M&G Index Tracker Fund

Advantages: tracks ftse uk index,low charges, spread risk , can be ISA'd
Disadvantages: covers all sectors, can miss out on sector over performance

...where to look? Well Fidelity Moneybuilder Index Fund fits the bill for me. It is available from Fidelity's Funds Network which is a supermarket of investment funds with over 950 different funds from 55 fund managers. Fidelity Moneybuilder UK index ------------------------------------------ Aims to track the FTSE all share index which means it invests in the Large FTSE 100 companies down to smaller companies in the main market, but not AIM market stocks. Performance On the fidelity website you have a very useful feature that gives you an overview of each fund. Over five years the fund has returned 4.9% now remember that the market fell 28% from 2001-2002 over three years the fund returned 23.6% and over a year 27% Charges Now this is where Fidelity score over the competition. There is no initial charge on ISA and ISA... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: they're not bad but far from the best
Disadvantages: very expensive management charges

...At 1% management charges, Virgin are very expensive. There are plenty of other UK Trackers which do the same job with charges from 0.1% - 0.5%. Why would you want to give them extra cash? I know that some others (especially the biggest banks) not only levy initial charges but also charge a massive 1.5%pa. Again they are not better at what they do. Who do you think pays for the City boys' bonuses each year? Most trackers have no intitial charges so if yours isn't performing well or has high management charges (over 0.53%) why not take your funds elsewhere? Consider M& G, Legal & General, F&C (although there performance is variable). A bit of research could pay huge dividends, particularly over the long term.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Rock solid company managing the fund.
Disadvantages: Abysmal growth record. Fund too large.

...I bought into M&G Recovery in 1988. It was my first ever Unit Trust. Boy was I impressed with the past performance. £1000 would have grown to £69000 in the previous 25 years. I was so impressed that I started a unit trust savings scheme and kept it going for 12 years. The fund performed well in the early years but the growth was nearer to linear than exponential. This meant that each years growth was a smaller percentage than the previous year. In 1998 it suffered serious losses when world markets crashed due to the problems in the far east. It took over a year to recover its original price (much longer than the vast majority of funds) and has gone nowhere since. I sold out in January this year, just after it recovered its 1998 value. Having held it for 12 years, I didn't do too badly, but its performance over the last five... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful