Investing

Half of all customer deposits at peer-to-peer lender Zopa are now via its innovative finance Isa, despite only launching the tax-free accounts in June 2017, This is Money can reveal. Zopa, which was the first to offer the new style Isa product, said 12,000 customers have opened one of its two Isas, which offer up to 4.6 per cent interest.

Investment experts are often found dishing out guidance on where to invest your Isa. But where - and how - do they invest theirs? To give you an insight into what those in the industry do with their investments, we asked some leading experts how they use their Isa allowance.

Over the long term not investing in shares means you are passing up the best chance of inflation-beating returns. If you already invest, then you'll know what to do to get your money into an investing Isa before the end of the tax year - but what if you are new to the game? These are my tips.

Now is the time when investors rush to fill up their Isas before the tax year ends in April. We get Catriona Reed, of Seven IM's, tips for what investors should think about when investing in a stocks and shares Isa - and pick out some bright spots that they could consider investing in.

Merchants invests in carefully chosen listed UK businesses with good growth potential and it pays a generous dividend to shareholders. Dividends have increased annually for the past 35 years and, at 455p, the shares offer a yield of more than 5 per cent - highly attractive in today's low interest rate environment. Merchants is different from most of its peers because it does not just invest in large, established firms that are household names.

Choosing the right DIY platform is crucial but a wealth of choice and changes to charges have left many investors scratching their heads. We pick some of the best. We also highlight why investing in an Isa makes sense, as it should protect your hopefully growing investments from tax forever.

For years, investing in technology firms seemed like a no-brainer. The share prices of Silicon Valley giants surged higher and higher as technology burrowed deeper into our lives. But investor sentiment has shifted in the wake of the Facebook data-leak scandal this week. It is thought governments and regulators will clamp down on how social-media sites use the extremely profitable data that their users provide. And advertisers are now threatening to spend their cash elsewhere, which would deal a double blow to tech firms.

A whole host of online investment firms have cropped up in recent years, offering to help you pick and manage a portfolio, meet your financial goals and make money - all for a 'modest' fee. They are known as robo-advisers, but what do these services offer and how can they help you? We take a look.

I have about £250,000 from life savings and the proceeds of a house sale in my bank account. What should I do with it? The first thing to ask yourself is what you want the money for. If you don't need it for a while, consider the stock market - that's where you'll get the most growth.

Investment trusts, like bank branches, are a little old school. Many have been around since the late 19th Century, are steeped in history and have names that once meant something to someone but now appear a little archaic and ridiculous. Am I being a little Cruella De Vil? No. Think Mid Wynd International. Think Foreign & Colonial (the oldest at 150 years). Brunner, Law Debenture, Scottish Mortgage, Temple Bar and Witan. Que?

Our national obsession with squirreling savings away in cash deposits rather than choosing potentially higher-earning investments costs households more than £30 billion in lost returns. But investing doesn't mean that you have to take a huge gamble with your savings pot, we explain how to get started and make your money work harder.

The end of the tax year is fast approaching - meaning that the clock is ticking for investors take full advantage of the bumper £20,000 tax free Isa limit. As the scrounge for the best inflation busting investments intensifies ahead of 6 April, investment trusts could be the gem that many investors have yet to unearth.

Just before Christmas in 2007, Warren Buffett made a ten-year bet - that a dumb tracker fund would beat the world's smartest fund managers. In the end, the index fund thrashed the hedge funds and this week in his annual shareholder letter, Buffett offered us his thoughts on what he learnt from it - and revealed the twist in the tale.

I wish to start a pension for my grandson and pay in £200 a month. What do I need to consider? If he is employed and earns more than £10,000, he should be enrolled in his company's pension scheme. From April 6, a minimum of 5 per cent of his salary will be paid into his pension.

A £1,000 pot is not a large amount of money in investing terms but you can still invest to make some money if you know where to look and think long-term. We take a look at how someone with £1,000 to invest can get started, depending on much effort they want to put in.

How do I find out how much income I'm going to receive from a fund and what is the difference between a dividend yield and dividend payment? The easiest way to discover how much income your fund will pay is to look at its factsheet. You can find this on your fund manager's website. Alternatively, try a specialist data firm such as Morningstar or Trustnet or a broker like Hargreaves Lansdown.

Researchers found that despite the widely held belief that property offers the best returns over the long run, the housing sector globally has returned a loss of 2 per cent a year by one measure.

When stock markets tumble, the temptation can be to take your money out and head for safety. But experts say there are plenty of opportunities for investors to make money amid the stock market turbulence of recent weeks. Higher-than-expected US inflation figures this week led to another wobble in share prices, although prices have staged a recovery since.

The 'Select 50 Balanced Fund' is managed by multi-asset fund manager Ayesha Akbar and offers clients exposure to between 20 and 40 of Fidelity's top 50 recommended funds at any one time.

A bombshell report yesterday revealed that investors are paying £65m a year in fees to fund managers who consistently fail to beat the stock market. These so-called dog funds - described in the report as the 'worst of the worst' - have underperformed the index they aim to beat by 5 per cent or more over the past three years.

As investors we're constantly told that 'markets can go up as well as down'. But if you've forgotten the last part, it's probably because 2017 was a year of almost all up and very little down. But there's no guarantee that this year will be more of the same. With the era of cheap money being wound down, the spectre of inflation and political worries, volatility may very well return with a vengeance.

When it comes to buying and selling cryptocurrencies, it is the Wild West out there. This is Money guides you through wallets, exchanges and CFDs. We also reveal how one reader made a big profit buying and selling ripple - but it involved sending his passport and bank details to Slovenia...

Investing for a low inflation world has paid off handsomely in recent years, as defensive shares with a reliable dividend have seen their prices rise substantially. But is it time for a different course of action? Better opportunities lie elsewhere believes Schroders' James Sym.

Lars Kroijer has become a leading proponent of passive investing - and as a hedge fund manager is a man you might consider to know what he is talking about. We ask Lars to explain his thinking and how investors can build a simple passive investing portfolio that lets them sleep at night.

Investing is one of those things that most people know they should do and far fewer actually get around to until much later in life. But saving small and often is without doubt the easiest and safest way to grow your money over your lifetime and, ideally, build a nest egg to fund your retirement in the future.

Britain's biggest banks axed or scaled back investment services following a clean-up of the financial industry that banned cosy backdoor commission deals four years ago. But now most banks are bringing back investment options for customers under the new regime. We round up what the top players are offering and what it costs.

While many people dislike the idea of an annuity, the alternative means keeping your pension invested in retirement and managing it yourself - a process that can be confusing and full of pitfalls. So here's a checklist, from investing, to income, taxes, the state pension, inheritance, illness, financial advice and much else.

Investment fund names are often a baffling mixture of impressive but vague words, which mean little to people who aren't already clued up on financial jargon. People hoping to boost their savings by buying a fund or trust face a steep learning curve, unless they're lucky enough to have a friend in the know or are willing to fork out fees to a financial adviser. We offer a short cut, and explain what all the fancy terms really mean.

If you are new to investing then the huge number of funds and investment trusts on offer can be confusing. Fortunately, This is Money's experts have some ideas to get you started.