Your pension in your pocket
Our app makes it easy to keep an eye on your pension and plan for the future.
Investment options
Having a diversified portfolio can be one of the simplest ways to minimise your investment risk. With Scottish Widows Share Dealing you can trade a wide range of investment options.
Please remember that the value of investments and the income from them can fall as well as rise, and you may get back less than you invest. If you’re not sure about investing, seek financial advice. There will normally be a charge for that advice. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may be subject to change in the future.
UK and international shares
Trade shares on the London Stock Exchange and six other world markets, New York, Brussels, Frankfurt, Paris, Milan and Amsterdam.
Funds
A fund is a package of investments. Your money is invested with other people's money in one fund. Funds give you access to lots of shares, bonds and other types of investment. By investing this way, you can spread risk.
Funds can give you exposure to a much wider range of investments than you would be able to obtain as an individual. You can trade in specific funds which will spread your money between different sectors, indices or geographic locations which can help to reduce the risk involved in stock market investing.
As funds may include many different investments, the risk of each individual asset underperforming is spread which reduces your overall exposure. That’s not to say that funds can’t go down in value – they can and you could still lose some, or all, of your initial investment. For example, funds can invest solely in shares which means if the share price of one of the companies invested in drops, your fund’s performance will be affected. However, as your investment is spread across a number of companies, your overall risk is lowered.
As funds are professionally managed, they do have management and administration costs which will reduce your return through charges on the fund. These charges do vary between funds so make sure you find out all of the charges involved in a fund before you invest.
Investment Trusts
Investment Trusts are companies that invest in the shares of other companies on behalf of investors. Investors' money is taken and pooled together by a professional fund manager who will then purchase stocks and shares in a wide variety of companies.
As Investment Trusts are professionally managed, they do have management and administration costs which will reduce your return through charges on the fund. These charges do vary between funds so make sure you find out all of the charges involved in a fund before you invest.
Exchange Traded Funds
An Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) can track a stock market e.g. the FTSE 100, a commodity, bonds, or a basket of assets. They are similar to funds as they allow you to potentially own a larger range of assets within the one investment. ETFs trade like ordinary shares and so the price will change throughout the day as they are bought and sold.
Please note: We are not able to trade or hold US listed ETFs.
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPAC)
What is a SPAC?
A SPAC is a company or corporation which is formed with the purpose of raising funds through an Initial Public Offering (IPO). SPACs are not like regular companies with products or services and are also known as ‘blank cheque’ investments or ‘shell companies’.
What will my money be invested in?
The money raised in a SPACs IPO will be used to buy into one or more companies and/or company assets within a particular sector, and within a set timeframe. It’s also commonplace for SPACS to still be deciding on their future investments before and after an IPO takes place.
It’s important that you carry out careful due diligence on these types of investments before investing, and if you are still unsure we recommend that you seek independent financial advice.