bonds, but I have never understood well the bond market.
Markets tanking today on fears of a trade war. That was coming, they have been going sideways since the last dip, so I was wondering if we have in fact already entered a bear market, or at least very modest capital returns in equity markets.
Commentators have already written about adopting a more "defensive" strategy. So my question is, what does such a strategy look like, in 2018, what do you invest in? Traditionally the answer has been bonds, but I have never understood well the bond market.
I have some sympathy with Trump re China. Well, a lot of sympathy actually. China take the piss and just don't care about intellectual property rights. They need a slap.
Here's a picture of a car:
Land Rover product, right? Well no, it's a Landwind X7.
Markets tanking today on fears of a trade war. That was coming, they have been going sideways since the last dip, so I was wondering if we have in fact already entered a bear market, or at least very modest capital returns in equity markets.
Commentators have already written about adopting a more "defensive" strategy. So my question is, what does such a strategy look like, in 2018, what do you invest in? Traditionally the answer has been bonds, but I have never understood well the bond market.
The semantics are not very relevant but the broadly accepted definition of a bear market is a >20% fall from market highs so we have a long way to go before reaching those levels - however if you place any value on market technicals then the charts of most of the broad indices are beginning to break down quite markedly.
However unlike the period leading up to the financial crisis, the key global economic hubs (broadly US, Europe, Japan, China and Emerging Markets) are at different points in their cycles (and their equity markets in turn at different valuations eg. only the US is obviously 'late cycle') so the case for remaining long equities is quite robust for me, albeit with a focus on picking the right spots. High-quality European equities can be bought at around 14x P/E (ie. a 7% earnings yield) which does not seem at all outlandish even with concerns over Brexit, Italy etc. Likewise if you can stomach it there are plenty of Emerging Markets trading at attractive levels (eg. Russia at 5x P/E!).
In terms of a defensive strategy, traditionally this suggested a substantial weighting to bonds but the case for doing so this time around seems very weak to me with interest rates so low and most central banks clearly on a tightening footing - if you threw some inflation fears into the mix (commodity prices are rallying) then bonds would be the last asset you'd want to own unless it was the inflation-protected kind (notable that gold seems to be holding up despite higher global interest rates which bodes well for that particular asset). The ultimate defensive asset is of course cash and certainly not one to shy away from as it gives immediate dry powder to put to work at more favourable levels - of course even here one takes currency risk though.
I agree that UK premium bonds are a perfectly good savings vehicle especially when regular bank interest rates are so low - why not own a fully capital-protected bond offering a tiny chance of an outsized return (as opposed to a regular savings account which guarantees the near-zero return you'll also likely make in premium bonds)?
To the extent you care, my own portfolio is currently invested as follows: 12% developed market equities (UK/US/Europe), 14% emerging market equities, 19% high-risk equities (including EIS, AIM-listed etc.), 17% absolute return funds/hedge funds, 6% gold/commodities and 32% cash (ie. zero in bonds).
@cafcfan Could you tidy up that post, please? And show us the photo of the Landwind? :-)
Then tell us how your investments will be shielded from the global recession that this clown is forcing upon us all. You are absolutely right about their abuse of IPR. So then the thing to do is build a global consensus on how to protect IPR, surely?
@LargeAddick Indeed at 1.4% Premium bonds seem to be the best place for a cash deposit right now.
My £500 punt on Ethereum went up to £690 within 2 weeks. And is now worth....£239!! Still, was only a "toe in the water", will just sit tight. Premium bonds not great but ticking over - theres always next month!
My £500 punt on Ethereum went up to £690 within 2 weeks. And is now worth....£239!! Still, was only a "toe in the water", will just sit tight. Premium bonds not great but ticking over - theres always next month!
Similar for me mate, although most of my £500 punt went mainnly to Vechain. Just hold, see what happens, learn from it.
I took a different line on the blockchain potential, invested in Polar Capital Tech Fund on the basis that it invests in the big tech companies that are getting into blockchain tech and its uses. Was doing very well, some 8% up in six weeks or so until the weekend, when my newspaper of choice broke the Cambridge Analytica story. PCTF of course holds Facebook and the other big social media players. Tanking...
My partner and I are about to complete a house sale and will need to park about £300k for 12-18 months whilst we sort out a move to the west country (the dates are up in the air as we need to sell the main family house as well). Does anyone have any thoughts as to where we should put the cash other than splitting it between government backed savings accounts?
My partner and I are about to complete a house sale and will need to park about £300k for 12-18 months whilst we sort out a move to the west country (the dates are up in the air as we need to sell the main family house as well). Does anyone have any thoughts as to where we should put the cash other than splitting it between government backed savings accounts?
Similar issue for my brother sister and I re the estate of our late Mum. So I am maxing out the Premium Bonds £50k because at 1.4% you beat the rate of virtually any other instant access cash account. And it seems that with the max. investment you are most likely to at least get your 1.4%, and maybe something more.
Bank bond accounts for that period of time don't offer much more than 1.4%. if you check Money Saving Expert or Which they list the best deals.
My partner and I are about to complete a house sale and will need to park about £300k for 12-18 months whilst we sort out a move to the west country (the dates are up in the air as we need to sell the main family house as well). Does anyone have any thoughts as to where we should put the cash other than splitting it between government backed savings accounts?
Well it just so happens I have come into some magical beans and they are currently on offer for just £299,500.....instant message me if you are interested ;-)
Comments
Heads or tails :-)
https://www.brewdog.com/equityforpunks?referred_by=R528703
'The prize fund rate on Premium Bonds will also increase by 0.25 percentage points to 1.40% and the odds will improve from 30,000 to one to 24,500 to one.
The number of prizes paid out each month will increase from 2.3 million to around 2.9 million - the highest number of prizes in any monthly Premium Bonds prize draw to date, NS&I said.
The changes will come into effect from the December 2017 draw.
The shake-up means that in December there will be an estimated four £100,000 prizes, up from three in November, and around nine £50,000 prizes, up from five.
There will be an estimated 18 prizes of £25,000 in December, up from 12 in November, around 42 £10,000 prizes, up from 28, and around 87 £5,000 prizes, up from 57.
The number of £1 million prizes will remain the same, at two, according to NS&I's estimates.'
Property Partner's real name is The London House Exchange Ltd. It is authorised by the FCA but interestingly its web site says the FSCS does not apply. That got me thinking. In the normal course of events you'd be acquiring units in an investment vehicle that "owned" the properties and, of which, you'd have percentage of all properties. But that would make it a collective investment scheme and thus the FSCS would apply.
So, I looked further. It seems that a separate company is set up for each property acquired and the company owns that property. You, as investor, buy shares in the company. Not a portion of the house itself. Of course, the company would be unlisted and as such potentially shareholdings in it would be illiquid. Particularly if the umbrella investment vehicle should itself have financial issues that meant that their facilities were no longer available to broker a matched buy/sell arrangement.
So, my interpretation, which might be wrong, is that a product such as this is unlikely to met your desire to have a degree of mitigation of risk. You could spread the risk by acquiring a very small shareholding in a number of the companies set up but what if there is a reduction in capital values generally - as currently seems to be happening in the residential market? In addition you need to read what the arranger says about gearing.
The relative complexity of the arrangements presumably layers on the various management fees and charges that apply?
The yield seems reasonable rather than great and variable. And it's not much different from what you'd get with a mainstream REIT investing in commercial real estate, for example.
If exposure to property is tempting, my personal preference would be to go with a REIT. Without specific recommendation, although I've got shares in the company, I attached a link to a research note for one of my favourites, Primary Health Properties hardmanandco.com/docs/default-source/company-docs/primary-health-properties-documents/september-2017-investor-forum-note.pdf. It has an unbroken record of dividend growth and steady, if not spectacular capital growth.
That's an hour of my life this evening I won't get back, and they are going to steal another.
And then there is the ridiculous form i still have to fill in regarding my late Mum's holdings.
Granny bonds, granny tech system.
Grrrr.
It's just holding some house sale proceeds for a while until I sort it all out.
Don't forget you can leave in any premiums bonds your late mother may have had for a while (think it's 6 months)
Central attraction is the ability to invest in property with small investments, so has merit if you are convinced that this market is where you want to be. Problem is a small investment in one property is not a diversified investment so is risky compared to the same amount being invested in say a conventional diversified equity fund which historically gives similar returns, albeit over different cycles. So you should diversify, but this means you need a bigger overall investment, so defeating the main advantage.
Most professional property investing is in commercial property. Almost invariably they are commercial properties selected on the quality of the lease and a focus on yields. Private rentals eat up far more of your rental income in costs because you the owner, not the tenant, pays for fixing the roof etc. Commercial leases will be on a repair and maintenance basis where the tenant has to fix the roof and keep it in good order. Rental yields for this reason have been 50% higher for commercial property over recent years compared to residential properties. Residential investment is all about relying on capital growth to provide a large proportion of total return.
For this reason I would not invest in private property unless i was happy to take the risk of property price bubbles collapsing. If that happens your total yield will fall dramatically and it would look an expensive investment.
Commentators have already written about adopting a more "defensive" strategy. So my question is, what does such a strategy look like, in 2018, what do you invest in? Traditionally the answer has been bonds, but I have never understood well the bond market.
Here's a picture of a car:
Land Rover product, right? Well no, it's a Landwind X7.
However unlike the period leading up to the financial crisis, the key global economic hubs (broadly US, Europe, Japan, China and Emerging Markets) are at different points in their cycles (and their equity markets in turn at different valuations eg. only the US is obviously 'late cycle') so the case for remaining long equities is quite robust for me, albeit with a focus on picking the right spots. High-quality European equities can be bought at around 14x P/E (ie. a 7% earnings yield) which does not seem at all outlandish even with concerns over Brexit, Italy etc. Likewise if you can stomach it there are plenty of Emerging Markets trading at attractive levels (eg. Russia at 5x P/E!).
In terms of a defensive strategy, traditionally this suggested a substantial weighting to bonds but the case for doing so this time around seems very weak to me with interest rates so low and most central banks clearly on a tightening footing - if you threw some inflation fears into the mix (commodity prices are rallying) then bonds would be the last asset you'd want to own unless it was the inflation-protected kind (notable that gold seems to be holding up despite higher global interest rates which bodes well for that particular asset). The ultimate defensive asset is of course cash and certainly not one to shy away from as it gives immediate dry powder to put to work at more favourable levels - of course even here one takes currency risk though.
I agree that UK premium bonds are a perfectly good savings vehicle especially when regular bank interest rates are so low - why not own a fully capital-protected bond offering a tiny chance of an outsized return (as opposed to a regular savings account which guarantees the near-zero return you'll also likely make in premium bonds)?
To the extent you care, my own portfolio is currently invested as follows: 12% developed market equities (UK/US/Europe), 14% emerging market equities, 19% high-risk equities (including EIS, AIM-listed etc.), 17% absolute return funds/hedge funds, 6% gold/commodities and 32% cash (ie. zero in bonds).
Then tell us how your investments will be shielded from the global recession that this clown is forcing upon us all. You are absolutely right about their abuse of IPR. So then the thing to do is build a global consensus on how to protect IPR, surely?
@LargeAddick Indeed at 1.4% Premium bonds seem to be the best place for a cash deposit right now.
I took a different line on the blockchain potential, invested in Polar Capital Tech Fund on the basis that it invests in the big tech companies that are getting into blockchain tech and its uses. Was doing very well, some 8% up in six weeks or so until the weekend, when my newspaper of choice broke the Cambridge Analytica story. PCTF of course holds Facebook and the other big social media players. Tanking...
Bank bond accounts for that period of time don't offer much more than 1.4%. if you check Money Saving Expert or Which they list the best deals.