How do I trade in the Fund Supermarket?

You can buy and sell either online or by phone on 0870 600 4080.

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How do I access the Fund Supermarket research?

BrokerLine gives you access to a range of market information and research. Once you have a BrokerLine account, simply log in to your account and go to the Markets and Research section.

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What is a fund?

A fund is a basket of underlying securities. The fund manager follows the investors' instructions and builds their fund using a mixture of gilts, bonds, shares and cash. You can buy units in a fund and automatically have your investment spread across the underlying securities.

In the UK, funds are more commonly known as either unit trusts or OEICs (open-ended investment companies). Although unit trusts and OEICs are very similar, there is one fundamental difference - unit trusts have a buy price and a sell price (bid/offer spread) whereas OEICs only have one price. You can find out more about unit trusts and OEICs by calling us on 0870 600 4080.

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What are the advantages of investing in a fund?

The past performance of unit trusts and OEICs shows that appropriately mixed portfolios of funds can outperform traditional bank or building society savings accounts over the medium to long term.

Although they can give excellent returns, there is the risk that the value of the investment can fall as well as rise, as with any securities-based investment. It is important that you choose the right fund. However, past performance is no guarantee of future performance.

Unit trusts and OEICs spread their investment and are professionally managed, so they are sometimes considered less risky than individual shares.

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What are the settlement periods for buying and selling funds?

In the Fund Supermarket, the normal settlement period will be three working days, but with some fund companies it will be four working days. Non-Supermarket Funds have settlement periods of four working days.

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What is the minimum investment in a Supermarket Fund?

The minimum initial investment is £500 per fund. After that, there is no minimum investment in the fund.

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What are the initial sales charges?

When companies sell their funds, there is an initial sales charge that can be as high as 5.5%. The Fund Supermarket discounts this charge by at least 57% and as much as 100% on certain funds.

For example, if you want to invest £5,000 into the XYZ unit trust. If your purchase includes the full initial sales charge of 5.5% (£275), then £4,725 would be invested in the unit trust. But if you buy through the Fund Supermarket at a discounted initial sales charge of 1.5% (£75), then £4,925 would be invested in the unit trust. This means you get more units for the same amount of your money.

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What about funds not in the Fund Supermarket?

If you would like to invest in a fund that isn't in the Fund Supermarket, please call us on 0870 600 4080. We can source most UK unit trusts and OEICs, although these are not available online.

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