Again, thanks for your excellent responses.

I will give them a call and arrange a talk with one of their representatives.

jeff-uk

I have also used HL since the 90's and they are a dependable company who give discounts on initial charges and the renewal comissions every year. This can mount up over time and is better off in your HL trading account rather than in some IFA's hands.

You can also do a lot of research into picking suitable funds on the HL Website, their investment tools are among the best.

One last good reason to use them is that if, I mean when we expect another serious downturn in the stock market you can actually transfer your unit trust holdings into cash. The cash is still held within the ISA for reinvestment into whichever funds you choose to invest in at a later date (quite handy for 2008)

Good luck

ATM

Thanks for your excellent replies guys.

I did consider Hargreaves Lansdowne. I have some of their literature and they appear good. So this has probably confirmed for me to possibly use them.

Whatever you chose you could consider a Self Select ISA with £7200 of it (and another £7200 after April 6th) then at least any money you make would be tax free.....

I use Hargreaves Lansdown for mine and have found them to be excellent with very low charges........

As for advise, I guess it's keep reading and then go for it because there are no experts out there at the moment!!

IMHO

It is the fund manager's job to keep a watchful eye on the portfolio. In my view you are better choosing your own fund (with it's own fund manager) than choosing an IFA and letting the IFA choose the fund. There's more that could go wrong with the last option.

A good starting point would be a fund that invests in larger UK companies. Tables are available to tell you which performed best over the last few years. It's certainly best to avoid small obscure funds. These links should help you with information:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/ManagingMoney/SavingsAndInvestments/DG_10013712

http://www.londonstockexchange.com/en-gb/pricesnews/education/firsttimeinvestors/investmentfactsheets/whyinvestinshares/investfunds.htm

as will any financial magazines from your newsagents. Another type of equity fund to avoid is one which guarantees a certain return or one which requires you to invest for a fixed period, with penalties for early withdrawal or any other unusual terms. With both unit trusts and investment trusts you can cash in your investment at any time without penalty and you get you cheque within 2 weeks of asking for it.

Thankyou for your reply.

I have read a lot on unit trusts and investment bonds etc, but don't feel comfortable enough to create or even begin my own portfolio. I would like to begin this through speaking to the right people, but who can I go to? I simply feel I don't have the time to frequently check bonds or shares etc, but I am happy for someone I can trust to keep a watchful eye on my portfolio.

My advice is to involve as few people as you need. All an IFA will do is choose the fund(s) and you can do that yourself. The fund managers will make the day-to-day investment decisions.

A unit trust or investment trust that invests in larger UK companies would be a good starting point. You can buy magazines with lots of information at your newsagents - this is the best advice from people who are not salesmen. If investing in a unit trust, you buy the units from the unit trust company. If investing in an investment trust you can buy the shares through a broker who is a member of the London Stock Exchange

http://www.londonstockexchange.com/en-gb/

There are lots of stocks and shares bonds around but it is hard to find better value or greater flexibility than unit trusts or investment trusts.

Hello

I have around £5000-£10000 I would like to invest. However, with current interest rates being so low I feel it is pointless keeping this money in a high interest current account which isn't paying me anything. Fixed rate bonds etc are equally low compared to this time last year.

I have been doing some brief reading about stocks and shares, gilts and bonds etc but really need to gather further information on these as well as find a reputable financial advisor or whoever I can trust, someone who can advise me without trying to sell me products to make money for themselves.

Are there any recommendations you can give me? I can either put the money away short term or long term.

Thank you,

Jeff