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Stocks n Shares ISA


This is why I never previously invested, vanguard global has plummeted last few days 😳
Let's say there's a slightly odd person, called Bob. Bob decides for some strange reason only known to himself that he wants to build a massive hill in his back garden.

Bob's going to build his hill by taking a shovel and spreading just a little bit of dirt onto the same pile every day. He'll try and keep it an even shovel-load each time, not doing more or less every day.

The dirt pile starts small, but day after day Bob's little mound is growing. The key to it all is that he's sensible - he isn't taking any risks he isn't comfortable with, he isn't pouring too much on at the same time or doing nothing for too long. He also accepts that sometimes things won't go to plan.

Occasional days, some levels of his mound drop off back onto the ground, from things like squirells and crows or the weather. In fact, this is to the point that some of the drops mean that Bob loses a lot of gains from his hill-building, with the size of the mound going back to the size it was a day, week or even a month ago. One time, it went back to the size it was the year before. But, the important thing is that Bob's realised that even with these drops, it doesn't matter because the hill's always a bit bigger than when he started, and overall it keeps going up. A really bad drop today, still equals a hill the size of which he'd have been delighted with a few years before.

This continues, to the point that even when the biggest drops happen, Bob can see that his hill is nice and big. Despite the drops in the hill size because of the shithead squirells and crows, Bob just keeps shovelling away.

After a good few years, werido Bob has a f***ing huge hill, one so big that the crows, squirrels and weather can't touch it. Even when there's huge drops, it still stays nice and big provided that Bob keeps shovelling.

Unfortunately Bob never sorted his will and when he died his hated brother took ownership the hill and took a shit on it. The end.
 
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Just a heads up for anyone with Vanguard who holds Lifestrategy they are going to reduce the UK bias on the funds, equity dropping from about 25% to 20% and the bond side reducing from around 35% to 20%.
They've also made the Lifestrategy Global funds available to anyone, previously it was only IFA's who could access them. These are more of a 'true' global fund where the UK only has about 4% weighting.
They've also lowered the fees to 0.20%
 
Just a heads up for anyone with Vanguard who holds Lifestrategy they are going to reduce the UK bias on the funds, equity dropping from about 25% to 20% and the bond side reducing from around 35% to 20%.
They've also made the Lifestrategy Global funds available to anyone, previously it was only IFA's who could access them. These are more of a 'true' global fund where the UK only has about 4% weighting.
They've also lowered the fees to 0.20%

I was going to post this too as I think I’ve probably had the same email. Excellent news I think.
 
Just a heads up for anyone with Vanguard who holds Lifestrategy they are going to reduce the UK bias on the funds, equity dropping from about 25% to 20% and the bond side reducing from around 35% to 20%.
They've also made the Lifestrategy Global funds available to anyone, previously it was only IFA's who could access them. These are more of a 'true' global fund where the UK only has about 4% weighting.
They've also lowered the fees to 0.20%

Would the global funds available in general, outperform the existing ones do you know?
 
I wonder how much different the new LS100 global is from their FTSE global all cap fund since the uk weighting will be pretty much the same
 
I wonder how much different the new LS100 global is from their FTSE global all cap fund since the uk weighting will be pretty much the same

Main difference would be exposure to small-cap holdings in the FTSE global I guess but they'll be very similar I imagine? Although, LSGlobal 100 is actively managed compared to the All Cap being passive, so there'll be a difference there. I know the Artemis Global fund I have that's actively managed is very contrarian to the global passive I have.
 
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I wonder how much different the new LS100 global is from their FTSE global all cap fund since the uk weighting will be pretty much the same

The LS100 will still have a higher UK weighting. The Global All Cap only has around 3.5% UK.

I asked Gemini to compare them (AI tools can be good for this sort of thing as it is comparing factual information rather than opinions)

FeatureLifeStrategy 100% Equity (LS100)FTSE Global All Cap Index Fund
StrategyA "fund of funds" (holds other Vanguard funds)A single index tracker
Ongoing Fee (OCF)0.20% (Reduced from 0.22% in Jan 2026)0.23%
UK Exposure~20% (Reduced from 25% in early 2026)~3.5% (Market-weight)
US Exposure~45–50%60%
Small-Cap StocksLimited (mostly large/mid-cap)Extensive (includes small-caps)
Total Holdings~6,000–10,000+ (indirectly)~7,000+
 
If you want more exposure to UK then put proportion in VUKE. If you want more exposure to US put in VUSA. There are tracker funds invested in Europe ex UK, Japan, emerging markets and more or less any region.

If you want to weight your portfolio towards certain markets it’s fairly straightforward.
 
The LS100 will still have a higher UK weighting. The Global All Cap only has around 3.5% UK.

I asked Gemini to compare them (AI tools can be good for this sort of thing as it is comparing factual information rather than opinions)

FeatureLifeStrategy 100% Equity (LS100)FTSE Global All Cap Index Fund
StrategyA "fund of funds" (holds other Vanguard funds)A single index tracker
Ongoing Fee (OCF)0.20% (Reduced from 0.22% in Jan 2026)0.23%
UK Exposure~20% (Reduced from 25% in early 2026)~3.5% (Market-weight)
US Exposure~45–50%60%
Small-Cap StocksLimited (mostly large/mid-cap)Extensive (includes small-caps)
Total Holdings~6,000–10,000+ (indirectly)~7,000+
Good facts but the wrong fund
 
Anyone use Trading212 for a S&S ISA (or any other recommendations for that matter?)

Basically looking transfer out my work sharesave that has matured (correct me if I’m wrong) so that if I needed/wanted to sell then there would be no tax from gains in a S&S ISA
 
Anyone use Trading212 for a S&S ISA (or any other recommendations for that matter?)

Basically looking transfer out my work sharesave that has matured (correct me if I’m wrong) so that if I needed/wanted to sell then there would be no tax from gains in a S&S ISA
Have used it for a few years now, nee bother and easy to use. Only niggle is that any holdings are actually held with a 3rd party broker than with T212 directly, so any corporate actions (takeovers, mergers, stock splits, that kind of thing) can take way longer than it should to finalise (which is annoying if you've got stocks no longer tradeable and awaiting transfer or closing/stock swaps and splits etc). Everything else works great though imo.
 
Anyone use Trading212 for a S&S ISA (or any other recommendations for that matter?)

Basically looking transfer out my work sharesave that has matured (correct me if I’m wrong) so that if I needed/wanted to sell then there would be no tax from gains in a S&S ISA
Thats the one I use and it's absolutely fine.
 
Anyone use Trading212 for a S&S ISA (or any other recommendations for that matter?)

Basically looking transfer out my work sharesave that has matured (correct me if I’m wrong) so that if I needed/wanted to sell then there would be no tax from gains in a S&S ISA

Yes, I have a cash and S&S ISA with T212. Their website and app may not be the best but once you get to used it it then it's fairly easy to use. Never had to use their customer service though. Plenty of affiliate links around to get free shares for signing up.

You would have to check that a T212 ISA will accept transfers from a Sharesave scheme as not all providers will.
 
If you want more exposure to UK then put proportion in VUKE. If you want more exposure to US put in VUSA. There are tracker funds invested in Europe ex UK, Japan, emerging markets and more or less any region.

If you want to weight your portfolio towards certain markets it’s fairly straightforward.
My ‘gambling take a punt portfolio’ uses vanguard index funds with this weighting. Maximum of 40% in any one geographic area.

40% usa
10% each in:
Europe ex uk
Japan
Pacific ex japan
Emerging
20% money market *

* It was 100% equities until a few weeks ago but I am taking some profits and pondering for a bit. I need some cash within a few years potentially.
 
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My ‘gambling take a punt portfolio is’

40% usa
10% each in:
Europe ex uk
Japan
Pacific ex japan
Emerging
20% money market *

It was 100% equities until a few weeks ago but I am taking some profits and pondering for a bit. I need some cash within a few years potentially.
No UK at all?

Got a bit in mining and gold, which have been great lately. Might sell half

Got a decent chunk in money markets waiting for the crash but it just keeps going up.

Otherwise I’m quite happy 1/3 US 20% UK 15% Europe and a bit in Japan. Bits and pieces elsewhere
 
Mine are spread across different continents and different sectors.

Best so far is;
Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, Inc. is a provider of renewable, environmental and thermal technologies for industrial, electrical utility, municipal and other customers. 515% up
Oracle Power PLC is an international project developer, developing projects in Pakistan and Australia. 75.2% up

The rest are all poor, although Jangenda mining will probably lift again.

The temptation is to sell before a potential drop, but I just remain pacient for the next few years.
 
No UK at all?

Got a bit in mining and gold, which have been great lately. Might sell half

Got a decent chunk in money markets waiting for the crash but it just keeps going up.

Otherwise I’m quite happy 1/3 US 20% UK 15% Europe and a bit in Japan. Bits and pieces elsewhere
I run/manage 4 different portfolios across son’s SIPP, my SIPP, my ISA, my pension AVCs.

I try different approaches/weightings/allocations in each.

There’s 10% U.K. in the AVC portfolio and about 4% in the global trackers in each of the SIPPs.
 
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