H&L SIPP - down 2% in 6 months

**Gonzo** · 11 May 2012, 08:24

Originally posted by psychocandy View Post

Took the plunge 6 months ago and decided to transfer all my small pensions into one pot (i.e. H&L SIPP). I did some research and picked 10 funds. To be honest, H&L make it a bit easier because they've got a recommended fund list to pick from anyway.

Started out OK, it was 2% up within a month, but now its 2% down overall. One of my funds is 10% down.

What do most people do in this scenario?

1. Sit it out because its long term and will go back up eventually.
2. Mess with it and bail out of funds that are losing etc.

I don't think that anyone can answer that without knowing how you are invested and how long it will be before you are taking the money, and even when those are known it still comes down to a matter of opinion.

I would make the following two points:

1. If you are going to be filled with terror about a 10% loss then DIY investment is not for you.

2. I have bailed on a fund only once because it had lost big time (50%). It was in a highly specialised niche and the prospects for that niche were fecked but that hadn't occurred to me before it had occurred to a lot of other people.

**BlasterBates** · 11 May 2012, 08:30

Do nothing and wait, nothing to worry about. All stocks are down. My portfolio is 10% down from the high.

Might get worse before it gets better. If Greece goes bankrupt there will probably be a rout. Nothing to worry about, prepare for a potential rout of up to 50%. I stress here potential. If it happens nothing to worry about, in fact that's when you should think about wading in and buying some more.

Stock portfolios dropping 40-50% is normal and the best course of action is --- buy.

I've been investing in stocks for about 15 years, this is what happens. But I've made a lot more than I would have done investing safely.

Think of stocks having dropped as cheap. I mean if there was a housing crash and houses halved in value you'd be in there like a shot.

The main thing is your portfolio is well spread. Funds usually are.

**SupremeSpod** · 11 May 2012, 08:32

Originally posted by BlasterBates View Post

Do nothing and wait, nothing to worry about. All stocks are down. My portfolio is 10% down from the high.

Might get worse before it gets better. If Greece goes bankrupt there will probably be a rout. Nothing to worry about, prepare for a potential rout of up to 50%. I stress here potential. If it happens nothing to worry about, in fact that's when you should think about wading in and buying some more.

Stock portfolios dropping 40-50% is normal and the best course of action is --- buy.

I've been investing in stocks for about 15 years, this is what happens. But I've made a lot more than I would have done investing safely.

WHS.

I've recently started to go back in to shares. I don't trust funds and their managers.

**Waldorf** · 11 May 2012, 08:34

A 6 month window is very short.

Until the euro mess is sorted I think the markets will be all over place, provided you have considered the investments and remain happy with them I would stick with it and trust your initial judgement.

**pmeswani** · 11 May 2012, 08:36

What Gonzo and BlasterBates said.

I'm with H&L and my portfolio is generally down quite a bit, but as the saying goes, Keep Calm and Carry on. The general market is bad at the moment and there isn't much point in making hasty decisions that you will later on regret.

**fullyautomatix** · 11 May 2012, 08:41

You really are not cut out for the investing malarkey are you ?

The point of SIPP is pretty long term investment, think 20 years. If you are bedwetting after 6 months you have got the fundamentals wrong.

**EternalOptimist** · 11 May 2012, 08:41

I am having trouble sleeping at night because there are so many bundles of twenties under my matress that its gone all lumpy.

I think it would take wild horses to get me to move from cash to shares

**psychocandy** · 11 May 2012, 08:44

Originally posted by BlasterBates View Post

Do nothing and wait, nothing to worry about. All stocks are down. My portfolio is 10% down from the high.

Might get worse before it gets better. If Greece goes bankrupt there will probably be a rout. Nothing to worry about, prepare for a potential rout of up to 50%. I stress here potential. If it happens nothing to worry about, in fact that's when you should think about wading in and buying some more.

Stock portfolios dropping 40-50% is normal and the best course of action is --- buy.

I've been investing in stocks for about 15 years, this is what happens. But I've made a lot more than I would have done investing safely.

Think of stocks having dropped as cheap. I mean if there was a housing crash and houses halved in value you'd be in there like a shot.

The main thing is your portfolio is well spread. Funds usually are.

Yeh. I guess theres no point crying about spilt milk. Its just trying to stock think if I'd held it in cash for 5 months and bought now I'd be £1k better off....

Its only a total of about £50K. 20 years to retirement I guess.

**BlasterBates** · 11 May 2012, 08:49

It is a good idea to invest over time, i.e. hold back some funds and invest when everything is down. If the market drops significantly I would advise sticking another 10-20 K in. If there's a crash, double the size of your portfolio i.e you invest 50 drops to 25, stick another 25 in and bingo after the recovery you have 100K.

H&L SIPP - down 2% in 6 months