Investing in Funds Using a Fund Supermarket Could Save You Time and Money

In financial services it can often save money to leave the middle man in. And when it comes to investing in funds it can be beneficial to let someone, in this case a website, do the hard work for you.

Funds enable investors to pool their money with other investors to get access to more stocks or bonds than most people can buy or manage themselves. Funds can usually offer greater diversification, professional management and more convenience than investing in individual stocks or bonds and are looked after by a fund manager, who researches the market to try and provide a good return.

But because investing in funds can be complicated there are so many to choose from, many investors research and manage their funds using a fund supermarket.

Discounts and offers

These online platforms provide a facility for buying and selling a wide range of investment funds from different fund management companies. But generally one of the attractions of a fund supermarket is the discounts and offers available to customers.

Usually the initial charge, which you pay every time you invest in a fund, is as high as 5.50 per cent but via a fund supermarket you can reduce the upfront fee by as much as 100 per cent and some even offer cashback when you invest your money or transfer certain amounts from other investments.

Manage your money in one place

As well as big discounts fund supermarkets can make buying funds and managing your investments straightforward by bringing them all under one roof. So if you have existing investments with separate fund managers a fund supermarket can help you consolidate all of your investments and bring them together in one place.

Fund supermarkets also give you access to a large range of funds, Fair Investment Company allows you to choose from up to 1,300 funds from more than 90 fund managers, including Invesco and Jupiter. once you are registered you can easily switch between funds in the future, and the minimum investment is often as little as £500 or £50 a month.

Research

Fund supermarkets allow you to make an informed decision about how and where to invest your money. They will often enable you to see tables, charts and company information so you can compare and contrast the different deals at your computer screen.

You can also compare funds from different sectors against each other to see which one best suits your investment needs.

ISA investments

You can also use funds to take advantage of your annual ISA allowance by investing within your individual ISA wrapper. You can either choose to invest the whole annual ISA allowance as stocks and shares within a fund, which is up to £10,200, or up to £5,100 can be invested, with the other £5,100 reserved solely for cash savings.

Using a fund supermarket to do this bypasses hefty charges, some of which can be up to 5.50 per cent of the initial investment. This allows you to make the most of your tax free allowance in one go. Existing ISAs can also be brought together into one place using a fund supermarket.

For fund quotes and advice visit Fair Investment Company

Article submitted by Lois Avery, Editorial Assistant for Fair Investment Company Ltd. Writing about savings & investments and pensions. Fair Investment Company is a financial services provider, acting as an 'introducer' for consumers to other companies who provide financial products and services. Through our website Fair Investment Company we offer a range of online tools that enable consumers to engage with leading financial products and services so they can make an informed decision about what to do with their money.