Investments
Investing puts money to work, and it also puts money at risk. The two facts belong together on this page: everything here is presented with what could go wrong as clearly as what could go right.
What you can hold
A selection of exchange-traded funds and investment trusts covering global equities, bonds and property, plus cash held at a fixed rate. Each product carries its own charges, its own risk rating and its own history.
Choose the level of involvement
Pick a ready-made portfolio by risk appetite and let it be rebalanced for you, or build your own holdings and manage the weights yourself. The difference between the two is the time you spend, not the access you have.
Costs visible before and after
The annual management charge, the underlying fund costs and any dealing fee are added together and shown as a single figure on every product, and your statements repeat the same figure against your returns so the two are never far apart.
The risk, stated plainly
The value of investments can fall as well as rise, you may get back less than you put in, and past performance says nothing reliable about the future. Cash-like holdings protect the number but not the purchasing power.
Money you may need within five years generally belongs in savings rather than investments — start there if the date is close.