thanks for the reply Clubman. I take from this that unit funds are obviously the cheaper option for the monthly investor. So much for the recommendation in the Savings and Investment guide to invest directly, maybe this should be amended to reflect lump sum investments and not monthly savings.
Possibly not, depending on the broker that you choose.
On-line brokers charge as little as $1 to $10 for the purchase of shares. I am a regular investor, investing directly in shares and ETFs. The advantage of holding shares and ETFs directly is the annual reduction in management fees.
e.g.
Shares - typically no annual fees, once purchase has taken place (Remember also that only Irish (1%) and U.K. (0.5%) shares involve stamp duty, and the main ones have ADRs in the U.S. with no stamp duty - typical rip-off Ireland!)
ETFs - low annual fees, typically 0.1% to 0.5% of the total invested p.a.
whereas
Funds - annual fees of 1% to 2% of the total invested p.a. and may also involve transaction fees - e.g. Rabodirect is 1.5% (purchase + sale)
On a regular investment of €500 p.m in unit funds @ 1.5% will cost you €45 in year 1 (average on year €3000), €135 in year 2 (€9000), €225 in year 3 (€15000), €315 in year 4 (€21000) and so on up - and this is assuming no annual growth in the fund!
With shares you could buy every second month at $10 per transaction for a purchase of €1000 worth of stock. This would cost you $60 in year 1, $60 in year 2, $60 in year3... and the great thing is that if you stop your regular contribution, you will typically have no comission to pay annually...
Yes, you do have to sort out all the tax issues yourself - but you have to do the same if you take out Rabodirect funds!