Stocks and Shares ISA questions if you'd be so kind

[Babysharkdododont]

How on earth do you choose.....a low fee passive tracker, or a high cost one managed by some rock star account manager?!
If you have a good few months / years do you whip some of the cash out and put it elsewhere, incase the whole thing plummets?
I'm a bit baffled. I've a shitty, underperforming S&S ISA with Scottish Friendly that I only put a tiny amount into, I'm hoping to close it down and open one that'll actually offer a return.

I have a Moneyfarm stocks and shares Isa and it has been doing very well. It all depends on how much are you contributing yearly. The "rock star account manager" will charge you more than a robo-advisor.

Thanks @windmill26, I'm still confused after doing lots of research. I want to put in about 4k a year, and leave it there for about 15 years, some resources suggest that a low fee robo-advisor will be grand, and other things I've read suggest roo-advisers just keep up with the market, and account management will beat the market, justifying the fees.
Ideally I'd like to split the investment in half, and put 50% in each, but I don't know if that's possible.

I've gone for trackers, for the low fees and keeping up with the market.

Vanguard have some of the lowest fees around. They have a range of S&S ISAs offering different balances between equities and bonds. You can hold several different levels under the same ISA umbrella. I have some money in 60/40 equity/bond accounts and some in 100 equity accounts, overall the return over the last 11 months has been 15.5%. But as we all know, whenever anything involves equities that could all change and I could come out worse.
I was once advised that wit anything to do with equities, plan on leaving it in at least 5 years. Otherwise (and for your emergency fund) keep it in a cash ISA.

Thanks @rosesarered321

@LionLily would you ever scoop some of the profit out then and put it somewhere safer in case you lose it all, or do you stay brave and ride the market? Are you in this for the long haul?

I did buy and sell in the beginning the trackers selling when high and buying when low and did make a bit more money. However the danger is you get left behind in a rising market. I don't bother now.
Agree with previous poster vanguard are good.

I have 75% in 60/40 lifestrategy (Vanguard's fund names) and i consider that my long term sit tight, 15 year plan and I have a monthly direct debit to that. I have about 15% in 100% equities - if there were a sudden rise there I probably would move some out.
I also have about 6% in all-world equities which is my 'play the stock market' money - odd bits of money that I wasn't expecting to have so wouldn't miss (small tax refund, refund of overpayment on electric bill etc). This is more volatile and goes up and down a lot more. If there were a sudden surge I'd definitely move that, that 6% was just me 'taking a punt', it has a higher risk (Vanguard have a risk scale of 1-7, the all-world fund is a 5/6).
The rest of my S&S ISA is in cash under the same umbrella at the moment. (No interest on cash kept within a S&S ISA as that is seen as a holding account for future investments.)
Having said all that - I have no mortgage, I have good pension provision (and am still contributing to that), I have 6 months emergency money easily available, and my cash isa. I wouldn't be taking any risk until I had the above sorted.

@LionLily thank you so much for taking the time to give that really in depth reply. MN is fantastic when posters like you come along and share your knowledge.

Unlike you I do have a mortgage, which we make monthly overpayments to, but I'm not mad worried about getting it paid in the next few years... I'd prefer to build some savings in tandom. I've a few months wages in premium bonds, and a career average pension I pay into, so I think I'm ready to start investing, albeit in a small way.

Can I just check, (I'm not financially illiterate, although may be coming across as such, I'm really struggling to get my head around the ISA for some reason) when you start "interfering" with the account, so withdrawing and moving money about, do Vabguard charge you additional fees?

Vanguard fees start at about 0.15% a year. They're one of the cheapest around. And obviously, you aren't looking to make lots of transaction because stocks and shares are a long term game unless you're some bullish dealer in the City looking to make a quick killing.
I left a little cash uninvested in that section of my S&S ISA to cover fees but they haven't been noticeable really.
I am certainly no expert, I only started this because at one point I had a large inheritance in a bank saving account and at the end of a year it had only earned £36 and that included a non-withdrawal bonus, so I thought I had better be a little more pro-active.