TOT National Savings reduce interest rates

And the pound has collapsed since June 2016 so even a 'poor' global tracker would still do better than a deposit account.

Like Woodford and Barnett you mean :-(

If I buy 1000 shares in Joe Bloggs Manufacturing ltd, how does that help Joe Bloggs Ltd make more stuff? If Joe Bloggs share price doubles how does that help the company?

Surely after the initial share issue all of the profits/losses go to other investors rather than the company its-self.

may well reduce the cost of borrowing

well no. Dividends are controlled by the board of directors and may not be paid at all if the company wishes to invest profits in growth, for example. Or quadruple its directors salaries. Or give them shares. etc.

Of course if they go too far, the shareholders can sack the directors

Thanks, That makes it a bit clearer

If a lot of people buy shares in a company, either as individuals or through some financial management scheme, and the company makes good profits, pays good dividends etc, more people will want to own some of those shares, so their value increases by the 'laws' of supply and demand. A company whose share values are increasing suggests to money lenders such as banks that the company is sound, and those money lenders will be more inclined to lend additional funds for further capital investment, possibly at lower interest rates. That in turn usually means increased output by the company either in quantity or in value.

But if you don't know much about either investing or the company you're investing in, and you pick a poorly performing company, it may not help either you or the company; the share price may fall due to poor performance and you will lose your money. It pays to invest small amounts in a lot of companies, thereby spreading the risk. This is where financial management companies come in, as they do all that for you, at a price of course.

Trackers, almost by definition, are the average. That is why many, including Buffet, recommend them.

It's not a particular investment, it is one of several whose aim is to track a particular, or in this case, the global market. The only decision an investor needs to make is one based on attitude to risk and this fund offers a range of Equity/Bond ratios ranging from 100% to 20% equity (stock and shares) across world markets. There are several such trackers and whilst ever the world economy is expanding there will be growth.

Some reading on that new invention, tinternet or sumat, will be of value to many.

Having no company pension, and a fairly basic State Pension, I'm heavily dependent on investments for my income.

And where do you think all the pension companies, state or otherwise, put their money to pay their pensions?

It was the poor experience of Bolton in China that saved me from getting involved with anything Woodford. And if any supermarket is pushing a product hard at customers beyond normal advertising then one has to question why - yes Hargreaves Lansdown, why? When will you learn, or rather, when will investors learn?

Having several acquaintances who were close to that game, you really do NOT want to know.

The long and the short of it is that they are rubbish, and are lucky to achieve even market averages.

Which is lucky for people like me, who look for quality fund managers to invest on our behalf.

Because for every above average fund manager there needs to be some below average ones.

And pension fund managers are constrained to NOT take risk, so they average a few percent at most

Why? They could all be below (market) average as not every share is bought by a fund manager.

... or if you meant there are above and below average managers (as in some are better than others)? Then they could all still perform badly, just some less badly than others.

AnthonyL snipped-for-privacy@please.invalid posted

Duh.

What happens if the stock market crashes?

When a company issues shares it is borrowing money from the investors, there is no repayment date, the return on the investment depends on there being a profit with which to pay dividends. So if you invest in a company by buying its shares the only way to recover your original investment is by selling the shares to someone else. Ideally one who is more optimistic than you about the company's prospects and is therefore willing to pay a good price.

Nope, collecting it from the investors. It doesn?t have to be returned to the investors.

There never is any repayment unless the company chooses to buy back some shares, which some do at times.

Some chose to never pay a dividend. DEC/Digital never did.

Or to the company if it chooses to buy back some shares.

Or a speculator who is trading on short term changes in the share price.

No, that is a bond. Shares actually are a legal slice of the company. so theu are sold, not loaned. or ised as security against a loan.

Shares can and are bought back by the company on occasion, often all of them, so the company cease to be a public company and becomes private again.

Otherwise you are correct.

It doesn't always work like that - sometime in the late 80s or early 90s the chairman of a major corporation did or said something (I can't recall what it was) that caused a shareholder revolt. The AGM was packed with shareholders and it duly came to the vote about sacking the said chairman. It was voted down by the block votes of the pension funds, even though they too were unhappy with the said chairman, and someone was overheard afterwards saying "We can't have the shareholders running things, can we?".

It does and has. It bounces back. Look at the massive crashes in the last 70yrs.

Because HL make it a bit easier for those who don't want to make a bit more effort.

Wait for it to recover. The problem is not the stock market 'crash' (actually usually an overdue correction after a period of over exuberance) but the effect it may have on the companies ability to pay dividends.

Since 2000 dividends have become an important stream of income for pension companies, while since the same date the yield on gilts has fallen dramatically, and the number of people getting past 85 has gone up. THose generous pension promises made before 2000 are coming home to roost, badly plucked.

In Ireland a comparitively few highly paid public servants, notably in their version of the NHS have pretty well put the pension funding for Irish healthcare under a massive strain.

AnthonyL snipped-for-privacy@please.invalid posted

This reply, and your other reply ("Wait for it to recover") in this thread, seem to mean "You lose your money, but if you're lucky you might get it back again given enough time".

That sort of investment is not very attractive to people in later life.

You seriously think I didn't know that world stock markets have crashed several times in the past few decades, causing enormous losses for investors in shares and associated products?