Finance & Investments

[Blackpool Rock]

The problem is there are so many "rent-a-experts" then knowing which knowledge to take action on is hard.

Again though it's about finding reputable sources that you can trust and then taking the knowledge and information on board, for instance as I previously posted knowing that Tech stocks do worse when interest rates are high or going up and better when they are low; falling or predicted to fall is good info as i've increased my holding and they have indeed gone up nicely in the last few months 

Things don't always follow a set pattern though and last year was a strange one for stocks and bonds, conventional wisdom says that when one goes up the other should go down and vice versa but they both did badly 

[Darren101]

Anyone with experience of Money Market Funds?   There’s a Money Market ISA offering on some platforms. 

Supposedly low risk but not as safe as cash.  Not sure what returns are like but supposedly below inflation?

Edit: reading around, i think it’s a type of S&S Isa.

Then there’s also the Innovative Finance ISA.  No idea what that is yet

[Munter84]

Then there’s also the Innovative Finance ISA.  No idea what that is yet

Innovative Finance ISAs (IFISAs) were created to allow peer to peer (P2P) investments to be tax-wrapped. Many of the big P2P providers were offering these, and like most other ISAs you could only subscribe new cash to one per tax year and with a max total subscription of £20k across all of your ISA holdings. Like I mentioned earlier in this thread I wouldn't touch P2P with a 10 foot bargepole these days. Steer well clear!

[Lee_HXX]

There are occasional posts regarding finance & investments and I thought about starting a specific Finance & Investment thread 2 or 3 years ago but didn't however it's never too late to start 

I see this an an opportunity for people to share thoughts and tips on where may be a good place to invest and where you should perhaps be moving your money out of, some posters on other threads did seem to have quite a good and deep understanding of various investing aspects and it would be good to get their guidance

I've been investing for about 25 years though back then it was small change as I never had much money and not much of that was ever spare and then I got hammered by the dot com bubble bursting about 3 weeks after I got in 

I picked up investing properly about 14 years ago once i'd paid my mortgage off early and suddenly had spare cash that i knew would get wasted unless I tied it up, I am fortunate that once i've hived it off into a stocks ISA fund then I class it as untouchable and effectively a tax free extension to my pension

As anyone who invests will know it can be a bumpy and at times a very bumpy ride like being on the Big one at Blackpool pleasure beach 
It's certainly not for the feint hearted and you have to be prepared to hold your nerve when the markets are all heading downwards and not sell out.
Not an issue for me as i've always been a gambler and when I did a personal risk profile assessment it came back saying that i had almost no risk adversity 

In the last 5 years 1st Covid sent the markets into a panic and then Ukraine did the same thing a couple of years later just as things were looking up again.
I was fortunate with my decision when covid hit to sell out of certain underperforming sectors like the UK which was still suppressed on the back of Brexit and buy into Global Tech which was an area I only had a small holding in but wanted to increase that, my investments went up by about 50% in 3 or 4 months as Tech boomed on the back of everyone working from home etc 

The last couple of years have basically been shit due to Ukraine however things did start to show signs of picking up about 6 months ago or rather valuations continued to move sideways though I guess they were falling in real terms once high inflation is factored in.
I started to see some real signs of recovery 3 or 4 months ago where gains appeared to be held onto rather than going up 1 week and dropping back a week or so later, there had been 5 or 6 previous Bear market rallies which build your expectations before quickly pulling the rug from under you 

The upturn does seem to be a bit broader across various sectors now but the real winners over the last few months and again at present is the Global Tech sector which is booming
From what i've read this sector performed badly for the 12 months prior as it's adversely affected by high and rising interest rates more than other sectors, now that inflation and interest rates appear to have peaked and are falling back then Tech valuations are on the up

So anyone got any tips / info / thoughts to share 

Unsurprisingly my current tip would be to invest in Global Technology as I see this sector continuing to rise sharply for the next 1-2 years as interest rates continue to fall back
What I would also say is to invest in more than 1 fund as when I look at my Tech holdings they can perform quite differently when compared to each other so i look to average things out a bit

Also don't just invest in Tech as you need to have a broad and diversified portfolio just in case a sector takes a dive as you don't want all eggs in 1 basket no matter how tempting it is to go all in on whatever is making the most at the time   


And this isn't just about investing spare money in a stocks ISA as most people will have a company pension scheme which is probably invested in whatever shitty / boring / mediocre returning funds the cautious pension people have decided is best for you 
If you're able to choose your own funds then do some homework and start moving the money about so that you build a bigger pension pot, taking the time to read up on this stuff really is time well spent (A bit like researching a punt can pay dividends and avoid pitfalls)

Hell it may mean being able to retire a few years earlier than intended and then having both more time and more money to indulge in your favourite retirement hobbies, now I wonder what they might be then   

complete newbie to this, which platform / app do you use and why?
thanks

[Blackpool Rock]

complete newbie to this, which platform / app do you use and why?
thanks

I've recently consolidated all my investments with 1 provider - Fidelity, it makes it so much easier to manage having everything under 1 roof so to speak, I also now benefit from lower management charges

I had a small ISA holding with them from about 25 years ago which my dad actually gave me the money to start and then when I started investing my own cash I added it to that platform.

Firstly I trust them and that they are a large enough institution to weather any storm and not go bust, they have also been established for a long time rather than some of these things people try to push on social media like Arsebook or XYZ

Secondly they have updated their website over the last few years to make it a lot better and there are a lot of very useful features / tools that you can use to do an analysis on your Portfolio and cross check all manner of data when deciding what to buy / sell / switch etc

[RandomGuy99]

It looks like the US is catching a cold

BBC News - What a $1 deal says about America's office market
External Link/Members Only

[Blackpool Rock]

It looks like the US is catching a cold

BBC News - What a $1 deal says about America's office market
External Link/Members Only

Similar thing happening in London and most major cities though as people continue to WFH

[PilotMan]

Similar thing happening in London and most major cities though as people continue to WFH

I can state as fact from the data from one of my own business, we offer a particular B2B service to companies. The revenue from that business is based predominantly on people being in their workplace.

Assume a starting point of 100% attendance - 20% therefore equals 1 working day.

When Covid started that revenue instantly dropped by 82%, the remaining 18% was mostly derived from fixed contractual obligations, rather than actual revenue. Since Covid has ended some of that revenue has returned,  we're at about 40% of the previous run rate, so we lost 60%.

Those numbers tally with workplace patterns, where workers are only in the office for two days per week, equating to the 40%.

Many customers now state on their email footer what their office hours are,  and it's rarely 3 or more days in the office, usually just two.

What my clients tell me is that they have to offer this flexible work from home pattern, or their employees will leave and / or they can't attract new talent. I don't expect it to change anytime soon.

What I do see is exactly what that report is finding, that's offices and te locale are going to have to be more of a destination for employees, with something more than just a desk.

I already saw this already happening before Covid in "hipsterville" Shoreditch. Many of the clothes shop started serving coffee and had lounge seating, I found that a really odd, but growing trend. Co-working spaces opened in the backs of independent coffee shops. Companies were setting aside a significant proportion of their floor space to recreational areas.

The "City" offices just down the road stayed as they were.

The decline in revenues from both customer profiles however, for us is broadly the same. Indicating that even Hipster companies are unable to persuade staff to come in to the office, despite their beanbags and pool tables and free food.

I've been looking at and learning how to do office to residential conversions and repurposing some of the commercial space to more of a communal working environment, there appear to be lots of investment opportunities.

[Darren101]

Exactly this.  Same in this country. Our ‘new normal’ at my work is 3 days in the office Mon-Wed then WFH for the remaining 2 days. This is the whole office and many of our clients also offer this. Only introduced since covid lockdowns ended otherwise would be a dull 5 days in the office.

My commute isn’t long by any stretch but the time and cost savings adds up from not having to pay for petrol/parking or public transport.

Innovative Finance ISAs (IFISAs) were created to allow peer to peer (P2P) investments to be tax-wrapped. Many of the big P2P providers were offering these, and like most other ISAs you could only subscribe new cash to one per tax year and with a max total subscription of £20k across all of your ISA holdings. Like I mentioned earlier in this thread I wouldn't touch P2P with a 10 foot bargepole these days. Steer well clear!

Ta.  Will steer clear.

[PilotMan]

Exactly this.  Same in this country. Our ‘new normal’ at my work is 3 days in the office Mon-Wed then WFH for the remaining 2 days. This is the whole office and many of our clients also offer this. Only introduced since covid lockdowns ended otherwise would be a dull 5 days in the office.

My commute isn’t long by any stretch but the time and cost savings adds up from not having to pay for petrol/parking or public transport.

Ta.  Will steer clear.

What's the general overall feeling about this amongst your fellow workers?

[Darren101]

After lock down was lifted, we realised we could work effectively remotely.  We all had a vote, and all were in favour of a hybrid arrangement. Initially trialled it, and if we weren’t being reasonable, e.g. logging in late, not answering phones, etc, they would have pulled it but it worked out and everyone is happy with it.  People can go in if they wanted to or needed to depending on what work is scheduled.

There are fully remote roles at other companies but I think hybrid is good as it lets you mingle with your colleagues in person so you don’t feel too disconnected from the job. We want to be a bit close knit to retain staff and the social interaction in person helps us get to know each other.

I like it, i can spend an extra half hour in bed on Thurs/Fri 

Anyway, yeah, some clients actually reduced office space and some even scrapped the office completely so I suspect it’s a blow to some office workspace landlords initially but there’s still plenty of large companies that need an office space.  Fewer staff may go in though so the local restaurants can still suffer a bit.

Anyway…investments. I chucked £500 in a S&P 500 Tech Fund in December.  I’m up £34! I was just checking it out.

[PilotMan]

After lock down was lifted, we realised we could work effectively remotely.  We all had a vote, and all were in favour of a hybrid arrangement. Initially trialled it, and if we weren’t being reasonable, e.g. logging in late, not answering phones, etc, they would have pulled it but it worked out and everyone is happy with it.  People can go in if they wanted to or needed to depending on what work is scheduled.

There are fully remote roles at other companies but I think hybrid is good as it lets you mingle with your colleagues in person so you don’t feel too disconnected from the job. We want to be a bit close knit to retain staff and the social interaction in person helps us get to know each other.

I like it, i can spend an extra half hour in bed on Thurs/Fri 

Anyway, yeah, some clients actually reduced office space and some even scrapped the office completely so I suspect it’s a blow to some office workspace landlords initially but there’s still plenty of large companies that need an office space.  Fewer staff may go in though so the local restaurants can still suffer a bit.

Anyway…investments. I chucked £500 in a S&P 500 Tech Fund in December.  I’m up £34! I was just checking it out.

That's pretty much spot on to what I am finding, whereabouts are you located if you don't mind me asking?

We started working remotely during covid, because we had to. Once we got used to that, I decided to ditch the office altogether. We all work 100% remotely now, with the exception of when we need to visit clients at their site.

I got rid of a few underperforming workers (they weren't actually working, there was zero output) and I employ some remote workers in the Philippines. They have to log on using a tool called Hubstaff, it records their worked hours and monitors their performance, it totals up the hours worked and produces their weekly pay amount. They're all excellent workers, it's one of the best things to come out of Covid for me.

There are plenty of tech companies that have benefitted because of Covid, I'm sure that there's an opportunity to invest in firms like Hubstaff.

[RandomGuy99]

What I do see is exactly what that report is finding, that's offices and te locale are going to have to be more of a destination for employees, with something more than just a desk.

Have they considered having in office SPs?

Maybe a few rotating through the office over a month?

That would make me go into the office.

[Darren101]

South London, in tech.  We are heavy on time sheets and software logging performance, reports etc to measure activity, performance etc and to pick up on any straddlers not pulling their weight. Aside that, it's also used to improve efficiency over time.

[RandomGuy99]

External Link/Members Only

[PilotMan]

External Link/Members Only

That looks like a really good resource, thanks for sharing 

[PilotMan]

South London, in tech.  We are heavy on time sheets and software logging performance, reports etc to measure activity, performance etc and to pick up on any straddlers not pulling their weight. Aside that, it's also used to improve efficiency over time.

What software do you use, and how did / do employees take to being monitored and are they remote or on a company site?

I only monitor the ones I have in the Philippines.

[PilotMan]

Have they considered having in office SPs?

Maybe a few rotating through the office over a month?

That would make me go into the office.

Business idea - Prossie vouchers - you get one for each day in the office, prossies can charge accordingly, it's like luncheon vouchers for sex 

[Darren101]

What software do you use, and how did / do employees take to being monitored and are they remote or on a company site?

I only monitor the ones I have in the Philippines.

Oh part of the day to day job is to fill timesheets and log all work, bit like a lawyer would set a timer and bill for every minute.  All phone calls, work done, gets logged manually in an ITSM system.  We're not actually monitored like mouse and keyboard activity monitoring or anything although there is software for that sort of thing.

We all dislike it as it's a faff but it's part of the job so roll with it. We wouldn't like any other tracking. Might be laws regarding other software 'monitoring'.  Timesheets is used in a couple of different industries.

[RandomGuy99]

Business idea - Prossie vouchers - you get one for each day in the office, prossies can charge accordingly, it's like luncheon vouchers for sex 

I forgot to say. All rights reserved.  I get 45% of all sales.

[PilotMan]

I forgot to say. All rights reserved.  I get 45% of all sales.

Pimping is illegal, off to the clink for you!

[Munter84]

I already saw this already happening before Covid in "hipsterville" Shoreditch. Many of the clothes shop started serving coffee and had lounge seating, I found that a really odd, but growing trend. Co-working spaces opened in the backs of independent coffee shops. Companies were setting aside a significant proportion of their floor space to recreational areas.

Shortly before Covid hit, my colleague and I were desperately trying to convince our boss to let us set up our department in a Wework that had, among other things, a set of free beer taps. Very tempting for the entirely wrong reasons!

Then Covid fucked everything up, I worked remotely when mandatory (and eventually back to the original office), and Wework went bankrupt. C'est la vie.

[RandomGuy99]

Pimping is illegal, off to the clink for you!

Oh bugger. I guess I don't get the £200 for passing Go either.

[PepeMAGA]

B&M I think it's currently undervalued. They have good growth in presence and profits and are taking over around 50 wilkos locations this year. A good dividend as well.

[Malvolio]

Basic starting point - write down your income, your outgoings, your assets and your liabilities.

See if you can make any adjustments to your outgoings and consolidate any debts you might have.

Then, work out how much you can invest, go for some diversified investments, invest it and leave it alone.

If you make ongoing investments, try to invest the same amount each month to benefit from pound cost averaging.

Investment vehicles - pay into a pension as you get to claim income tax back (and your employer is obliged to contribute too).  After that, invest in an ISA as all growth is tax-free, along with withdrawals.

Spend your spare cash on punting (OK, this isn't in the FCA guidelines, but you need to have some fun).

[RandomGuy99]

Then, work out how much you can invest, go for some diversified investments, invest it and leave it alone.

I don't think you totally want to leave it alone. You definitely need to be checking performance and making adjustments if necessary.  If you have money in a pension scheme you need to be ensuring your money is being invested in funds that match your appetite for risk.

If you own stocks or shares outside a fund you also need to be actively managing them. You need to take advantage of peaks in price to sell and reinvest. If you just passively hold some stocks you could miss out on a profit.

[windowlicker]

So I am an investment professional and just spotted this thread and read with interest. My thoughts are as follows:

- Don't try and build a portfolio yourself with direct equities. You will probably purchase mostly UK Equities and this will hold you back. You will only receive the information on the companies after the market has moved. You will suffer from a lack of diversification as you will only hold equities and your asset allocation will be poor.
- The UK only makes up around 5% of the workd market and you miss out a lot by only buying UK stocks. 30 years ago most portfolios were 70% plus in the UK. Now most portfolios are under 10% in the UK.
- The feeling is the UK is cheap and value. It is cheap for a reason and growth prospects are poor. I believe it is relatively poor value. A mixed fund will allow the manager to change the balance in the portfolio with the asset allocation and the geography. They will do better than any of us can.
- A lot of clients were keen to move to cash last year thinking they would enjoy the higher interest rates. They wanted to sell out to get 5% for a period of 1 or 2 years. I advised them not to as they would miss the inevitable bounce. The 5% rates will not last and as interest rates reduce markets will move ahead. Most clients have growth of over 10% over the last 6 months.
- If you are low risk though do not invest. The potential for returns in lower risk investments is low. The charges will impact on the growth so lower risk investments are less viable.

Some of my choice investments at present:

Fund - Rathbones Global Opportunities Fund - very high in the US but will reduce if prospects detiorate.
ETF - L & G Cyber security fund - A good specialist area. Unlikely there will be a drop off in demand for cyber security and with all the scammers and ai it will likely move forward at a pace.
Stock - if I was forced to buy a UK stock at present, I would invest in St James Place. Their stock is down 45% and looks like as is often the case it has been oversold.

Anyway, I could go on about this stuff for ages but hope this helps.

[Blackpool Rock]

So I am an investment professional and just spotted this thread and read with interest. My thoughts are as follows:

- Don't try and build a portfolio yourself with direct equities. You will probably purchase mostly UK Equities and this will hold you back. You will only receive the information on the companies after the market has moved. You will suffer from a lack of diversification as you will only hold equities and your asset allocation will be poor.
- The UK only makes up around 5% of the workd market and you miss out a lot by only buying UK stocks. 30 years ago most portfolios were 70% plus in the UK. Now most portfolios are under 10% in the UK.
- The feeling is the UK is cheap and value. It is cheap for a reason and growth prospects are poor. I believe it is relatively poor value. A mixed fund will allow the manager to change the balance in the portfolio with the asset allocation and the geography. They will do better than any of us can.
- A lot of clients were keen to move to cash last year thinking they would enjoy the higher interest rates. They wanted to sell out to get 5% for a period of 1 or 2 years. I advised them not to as they would miss the inevitable bounce. The 5% rates will not last and as interest rates reduce markets will move ahead. Most clients have growth of over 10% over the last 6 months.
- If you are low risk though do not invest. The potential for returns in lower risk investments is low. The charges will impact on the growth so lower risk investments are less viable.

Some of my choice investments at present:

Fund - Rathbones Global Opportunities Fund - very high in the US but will reduce if prospects detiorate.
ETF - L & G Cyber security fund - A good specialist area. Unlikely there will be a drop off in demand for cyber security and with all the scammers and ai it will likely move forward at a pace.
Stock - if I was forced to buy a UK stock at present, I would invest in St James Place. Their stock is down 45% and looks like as is often the case it has been oversold.

Anyway, I could go on about this stuff for ages but hope this helps.

Good to have a professional on board and I concur with what you have said especially about the home bias that people tend to get sucked into

[maxxblue]

So I am an investment professional and just spotted this thread and read with interest. My thoughts are as follows:

Really? 

[PilotMan]

@windowlicker

Does St James Place potential fines and compensation claims not worry you?

[PilotMan]

Any recommendations for a savings account with good access and ability to withdraw funds gradually over 12 months?

I'm selling some properties over the next year, so will have funds coming in, but I'm developing some over the next year, so will have funds going out.

Rather than looking around continually I've found a cash deposit platform.

Flagstone.com

Basically you can access over 50 different banks savings accounts, without having to open accounts everywhere. You manage it all under one account at Flagstone.

It also means you can split your money across different banks so that it all comes within the fscs limit.

[Blackpool Rock]

Rather than looking around continually I've found a cash deposit platform.

Flagstone.com

Basically you can access over 50 different banks savings accounts, without having to open accounts everywhere. You manage it all under one account at Flagstone.

It also means you can split your money across different banks so that it all comes within the fscs limit.

Never heard of that before, interesting

Your link actually took me to a site for well stone flagstones, think this may be the right one
External Link/Members Only

[PilotMan]

Never heard of that before, interesting

Your link actually took me to a site for well stone flagstones, think this may be the right one
External Link/Members Only

Yes, my mistake 

That's the one.

[Colston36]

If you are a sophistcated investor I suggest you look at WealthClub.com. The number of awards they have won speaks for itself. I know of them in my professional capacity.

[PilotMan]

If you are a sophistcated investor I suggest you look at WealthClub.com. The number of awards they have won speaks for itself. I know of them in my professional capacity.

That looks interesting, kind of like the type of investing a Family Office would do.

[Squire Haggard]

@windowlicker

Does St James Place potential fines and compensation claims not worry you?

Whale oil beef hooked. Its now got severe reputational damage IMO. I dont think that I want to buy their shares.

''St James’s Place has come under further pressure after it was revealed that the wealth manager faces more than 15,000 overcharging claims, which combined with other customer complaints, could cost the firm as much as £426m.''

External Link/Members Only

[PilotMan]

Whale oil beef hooked. Its now got severe reputational damage IMO. I dont think that I want to buy their shares.

''St James’s Place has come under further pressure after it was revealed that the wealth manager faces more than 15,000 overcharging claims, which combined with other customer complaints, could cost the firm as much as £426m.''

External Link/Members Only

Exactly, that's why I have my suspicions about his claim to be an investment professional, or he's really a wind up merchant.

[maxxblue]

Exactly, that's why I have my suspicions about his claim to be an investment professional, or he's really a wind up merchant.

I doubt very much he's an investment professional - his 'advice' is poor, ill-informed and financially illiterate.

[Steely Dan]

I broadly agree with windowlicker (other than the value of licking windows, clearly).  I have a balanced, non UK portfolio by using Brewin Dolphin Growth fund, via Aviva.  The growth makes up for the fees - at least over the last 12 months.  Next 12 months ... no one sure is sure, but I'm going to hold my nerve.

In terms of St James place, sometimes rubbish companies value drops too low.  They are shitty, but not THAT shitty.  Can be worth 2-5% of your portfolio to try these at times.  Better than crypto ... at least there is a real asset under there somewhere. 

[windowlicker]

I do not work for SJP and regard them as the dark side.

I just feel they have been oversold which is often the case. They have set aside funds to cover the costs of their indiescretion.

The lack of servicing is common across the whole industry and not just SJP. Others will get pulled up soon too and there will be more fines. This will take the pressure off SJP a bit. I just think they will recover from this and the price will increase.

[RandomGuy99]

I keep seeing lots of ads for passive income stocks where you can get a nice income from the dividends paid out on the stocks.

Is this really a thing?

[RandomGuy99]

Hidden Image/Members Only

[Steely Dan]

I keep seeing lots of ads for passive income stocks where you can get a nice income from the dividends paid out on the stocks.

Is this really a thing?

As the linked article says, sure.  But dividend income is no more certain than other income.  The past is not a perfect predictor for the future.  And anyway what matters is 'total shareholder return' the sum of dividend income and share price increase.  If you have enough money to waste (ahem spend) on escorts, you might consider an independent financial advisor, rather than just relying on internet ads or taking advice from a fuckers forum.

[Colston36]

That looks interesting, kind of like the type of investing a Family Office would do.

I can only say that I used to work with the founders when they were at Hargreaves Lansdown and what they offer is unique in the UK market.

[RandomGuy99]

As the linked article says, sure.  But dividend income is no more certain than other income.  The past is not a perfect predictor for the future.  And anyway what matters is 'total shareholder return' the sum of dividend income and share price increase.  If you have enough money to waste (ahem spend) on escorts, you might consider an independent financial advisor, rather than just relying on internet ads or taking advice from a fuckers forum.

Thanks, I might try an IFA. I've tried my bank's "wealth management" person but obviously he just wants to sell me products from the bank he works for.

[Steely Dan]

Thanks, I might try an IFA.

External Link/Members Only

[Malvolio]

I don't think you totally want to leave it alone. You definitely need to be checking performance and making adjustments if necessary.  If you have money in a pension scheme you need to be ensuring your money is being invested in funds that match your appetite for risk.

If you own stocks or shares outside a fund you also need to be actively managing them. You need to take advantage of peaks in price to sell and reinvest. If you just passively hold some stocks you could miss out on a profit.

My issue with selling in and out of funds is that doing so will cost you.  I should also say I'm looking for long term investments as I've accepted I'll be putting in another 15 years at work before I retire, and I don't need to touch my investments whilst I'm working.  In my view return over three years (say) isn't too relevant as long term performance is what I'm after. 

I'd also add if you have holdings outside an ISA or pension you need to consider your CGT liability.  Now the CGT allowance is going down to a measly £3k a year you could face an unpleasantly large tax bill when you come to sell if your investments have done well, so take some gains each year.

Final point - if you get to participate in a share plan at work at a discounted rate, take a good look at what's on offer. 

[RandomGuy99]

My issue with selling in and out of funds is that doing so will cost you.  I should also say I'm looking for long term investments as I've accepted I'll be putting in another 15 years at work before I retire, and I don't need to touch my investments whilst I'm working.  In my view return over three years (say) isn't too relevant as long term performance is what I'm after. 

I'd also add if you have holdings outside an ISA or pension you need to consider your CGT liability.  Now the CGT allowance is going down to a measly £3k a year you could face an unpleasantly large tax bill when you come to sell if your investments have done well, so take some gains each year.

Final point - if you get to participate in a share plan at work at a discounted rate, take a good look at what's on offer.

I wasn't suggesting selling in and out of funds. I talking about individual stocks you may hold. Some stocks I hold had nice peaks during COVID and has since tanked. If you can spot these peaks and sell at that point you can make a decent profit.

[Blackpool Rock]

My issue with selling in and out of funds is that doing so will cost you.  I should also say I'm looking for long term investments as I've accepted I'll be putting in another 15 years at work before I retire, and I don't need to touch my investments whilst I'm working.  In my view return over three years (say) isn't too relevant as long term performance is what I'm after. 

I'd also add if you have holdings outside an ISA or pension you need to consider your CGT liability.  Now the CGT allowance is going down to a measly £3k a year you could face an unpleasantly large tax bill when you come to sell if your investments have done well, so take some gains each year.

Final point - if you get to participate in a share plan at work at a discounted rate, take a good look at what's on offer.

I can sell funds and switch money between funds but it doesn't cost me a penny to do so directly 

There are "Fund" fees and "Management" fees on my account but these have to be paid regardless of whether or not I keep swapping or just passively hold the same funds

You are right that investing should be viewed as long term however i'd say that you should look at your holding every so often and rejig things if something isn't doing too well.
I now look at switching out badly performing funds 3 or 4 times a year but would say an evaluation is really needed at least once or twice a year, IMO you do need to give a newly acquired fund time to prove itself however in the past i've been guilty of holding funds which were underperforming for far too long like many UK funds which had been doing well but then kept sliding post Brexit, these days I just cull the duffers and move on even if I have to take a loss

[Blackpool Rock]

I wasn't suggesting selling in and out of funds. I talking about individual stocks you may hold. Some stocks I hold had nice peaks during COVID and has since tanked. If you can spot these peaks and sell at that point you can make a decent profit.

The key Big word in that is "IF"

As the saying goes there are 2 types of investor, firstly there are those who can't time the market and secondly there are those who don't know they can't time the market 

Obviously when I invest i'm looking to time the market