Citywire Selection: Your guide through the investment maze

Citywire Selection is an investment guide to help you start to save sensibly for your long-term future. Young, middle aged or old, there is something for everyone here.

We all like choice in our lives. We want to choose the right car depending on whether we prefer comfort to speed, or the right washing machine according to whether we need one with extra capacity or want to limit our carbon footprint.

What we don’t like is too much choice. A list of 500 restaurants in your neighbourhood is just too much. Far better is a handful of recommendations (fancy Italian? Spanish? Vietnamese?) made by people you can trust.

The same applies to investment. There are literally thousands of investment products and plans out there. To simplify matters we have sifted through them all and produced a ‘long list’ of around 150 investments we consider are the best. From this we have selected 20 ‘star picks’ we consider the very, very best.

Whether you are a novice investor or an experienced investor we can help you make good decisions on where to put your money.

Our aim is to help you create real wealth that will beat inflation so that you can fulfil your dreams, whether that be saving for a comfortable retirement, buying your home, providing for your loved ones or achieving some other lifetime ambition.

What is investment?

By investment we mean putting your money into the stock market where, over the years, it can grow faster than if you put it on deposit or in a cash savings account.

Does that sound risky? There is no denying the stock market is a risky place. If you are foolish or unlucky you can lose a great deal of money. However, we believe that if you approach investment sensibly you can maximise your chances of making real money.

At Citywire we believe the best way to invest is to save regularly over a number of years into funds that invest in the stock market on your behalf.

The 150 funds (and the 20 star picks) that we have chosen will enable you to invest widely and wisely.

All the funds we have selected can be held inside either an ISA (individual savings account) or a Sipp (self-invested personal pension). ISAs and Sipps are popular because money saved inside them can grow free of tax.

What do you mean by ‘fund’?

New to funds? Start here

Managed funds

Managed funds give you everything in one place. All managed funds will invest your money in several asset classes and some will invest internationally as well as in the UK. See our managed fund picks.

Absolute return funds

We also list what we consider to be the best 'absolute return' funds. This is a new breed of funds that aims to protect investors from losses while also seeking to grow their money. See our absolute return fund picks.

Absolute return funds come in many flavours, and if you want to dig deep into the different strategies available you can visit our dedicated absolute return centre.

Income funds

If your priority is to produce an income from your investments, for example because you've reached retirement and want to supplement your pension, we have grouped the best funds for income as well. See our income fund picks.

A fund is a way of investing in the stock market alongside other investors. A fund management company will pool together all of its investors’ money and spread it across a range of investments – far more than an individual could do on his or her own.

This idea of spreading money around is fundamental to good investment. The basic principle is ‘don’t put all your eggs in one basket’. If one basket falls over only a few eggs are damaged not all of them.

Citywire Selection helps you spread your money wisely by highlighting funds that invest in different categories of investment, known as asset classes. Probably the most well known asset class are shares in companies. Shares, also known as equities, give investors a stake in a business. The other main asset classes are: bonds, a form of loan from investors to companies or governments; property; commodities (eg, oil, gold, timber, coffee); and cash.

Another good way of diversifying your investments is investing outside the UK. Citywire Selection will help you choose funds that invest in other regions of the world such as Asia Pacific, Europe, USA and emerging markets (for example, Brazil, Russia, India and China).

Is Citywire Selection for me?

Yes. Whatever kind of investor you think you are Citywire Selection can help you choose the right fund or funds to save into.

If you are a novice investor, or someone who can only afford to save limited amounts regularly, we've highlighted the best funds to get started with - see the New to funds? Start here section above.

If you are a more experienced investor, or well-off individual, Citywire Selection can give you the ingredients with which to build your own collection, or portfolio, of the best investment funds in each asset class and region.

How does Citywire Selection work?

We’ve divided Citywire Selection into 10 further groups to reflect the asset classes and main regions of the world we mentioned earlier. (We have left out cash as we assume you will have savings in a bank or building society). These are:

UK equities	Global equities	European equities	North American equities	Asia Pacific
Global emerging markets	Specialist equities	Bonds	Property	Commodities

There are three types of funds in Citywire Selection: unit trust, investment trust and exchange traded fund (ETF). No other fund selection tool or investment guide is as wide ranging.

Is Citywire paid to include funds in Citywire Selection?

No. Citywire Selection is based on our totally independent analysis of the funds we believe have established the best track records, operate the best investment strategies and offer the best terms for investors. Our research team chooses the best funds without fear or favour and we do not receive a penny from fund management companies in the process of making our selections. However, once the selection is complete, companies can pay us to use the fact of their inclusion in Citywire Selection for their marketing or advertising. We review our fund selections every six months.

What is Citywire?

Jonathan Miller, our head of research, leads the team which produces Citywire Selection

Citywire is an independent financial publisher that has provided news, analysis and research for professional and private investors since its launch in 1999. In addition to our website we publish three magazines and organise events and conferences for investment professionals around the world. We are 25% owned by Thomson Reuters, the financial data publisher.

Will Citywire Selection definitely make me money?

No. There is no such thing as a guaranteed investment. All Citywire Selection can do is guide you to the best investment funds available in the UK. We do not promise that an investment in them will be successful, although we certainly hope that will be the case. You should do your own research before investing and seriously consider taking independent financial advice.

I have a question about Citywire Selection – who do I call?

To get in touch with Jonathan Miller, our head of research, and his team, send an email to selection@citywire.co.uk. We can’t provide individual investment advice, but we’ll be happy to answer your questions on how Citywire Selection works.