Child Trust Fund

[sleeping giant]

Off the bat , i am not looking for financial advice !!


I'm just getting round to doing my new childs government trust fund (CTF).

I have spoken to a few people who have just opened a bank account with it but i'm thinking of the risky share option.

Does anyone have any views on this without giving financial advice as i know this is illegal

I have been reading that over the long term (15 years or more) shrares should outperform savings and as its only £250 i think its r isk that might be worth taking.
The trouble with that though is that i'm thinking of adding to it monthly.
Adding my own cash to a risky fund doesnt seem so appealing


The other thing about this fund is that the child gets the money when they are 18.
It goes straight to them as its their money. Its a good thing for the first car/deposit etc buts its scary to think what i would have done with a lump sum when i was eighteen


I have been looking through the fund comparison sites and the Childrens Mutual seems to be up there with the best of them.

Some funds are showing a growth of 63% DURING the credit crunch !!
Its a minefield out there

So , without giving me financial advice , what should i do ?

[Woody1985]

You may not want to focus entirely on the recent performance.

The credit crunch was the best opportunity for people to make large amounts of momey via S&S that we'll see in our lifetime again. I just wish I was in the capital position to invest

I had researched and monitored a few shares and if I had the intended capital of around £2,000 I'd be sitting with around £14,000 now from when I did the research around February time.

They're position can be altered as they may not have invested in banks and property (traditionally one of the safest places to put your money) prior to the crunch. Quite a hard one to weigh up but try and get one with little charges for managing the fund.

[sleeping giant]

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You may not want to focus entirely on the recent performance.

The credit crunch was the best opportunity for people to make large amounts of momey via S&S that we'll see in our lifetime again. I just wish I was in the capital position to invest

I had researched and monitored a few shares and if I had the intended capital of around £2,000 I'd be sitting with around £14,000 now from what I did the research around February time.

They're position can be altered as they may not have invested in banks and property (traditionally one of the safest places to put your money) prior to the crunch. Quite a hard one to weigh up but try and get one with little charges for managing the fund.

Cheers for that.

I was thinking of the limited risk with Natwest too !!

After 13 years , they move the money to a "safer" fund .
The trouble is though , its not my money to take risks with !

This is going to cost me as my other 2 were born before this came into affect but i can still open one for them at my own expense


Money money money money money

[lapsedhibee]

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So , without giving me financial advice , what should i do ?

Invest in Asia for the long term. Western economies are shot.

[Woody1985]

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Invest in Asia for the long term. Western economies are shot.

Agree about some Asian opportunities.

I was in on this share when it was at 3p. Got out about 5.5p. Only had around £150 in it.

http://www.lse.co.uk/ShareChart.asp?...e=china_wonder

A small number of shares in the company meant that it was quite volatile based on small deals which made me get out. The spread was pretty **** around that time as well.

SG - If you're looking for specific shares rather than funds I find these sites quite good:

http://www.lse.co.uk/

http://www.investegate.co.uk/

The first will allow you to track prices and get people's comments on shares (beware of rampers) and the second provides RNS and company information.

Some of the shares I was interested in back in Feb were:

BOR
TMP
CWO
BARC
RBS - Got in at 11p and out at 18p.

Only dealt small amounts and the trading fees can eat up a bit of your profit/loss!

I actually prefer the single shares as I've not had time to look into the fund side of things but it is something I intend to do.