The Insights
At TILLIT we are big believers in learning and broadening our horizons. We also think that there is too much noise in the world of stock markets and investing today. Our focus is on the long-term and that is reflected in our various Insight articles, from opinion pieces to interviews and beginners’ guides, and even our market updates only come out quarterly.
The Goldilocks scenario: What is the optimum size of a fund?
Significant sums of money tend to follow the talented few in the world of investing. For example, six of the UK’s largest funds attracted close to 21% of total net flows during August, equating to £353 million, according to data provider Morningstar. Fund managers can quickly find themselves managing multi-billion pound funds once they have shown they can deliver superior performance and beat their rivals. But is big necessarily best?
Read moreTrust in the investment trust
Historically, investment trusts have delivered higher returns for lower costs than more popular open-ended funds such as unit trusts and open-ended investment companies (OEICs), but what are they and how are they different?
Read moreETFs: Investment must-have or the emperor’s new clothes?
Exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, have been trending for a while. Much like traditional tracker or passive funds, most ETFs simply track the ups and downs or a market index or a basket of assets; there’s no human fund manager picking the investments and possibly getting it wrong. Subsequently, it can be easier to understand where your money is invested (the fund does what it says on the tin) and costs can be lower.
Read moreHow to plan your asset allocation: Q&A with an expert
Choosing your asset allocation is one of the key decisions you make as an investor. Whether you want to go all in on equities or mix them up with some bonds and perhaps some property or alternatives is up to you. But we asked an expert, Gavin Haynes of Fairview Investing with decades of investment experience under his belt, to share his thoughts and advice.
Read moreDigging deeper into ESG investing
You may remember how we talked about ESG investing being a sort of spectrum going from light green to dark green. Another model that can help make sense of the evolution of ESG investing is the Spectrum of Capital, which was developed by Bridges Fund Management. This model categorises investment styles on a spectrum ranging from traditional investment all the way to philanthropy. The different subsets of ESG focused investing styles fit in between these two extremes. Ultimately, where you stand on the ESG investing spectrum really depends on what you want to achieve with your investments.
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