With added payments from her family, her child trust fund pot will be a perfect springboard for the future£9bn bonanza begins as child trust funds come of ageSo what should you do with your child trust windfall?Seventeen-year-old aspiring actor Freya Taylor-Lester is at college studying A-levels in drama, dance and textiles. She has a child trust fund due to mature at around the same time she finishes college in spring 2021.“Mum has been paying into my child trust fund account every month to build it up, and, over the years, that has become a useful nest egg that will help me to start adult life,” says Freya, from West Sussex, whose CTF is run by OneFamily. “I have two plans … [Read More...]

Brunel Pension Partnership sets 2022 deadline for investment firms to reduce exposureA £30bn British pension fund has threatened to sack investment managers that do not take action on the climate crisis, criticising the sector as “not fit for purpose”.Brunel Pension Partnership, which manages pension money for nine councils in south-west England as well as for the Environment Agency, said it would review the mandates of asset managers that don’t reduce exposure to climate risk by 2022. Continue reading… [Read More...]

UK’s biggest fund manager had been criticised over inclusion of stocks such as Shell The UK’s biggest fund manager has bowed to client pressure and agreed to launch its first fossil fuel-free ethical pension fund later this year.Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), which has been one of the most outspoken fund managers over the climate crisis, made the decision after a number of clients raised concerns that stocks such as Shell were still being included in its range of ethical funds. Related: JP Morgan to withdraw support for some fossil fuels Continue reading… [Read More...]

The UK’s fund management industry is losing the war against index trackingWhat’s gone wrong with Britain’s fund management industry? Over the past year share prices have soared globally, which usually translates into boom times for asset managers, whose income is based on a percentage cut from the total amount of money under management. Yet the UK’s industry is beset with scandals and sliding fortunes among some of the once most-revered names.Jupiter is attempting to arrest its decline with a £370m takeover of Merian (once Old Mutual’s investment arm), creating a £65bn group that boss and serial deal maker Andrew Formica promises investors will be “highly earnings accretiveâ€?. Continue reading… [Read More...]

The fund will welcome investors with as little as £500 to put in, and promises returns of 7% a yearAn investment fund that promises to break the mould of City short-termism and aims to make gains of 7% a year is to open for small investors able to put in as little as £500.The People’s Trust, backed by Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable, is the brainchild of Daniel Godfrey, the former head of the Investment Association, which represents fund management groups. He left after some IA members were unhappy with his campaigning for lower charges and greater transparency. Related: Does Peter Hargreaves have a whale of an opportunity for UK investors? The UK needs a radical transformation of capital markets Continue reading… [Read More...]

With a £1,000 investment in Fundsmith in 2010 you’d now be looking at a gain of 264%Terry Smith has emerged as Britain’s top investment performer once again after another year of stellar returns – while Neil Woodford languishes at the bottom of the tables after his worst year on the stock market for two decades.When Smith launched Fundsmith Equity in November 2010 he boldly promised it would be “the best fund ever”, and would give the “fat and complacent” fund management industry a bloody nose. It sounded like bluster and bravado, but he was true to his word. In 2017, Fundsmith Equity gave its investors a gain of just over 22% – easily outstripping the 10% investors would pick up from an index-tracking fund in the UK, or 12… [Read More...]

His straightforward strategy has made him the most successful fund manager of his generationPrepare yourself for an unusually gushing assessment (for the Guardian) of a super-rich, money manager currently ensconced in a luxury home in an Indian Ocean island paradise. Terry Smith has become the most successful fund manager of his generation, amassing £17bn in his Fundsmith fund, much of it on behalf of small investors. He has repaid their trust by giving them quite extraordinary returns. Some people compare him to the great Warren Buffett. But Smith is probably better.Anyone who invested on day one of Fundsmith’s launch in November 2010 – and Guardian Money featured it strongly -has made a gain of 309%. Over the same period Warren Buffett has seen a rather more … [Read More...]