I'm interested in possibly getting a stocks & Shares ISA, but no little about them.

Any ideas of the bet ones out there, do differen't isa's offer you access to differen't stocks? i.e are certain ones limited to where you can invest? For instance do they have access to international markets such as Japan?



Any decent links with more information? or advice?

I have one with www.selftrade.co.uk that I'm happy with. They charge a flat fee of £25 per year (you still have to pay for trades though), and it works just like any online share account, it lets you mix & match as you want. You get access to most UK equities and there is a large selection of funds, including Japan I believe.

You can only put mainstream stocks into them (not aim-listed ones). Not sure about foreign stocks though.

I'm another who has a Selftrade self select ISA - had it for ages, 25 quid pa fee and never had a problem with them.





Actually you can put some AIM stocks in an ISA if they are dual listed on a recognised primary exchange elsewhere. I linked to this a while back in the *cough* other place ADVFN Isa thread (the stock list in the thread header is probably out of date, but you get the idea).

You have to register with advfn but it's free.

I have a couple of AIM stocks in my ISA.

Looks like there was some news today: Treasury to say if investors miss out



If that happens then I guess all AIM stocks will be eligible?

Regular savings or lump sum? - It makes quite a bit of difference - obivously you want to buy units that look cheap- for a lump sum it's quite important to consider your exit strategy (if you need quick access to it your timing may well coincide with a fall in unit price), this aint so important for regular savings where you benefit/suffer from price cost averaging.

My gut feeling is;
Regular savings - Japan (lots of currency and stockmarket volatility but slowly coming out of deflation.
Lump Sum - European, heavy with some German stock and UK exposure. Eurozone economy thawing plus strengthening euro.

And monitor your fund values constantly. Couldnt tell you the best manager, I suggest looking at past performance in indices against maangement fees but it s much more important to be in the right fund types rather than being with the right manager.

Well, i stand corrected!

thanks for all the responses.

I am planning on investing just a small amount of savings I have. I am prepared to lose it in the event of a worse case scenario, and am also looking for more long term prospects than short term gain, i.e japanese reits.

what do you mean by price cost averaging?