Hi,

Since I became a regular on HPC I have read the occasional links to Moneyweek with interest. So, last night I decided to opt for a 12 month subscription to the mag. I enjoy reading it and I am interested to learn whether their claims of X making X profit is they had followed their advice is true or not.

On a different note, and it is just coinicidence, I made a decision a few months ago that I would get outo f my PEP with the Halifax come the end of this year. My belief being that the market would rise and then fall in the New Year.

I am still focussed on doing this but I have also thought about the concept of transferring my PEP into one of those funds that allows ou to buy your own shares online - i.e. my PEP would become cash and then I would look at buying my own shares.

I have been considering this for years and, yes, I know I am just as likely to lose the 8K as make any profit but... I wonder how bad I might be compared to all those fund managers who equally do not get the market right - most of them do not match the index do they?

So, now that I have got my Moneyweek subscription I may well decide to follow some of their advice re picking of shares and investments. I know Moneyweek is highly thought of by several on here but is it merely for god financial articles or because the advice they offer actually makes you money?

Just having a think at the moment

There are a lot of professional/semi professional traders on this site.

You do not sound like one. Just because some can do it it's generally 'cost they're trained to.

Be v v careful if you're just starting out. Do not expose yourself to more than you can afford to lose as part of your long term planning. Remember change in prices does not include transaction and PEP/ISA charges.

I wish you well and success. FP

Fund managers are a big con. My InvescoPerpetual PEPs costs 5% to start and then 1.5% each year, and they've really not done that well over the last 7/8 years (copped it big time in the dotcom collapse) whereas on ETRADE or similar I can buy an ETF (basically a tracker) of nearly any index, which will usually outperform any fund, for £14.95 (and there's a small spread, its true). But basically, provided you are cautious, you will definitely do better than a managed fund because you avoid the costs.

The fund manager is almost irrelevant. What is relevant is the sector you invested in and continue to be in. Its like saying pensions are crap - the wrapper is irrelevant.

I agree that most lay people who are reasonably well informed will do just as well as a fund manager in any given sector. But the costs of fund management mean that they are not irrelevant. Avoid the fund manager altogether (as I was suggesting) and you are virtually guaranteed to do better than a managed fund.

Two maxims have really helped me in my investing approach:

1/ "Anything can happen",
and don 't forget that when you are investing, be prepared to cope with the unexpected and unlikely;

2/ "Everyone is a genius in a Bull Market",
so aim to invest you money in early and middle stage bull markets, because late stage bull markets (liek property in 2004) are very treacherous