Advantages: The fund tends to outperform in flat and falling markets, high dividend yield of around 3%, good long term performance and good manager
Disadvantages: Large £2.6 billion in size makes fund less flexible, 5% initial charge, underperforms when growth stocks are fashionable

...is to provide an above average dividend and above average dividend growth because it is in the UK Equity Income sector. The yield on this trust is around 3.16% at the time of writing. I decided to opt to re-invest the dividends because I had seen studies that by doing this returns could be enhanced over the long-term due to a compounding effect. Re-investing dividends over the long-term can also help to reduce the volatility of an investment. INVESCO-Perpetual High Income has been managed by Neil Woodford for around 13 years since its launch in 1988. Neil Woodford is a highly influential fund manager who was involved in releasing the truth about the Biotech stock market disaster British Biotech. I admire the way Neil Woodford has managed this trust by sticking to what he believes in an not going with the crowd. This was apparent when the fund... Read review

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Advantages: A relatively low risk fund, high income yield of almost 6%, below average initial charge, one of the top funds in its sector, low interest rates make bonds attractive
Disadvantages: Bonds underperform when equities outperform, long term performance is modest compared to equity funds

.... But during the last year the holding in the fund has risen by around 11%. This is a good return considering the sharp falls in equity markets that have taken place recently. The fund is managed by Henderson's and has a portfolio made up of investments mainly in fixed interest securities and cash. The manager of the fund is Ian Dickson who has managed the portfolio since November 1978. Bonds and fixed interest securities are on the whole lower risk assets than equities. The portfolio of the fund is invested in 67.8% UK Corporate Bonds, 0.9% European Corporate Bonds, 22.8% Preference & Convertible shares, Net current assets (cash) 8.5%. The fund size is £286.4 million. The five largest holdings of the Henderson Preference & Bond fund include: ICI Investments 7.625% Bonds - 21/8/2007 Daily Mail & General Trust 7.5% Bonds - 29... Read review

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Advantages: Experience,contactable,helpful
Disadvantages:

...Equity Ski/Equity Travel is an excellent family run company with lots of time for all of its customers, I find that they are very approachable and will really try to help you. The offers that they put out are excellent, particularly the ski-ing ones. They offer ‘all-in’ prices which does exactly what it says on the tin, i.e. all you pay on top of the price are drinks.(You do not actually have to drink on a ski-ing holiday, but it is definitely recommended.) Included in the prices are accommodation, food, insurance, ski pass, ski and boots hire, ski-ing lessons and travel to and from the resort. Their representatives in the resorts are top class and very helpful. A lot of the hotels they use are run by themselves. Equity try to put people together in their hotels of similar age and ski-ing standard. The prices they charge may look quite... Read review

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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

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Advantages: Young, small and flexible. Superb but brief historic performance.
Disadvantages: Little movement in price for several months.

...as there is a much smaller amount of stock to be bought and sold. Whilst the fund is classified in the “Europe Excluding UK” category, there is a small holding of 5.6% in the UK. The one year growth for this fund is 46.6% so let’s look forward to similar performance in the future.... Read review

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Advantages: A great portfolio tracking tool, good discussion and useful broker research
Disadvantages: No currency conversion calculator, maybe not a site for the die hard investment analyst

...I am interested in Investment and have a portfolio which I like to keep track of. I had seen iii advertised in publications such as the Financial Times and never thought about using it. I only started using the site after a friend recommended it to me and showed me the portfolio tracking service. The portfolio tracking tool is definitely my favourite feature on iii, it must be seen to be appreciated. The portfolio tracking tool allows you to keep track of most classes of investment including London equities, International equities, Unit trusts, Pensions etc. The tool gives you instant access to charts, news and discussion on investments you have chosen to include in your portfolio. The discussion boards on iii are very good with well informed investors leaving worthwhile information. The portfolio tracking tool also shows your total... Read review

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Advantages: Blah. Blah.
Disadvantages: Blah. Blah.

...!) * * * You may have seen TV advertisements for a 'debt service' / restructuring of payments, but remember, these charge - money that could be used to pay off current creditors. The same with so-called Credit Repair Agencies. . .any service that these companies offer, you can do yourself -for free! Obtain the 'No Credit' booklet from your local Trading Standards for details. For further free help on any debt issues, log-on to www.adviceguide.co.uk (then CAB); or contact your local authority and ask if they have an 'anti-poverty unit' or fund an independent sector in your area. These services are free. Good Luck!... Read review

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Advantages: Excellent management, excellent performance to-date and great prospects.
Disadvantages: 5% initial charge, but with 1% Artemis' discount and 4% from a broker this can be eliminated.

...At £91 million this fund is less than a third of the size of the average for this sector. Mark Tyndall's management skills are perfectly suited to this fund. Not only does he look for the right investments, but it must be the right time to invest. His skill at picking stocks that are undervalued but with good growth potential has seen this fund achieve 120% growth in the two-and-a-half years since launch. With well over 60% in the last year, it is in the top 5 funds for that period. It's up there with Solus UK Special Situation, ABN Amro UK Growth and Manek Growth - all well known high fliers - not quite as much growth but much less volatility than any of them. It's hotly tipped by Hargreaves Lansdown in their Investment Times publication, and the Artemis management team have their own money and their pension funds invested... Read review

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Advantages: Clear, easy to navigate
Disadvantages: Pop up adverts, some stock codes not found

...a casual eye on your portfolio. There is a nice link to any discussion on the bulletin board that has taken place about any of your equities or funds. Another good tool this one. There is the opportunity to trade via the site but this obviously needs you to set up an account with Ample. I've never used the site to trade but a flat rate of £10 per UK trade looks quite attractive. All in all, iii provides the novice trader with all of the information that they might need but also caters for the savvy investor given the amount of info on offer and is definitely worth a look.... Read review

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Advantages: allows you to feel you're getting something, other than phone calls
Disadvantages: takes a lot of saving to get much!

...should at least try to get as much as you can from what you've paid for! Visit www.orange.co.uk and goto 'owner -> make the most out out Orange -> Orange Equity', or phone 402 from your Orange phone to sign up.... Read review

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