Please remember, investment value can go up or down and you could get back less than you invest. The value of international investments may be affected by currency fluctuations which might reduce their value in sterling.
What prompted you to nominate friends and/or family? Â Â Â
Both my sons had ISAs/Junior ISAs (JISAs) with different brokers, but it had always been my intention for them to open an account with interactive investor, as I had always had a positive experience with them. When Friends and Family was introduced, I nominated my wife, and then transferred the boys to ii. The process was very simple and having all our family in one place saves money and allows everyone to benefit from ii’s services.
Which assets do you personally invest in across your ii accounts? Â Â Â
UK large company shares, US shares, funds and investment trusts.
Which are your top five holdings (in terms of % weighting) across your ii accounts?  Â
- Legal & General (LSE:LGEN)
- CQS New City High Yield (LSE:NCYF)
- TwentyFour Select Monthly Income (LSE:SMIF)
- Diversified Energy (LSE:DEC)
- Direct Line Insurance Group (LSE:DLG)
How regularly do you monitor your portfolio? Â Â Â
Monthly.
What are your investing goals? Â Â Â
Retirement.
What was your first investment, and what started you on your investment journey?  Â
I worked for L&G for 10 years and bought my first shares through their share purchase scheme.
Did you find it easy to start investing?  Â
Yes, I didn’t want investing to scare me or feel that it was something only professionals did, so I carried out research to better understand the market and company financials.
What has been your best investment to date?  Â
Legal & General (LSE:LGEN). I hadn’t looked at my shares for a long time, but when I did I had a pleasant surprise!
What has been your worst investment to date? Â
Do you have any investing tips?
Do your own research and decide which goals you are investing for, as that will influence your choices. Try to ignore market volatility and don’t panic-sell, instead view it as a time to buy good companies at a cheap price.
Your requirements will also change over time and so will your portfolio. My original growth focus has now changed to income investing with a view to building up a retirement income. We automatically reinvest our dividends as the compounding effect over years is very powerful.
Free investing for your friends and family
You can gift up to 5 people a free subscription to ii. Â Simply add them to your plan and their monthly cost is zero.
Each member can invest up to £50,000 in an ISA or a general investing account.
With free regular investing, they’ll pay no investing fees. And they’ll pay our normal investing fees if they want to buy and sell investments. Terms apply.Â
These customer stories are provided for information purposes only. Â Occasionally, an opinion about whether to buy or sell a specific investment may be provided by third parties. Â The content is not intended to be a personal recommendation to buy or sell any financial instrument or product, or to adopt any investment strategy as it is not provided based on an assessment of your investing knowledge and experience, your financial situation or your investment objectives. The value of your investments, and the income derived from them, may go down as well as up. You may not get back all the money that you invest. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.