Tony Blair

super_davo

Thing about any actively managed fund is that the manager needs to be good enough to outperform the market enough to justify the higher fees over a simple index tracker.

There are plenty that have done so in the past. There are even more that haven't. And whether the ones that have will continue to do so in the future...

Having access to lots of data through my job I stick my own money in the cheapest trackers I can find across a few diverse sectors. Not exciting, not going to make me millions, but just about as safe as you can make stocks and shares.

surrey_commuter

super_davo said:

Thing about any actively managed fund is that the manager needs to be good enough to outperform the market enough to justify the higher fees over a simple index tracker.

There are plenty that have done so in the past. There are even more that haven't. And whether the ones that have will continue to do so in the future...

Having access to lots of data through my job I stick my own money in the cheapest trackers I can find across a few diverse sectors. Not exciting, not going to make me millions, but just about as safe as you can make stocks and shares.

I have mine unevenly split between Fundsmith and Vanguard 100 which probably marks me out as bipolar when it comes to investing.

TheBigBean

As this is the pension thread, one problem with shifting to Vanguard is the headache of transfering the pension. My only option is to sell it to cash and hope the market does not move in the weeks it takes to transfer.

surrey_commuter

TheBigBean said:

As this is the pension thread, one problem with shifting to Vanguard is the headache of transfering the pension. My only option is to sell it to cash and hope the market does not move in the weeks it takes to transfer.

I did that with one minor one from Aviva, I set one up with Vanguard to receive it and it did not seem to be much hassle. The market may move in your favour.

TheBigBean

surrey_commuter said:

TheBigBean said:

As this is the pension thread, one problem with shifting to Vanguard is the headache of transfering the pension. My only option is to sell it to cash and hope the market does not move in the weeks it takes to transfer.

I did that with one minor one from Aviva, I set one up with Vanguard to receive it and it did not seem to be much hassle. The market may move in your favour.

It might, but a big move the wrong way will wipe out the reduced fee savings for quite a few years. It's the sort of thing I think the FCA should crack down on, but they're more occupied with missing anything relevant.

Who is your current provider?

Edit - Reread your post and it is clear you have the money with Vanguard directly. There used to be a significant min ticket to do that, but they seem to have changed.

Dorset_Boy

Picking individual stocks is gambling, not investing. Only mugs do that.

Trackers vs active - consider the market you are investing in. eg Large cap US, then tracker is fine. Small cap, emerging markets, specialised sectors you need an active manager. Most lay people also have minimal or zero comprehension of risk vs reward.

FTSE100 trackers - well if you want mining, financials and not a lot of diversification then crack on.

Other issue with trackers is you don't see the dividends which have a massive effect on returns.

The most sensible route is to appoint someone to proactively manage your portfolio within the level of risk you are comfortable accepting. They will use a blend of active and passive, and maintain the risk profile of your portfolio for you. Do not chase returns because you are unlikely to be taking the level of risk you are comfotable with.

Also invest via a platform, especially if you think you are smart enough to self manage. You can choose your product wrappers on the platform too, so can have your pension and your Isa / GIA on the same platform.

Dorset_Boy

TheBigBean said:

surrey_commuter said:

TheBigBean said:

As this is the pension thread, one problem with shifting to Vanguard is the headache of transfering the pension. My only option is to sell it to cash and hope the market does not move in the weeks it takes to transfer.

I did that with one minor one from Aviva, I set one up with Vanguard to receive it and it did not seem to be much hassle. The market may move in your favour.

It might, but a big move the wrong way will wipe out the reduced fee savings for quite a few years. It's the sort of thing I think the FCA should crack down on, but they're more occupied with missing anything relevant.

Who is your current provider?

Or a move in the other way benefits you.
Some of the old dinosaur life offices you don't want to touch with a barge pole.

Also the death benefits on pre-2015 pensions are usually a return of fund only, no beneficiaries drawdown which is far more beneficial, so if you have an old pension you should get a professional to look at it to see about moving to a modern plan.

Stevo_666

TheBigBean said:

I would like to swap my pension pot for an index-linked annuity. The problem is that even with the maximum of £1m in the pot, the income is still pretty low. That ignores how challenging it is to earn enough to get to £1m with all the tax rules currently in place

Not sure many people go for an annuity these days. I'm going to draw down mine as income over time. At some point in the future.

surrey_commuter

TheBigBean said:

surrey_commuter said:

TheBigBean said:

As this is the pension thread, one problem with shifting to Vanguard is the headache of transfering the pension. My only option is to sell it to cash and hope the market does not move in the weeks it takes to transfer.

I did that with one minor one from Aviva, I set one up with Vanguard to receive it and it did not seem to be much hassle. The market may move in your favour.

It might, but a big move the wrong way will wipe out the reduced fee savings for quite a few years. It's the sort of thing I think the FCA should crack down on, but they're more occupied with missing anything relevant.

Who is your current provider?

Edit - Reread your post and it is clear you have the money with Vanguard directly. There used to be a significant min ticket to do that, but they seem to have changed.

Yep I opened Vanguatd with a few thousand then transferred in £50k from Aviva which had built up from opting out of SERPS so felt like free money. It is surprising how many people have forgotten all about those but have been growing nicely.

veronese68

hopkinb said:

I came here expecting 4 pages on this:



Not blah blah Iraq, catholic conversion, pensions raid, financial crisis, selling gold, PFI, EUSSR, blah blah blah That's all been rehashed since 2008.

This is now. This is worse.

thesquireofbanwell

An interesting little snippet!
Of the £646k spent on THE flat in Downing Street since 1997 more than £410k of that was lavished during the decade of occupancy of..........you guessed it; one Tony Blair.

pblakeney

You'd think that for that sort of money you'd get fixtures a fittings that would last more than a few years before needing to be replaced.

DeVlaeminck

I'd be ashamed to spend that kind of money redecorating when it doesn't need it. I know it's small beer for our national expenditure but it shows the sense of entitlement our "leaders" have. Perhaps the decor should be chosen by a 3rd party (and I don't mean the Lib Dems) kept fairly neutral and refurbished when it needs it.

pblakeney

The philosophy that should be adopted is that it is a place of work with benefits, not the tenent's home.

elbowloh

thesquireofbanwell said:

An interesting little snippet!
Of the £646k spent on THE flat in Downing Street since 1997 more than £410k of that was lavished during the decade of occupancy of..........you guessed it; one Tony Blair.

Where are those figures from? Boris allegedly spent £200k, so that means only £36k was spent by Brown, Cameron and May between them.

thesquireofbanwell

Figures taken from a specific media source that also states; Brown was a bachelor who didn't spend anything but the Cameron's spent £105k. Nothing stated for May.
Make of it what you will.

morstar

Not seen any of the numbers but the numbers are potentially meaningless.
It’s an old property and could have undergone structural work at some point.
If all these figures are solely on internal decoration and furnishings then the whole thing is a scandal but I somehow doubt it.

I suspect the IT infrastructure alone has been updated massively with high security since 1997 when the public internet use was still in its toddler years.

tailwindhome

thesquireofbanwell said:

Brown was a bachelor

Brown was married with children

thesquireofbanwell

He was, later, but not when he occupied the flat.

Dorset_Boy

Isn't there a flat above No10 and a separate (larger) one above No11?
And didn't the Blairs do a swap to use the No11 flat because of their family with Brown living in the No10 flat as he didn't have any offspring at the time?

There certainly seems to have been a very large amount of money spent one way or another.

pblakeney

thesquireofbanwell said:

Figures taken from a specific media source that also states; Brown was a bachelor who didn't spend anything but the Cameron's spent £105k. Nothing stated for May.
Make of it what you will.

I make of it that the report is useless.
It was all over the news last week that May refurbished from John Lewis.

elbowloh

morstar said:

Not seen any of the numbers but the numbers are potentially meaningless.
It’s an old property and could have undergone structural work at some point.
If all these figures are solely on internal decoration and furnishings then the whole thing is a scandal but I somehow doubt it.

I suspect the IT infrastructure alone has been updated massively with high security since 1997 when the public internet use was still in its toddler years.

They get £30k a year from government for renovations and repairs.

tailwindhome

thesquireofbanwell said:

He was, later, but not when he occupied the flat.

Of course

rjsterry

elbowloh said:

morstar said:

Not seen any of the numbers but the numbers are potentially meaningless.
It’s an old property and could have undergone structural work at some point.
If all these figures are solely on internal decoration and furnishings then the whole thing is a scandal but I somehow doubt it.

I suspect the IT infrastructure alone has been updated massively with high security since 1997 when the public internet use was still in its toddler years.

They get £30k a year from government for renovations and repairs.

It's a large Grade I listed house. The frontage you see on TV is just a small part.




From what I can see of the floor plans, I doubt £30k would cover more than a new coat of paint even on just the upstairs flat. The problem isn't how much was spent, but how the money was obtained, and that the loan wasn't declared.

tailwindhome

rjsterry said:

elbowloh said:

morstar said:

Not seen any of the numbers but the numbers are potentially meaningless.
It’s an old property and could have undergone structural work at some point.
If all these figures are solely on internal decoration and furnishings then the whole thing is a scandal but I somehow doubt it.

I suspect the IT infrastructure alone has been updated massively with high security since 1997 when the public internet use was still in its toddler years.

They get £30k a year from government for renovations and repairs.

It's a large Grade I listed house. The frontage you see on TV is just a small part.




From what I can see of the floor plans, I doubt £30k would cover more than a new coat of paint even on just the upstairs flat. The problem isn't how much was spent, but how the money was obtained, and that the loan wasn't declared.

Are you supposed to have those plans?

briantrumpet

tailwindhome said:

rjsterry said:

elbowloh said:

morstar said:

Not seen any of the numbers but the numbers are potentially meaningless.
It’s an old property and could have undergone structural work at some point.
If all these figures are solely on internal decoration and furnishings then the whole thing is a scandal but I somehow doubt it.

I suspect the IT infrastructure alone has been updated massively with high security since 1997 when the public internet use was still in its toddler years.

They get £30k a year from government for renovations and repairs.

It's a large Grade I listed house. The frontage you see on TV is just a small part.




From what I can see of the floor plans, I doubt £30k would cover more than a new coat of paint even on just the upstairs flat. The problem isn't how much was spent, but how the money was obtained, and that the loan wasn't declared.

Are you supposed to have those plans?

Just need to know where Nancy Pelosi and Mike Pence are now.

rjsterry

tailwindhome said:

rjsterry said:

elbowloh said:

morstar said:

Not seen any of the numbers but the numbers are potentially meaningless.
It’s an old property and could have undergone structural work at some point.
If all these figures are solely on internal decoration and furnishings then the whole thing is a scandal but I somehow doubt it.

I suspect the IT infrastructure alone has been updated massively with high security since 1997 when the public internet use was still in its toddler years.

They get £30k a year from government for renovations and repairs.

It's a large Grade I listed house. The frontage you see on TV is just a small part.




From what I can see of the floor plans, I doubt £30k would cover more than a new coat of paint even on just the upstairs flat. The problem isn't how much was spent, but how the money was obtained, and that the loan wasn't declared.

Are you supposed to have those plans?

😁 Widely available on Google.

morstar

elbowloh said:

morstar said:

Not seen any of the numbers but the numbers are potentially meaningless.
It’s an old property and could have undergone structural work at some point.
If all these figures are solely on internal decoration and furnishings then the whole thing is a scandal but I somehow doubt it.

I suspect the IT infrastructure alone has been updated massively with high security since 1997 when the public internet use was still in its toddler years.

They get £30k a year from government for renovations and repairs.

I get that but major updates to an old building could easily exceed £30k

My little house is due for major renovations and I could easily blow way more than 30k

That was my point. If the property needs major investment, £30k ain’t cutting it.

surrey_commuter

tailwindhome said:

thesquireofbanwell said:

He was, later, but not when he occupied the flat.

Of course

Stop being so agreeable

He quoted a “specific media source” the only checkable part of which was completely and utterly wrong

Pross

Dorset_Boy said:

Isn't there a flat above No10 and a separate (larger) one above No11?
And didn't the Blairs do a swap to use the No11 flat because of their family with Brown living in the No10 flat as he didn't have any offspring at the time?

There certainly seems to have been a very large amount of money spent one way or another.

Yeah. The wife and daughter visited it with a bunch of other kids with cancer. They were given tea in number 10 by Alistair Darling's wife as they were living there then played in the garden with Gordon Brown's son.