Small Starter Portfolio

MayoSalmon

Hi guys,

Looking to invest roughly around €5,000 in some "safe" enough stocks.

Will be looking to add to this as I go. Investing through Degiro.

Any ideas on which stocks to start with, would like it as diverse as possible?

-Paddy Power, Glanbia, CRH, Dalata, Ryanair etc...

topper_harley2

MayoSalmon wrote: »

Hi guys,

Looking to invest roughly around €5,000 in some "safe" enough stocks.

Will be looking to add to this as I go. Investing through Degiro.

Any ideas on which stocks to start with, would like it as diverse as possible?

-Paddy Power, Glanbia, CRH, Dalata, Ryanair etc...

Diverse? Aren't they all Irish companies?!!
I dont think you should be investing 5K based on an internet forum's stock suggestion. And there is no such thing as a safe stock e.g. remember BOI trading at E20? :rolleyes:

Is this play money or can you afford to lose all of it? My immediate questions when anyone asks about a "stock portfolio" is as follows:

• What age are you
• What existing savings have you
• Why do you want to save or invest (and do you know the difference?)
• Have you any high interest debts like car loan/credit card etc
• Have you an SVR mortgage
• Have you a rainy day fund of 3-6 months salary
• Have you a pension
• Have you kids
• Are you married
• Have you any investment property
• What exactly constitutes success for any investment portfolio
• How long are you happy to be without this money
• What would you do if value dropped 30% overnight
• What is your tax rate
• Are you taxed in Ireland

You need to be able to answer those honestly before investing in anything.
HTH

MayoSalmon

topper_harley2 wrote: »

Diverse? Aren't they all Irish companies?!!
I dont think you should be investing 5K based on an internet forum's stock suggestion. And there is no such thing as a safe stock e.g. remember BOI trading at E20? :rolleyes:

Is this play money or can you afford to lose all of it? My immediate questions when anyone asks about a "stock portfolio" is as follows:

• What age are you
• What existing savings have you
• Why do you want to save or invest (and do you know the difference?)
• Have you any high interest debts like car loan/credit card etc
• Have you an SVR mortgage
• Have you a rainy day fund of 3-6 months salary
• Have you a pension
• Have you kids
• Are you married
• Have you any investment property
• What exactly constitutes success for any investment portfolio
• How long are you happy to be without this money
• What would you do if value dropped 30% overnight
• What is your tax rate
• Are you taxed in Ireland

You need to be able to answer those honestly before investing in anything.
HTH

By diverse I was referring to industries, just used Irish companies as an example.

Early 30s, have savings which are collecting dust. Yes its money I can afford to lose however barring a financial collapse I would be hoping that would exactly happen.

I'm thinking

70% Stocks
10% Bonds
20% Vanguard S&P Index fund

I am a newbie clearly so please be nice:P

topper_harley2

I thought I was!

My point was there is often more to consider than just buying stocks. It's a holistic review, then decide is s portfolio right for you. I listed 15 or so questions you need to answer before deciding to invest and you haven't answered any. Hence I can't help except to say you can't buy vanguard index funds in Ireland, only ETFs.

Francie Barrett

MayoSalmon wrote: »

Hi guys,

Looking to invest roughly around €5,000 in some "safe" enough stocks.

Will be looking to add to this as I go. Investing through Degiro.

Any ideas on which stocks to start with, would like it as diverse as possible?

-Paddy Power, Glanbia, CRH, Dalata, Ryanair etc...

€5000 is too little to create a diversified portfolio of stocks. By the time you buy 10 positions, you'll have lost a chunk of your portfolio due to dealing charges. Also, it sounds like you wouldn't be very familiar with investing, would that be correct?

If you want equity exposure, then the best way for you to do it is through an index. The Vanguard World Stock Index will give you exposure to all the large companies in the world for a very low fee.

https://www.google.co.uk/finance?q=NYSEARCA%3AVT

pat111

How do i invest in the The Vanguard World Stock Index?

robp

Francie Barrett wrote: »

MayoSalmon wrote: »

Hi guys,

Looking to invest roughly around 5,000 in some "safe" enough stocks.

Will be looking to add to this as I go. Investing through Degiro.

Any ideas on which stocks to start with, would like it as diverse as possible?

-Paddy Power, Glanbia, CRH, Dalata, Ryanair etc...

5000 is too little to create a diversified portfolio of stocks. By the time you buy 10 positions, you'll have lost a chunk of your portfolio due to dealing charges. Also, it sounds like you wouldn't be very familiar with investing, would that be correct?

If you want equity exposure, then the best way for you to do it is through an index. The Vanguard World Stock Index will give you exposure to all the large companies in the world for a very low fee.

https://www.google.co.uk/finance?q=NYSEARCA%3AVT

The crazy thing is, Degiro is so cheap you could invest in 10 stocks with 5000. Tax is going to be a lot of work but the fees are pretty small. For example 1,000 of Bank of Ireland is just 2.40. I am not sure its worth it for the hassle of paper work though. I hope some Irish broker can catch up on this soon.

MayoSalmon

robp wrote: »

The crazy thing is, Degiro is so cheap you could invest in 10 stocks with 5000. Tax is going to be a lot of work but the fees are pretty small. For example 1,000 of Bank of Ireland is just 2.40. I am not sure its worth it for the hassle of paper work though. I hope some Irish broker can catch up on this soon.

And that's really whats has been looking to get involved.

Obviously starting with €5,000 is small but would be looking to add to that as I go.

Francie Barrett

pat111 wrote: »

How do i invest in the The Vanguard World Stock Index?

Set up a brokerage account with the likes of Degiro.

Francie Barrett

MayoSalmon wrote: »

And that's really whats has been looking to get involved.

Obviously starting with €5,000 is small but would be looking to add to that as I go.

Investing in individual companies is potentially more risky than an index if you don't know what you're doing. Have you read any investing books? It's important to understand that you aren't investing in just a name that has an associated share price. You're investing in a slice business that has a valuation and produces real earnings. Have you decided what type of investor are you? Do you want risky speculative stocks like oil, gas and commodities, or are you looking for stable and lower returns in consumer companies like Unilever or Coca Cola? Have you decided do you want to be a concentrated investor (10 positions), or do you want lots of diversification (40 positions). Do you want to invest in value stocks, do you want to focus on growth, or do you want to just follow momentum?

Those are some key questions you would need to be able to answer before you even buy a stock.

at9qu5vp0wcix7

Open up a demo trading account on the likes of Saxo before using any of your real money. This experience may shape your next decision, and perhaps even dissuade you from your current plan of investing in individual companies.

MayoSalmon

Jonah Squeaking Sometimes wrote: »

Open up a demo trading account on the likes of Saxo before using any of your real money. This experience may shape your next decision, and perhaps even dissuade you from your current plan of investing in individual companies.

Why is this so frowned upon?

Looking to invest in some steady stable companies here with min risk, invest and forget type of situation I would be looking for.

Francie Barrett

It sounds like you're just looking for someone to pick stocks for you without you having to do anything.

jive

MayoSalmon wrote: »

Why is this so frowned upon?

Looking to invest in some steady stable companies here with min risk, invest and forget type of situation I would be looking for.

Open a DeGiro account, transfer in €5k, purchase VGK (Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF). Excellent liquidity, diverse, exposure to developed Europe incl. Ireland (although mostly UK, German, French, Swiss) and no fees with DeGiro.

You're not going to get any diverse portfolio investing in individual stocks for €5k. If Europe goes tits up then so does VGK but as you're living in Europe you'll have more to worry about than losing 50% of your €5k.

Topper Harley's post is the most helpful, your €5k is probably better off spent elsewhere unless you have absolutely no other debts worth paying off.

cumulare

VGK trades on NYSE, currently priced at $47.53. The market is currently pricing a 15% chance that this ETF trades below $41 by March of next year. That's the type of risk you may be looking at with this one. I suspect it's a lot higher for individual stocks!

Sonnenblumen

MayoSalmon wrote: »

Hi guys,

Looking to invest roughly around €5,000 in some "safe" enough stocks.

Will be looking to add to this as I go. Investing through Degiro.

Any ideas on which stocks to start with, would like it as diverse as possible?

-Paddy Power, Glanbia, CRH, Dalata, Ryanair etc...

Fire ahead, expect to take a few hits along the way, but you can also manage it to outperform other options. Selecting bluechips is usually safe but my advice would be to broaden your horizons:
- seek value (avoid buying shares at/near highs
- look for realistic yields (most offer < 2.0% but some great options especially FTSE 100's offering divis > 4.0%)
- do not take divis in cash, instead re-invest and exploit compounding
- start small and grow portfolio
- select companies who are market leaders in their sectors (national/global)

A few potential candidates :
ISEQ: ICG, CRH, IFG
FTSE: National Grid, BP, Compass, GSK, Greencore
AIM: Hurricane Energy

Remember the old Russian saying, there are two types of fools in the market, one asks too many questions and the other asks too few

Do your research, and you can avoid many of the obvious pitfalls and manage your destiny.

Good luck with your efforts.

irish_investr

For exposure to Irish equities, the New Ireland Fund Inc might be worth a look. Minimize dealing charges and stamp duty. And get a nice dividend (taxable, though)

-- irishinvestor.ie

irish_investr

on the irishinvestor-dot-ie site, there's a "model portfolio" generator which calculates a proposal allocation based on age. Very simple stuff! But simplicity has its merits...

Could'nt agree more with the writer who stated that you need to take a "holistic" view when making an investment!

daheff

jive wrote: »

Topper Harley's post is the most helpful, your €5k is probably better off spent elsewhere unless you have absolutely no other debts worth paying off.

Not sure thats a fair point. The investment should be based on what you think the better return is -if your debts are at a very low interest rate (eg tracker mortgage) then getting a return to beat that rate (After tax) should be easier....however if your debt is a high rate credit card debt then it would be quite difficult to get a better return than paying down the credit card debt (but if you have a high credit card debt change your provider to one that has a 0 interest 6 month introductory offer).