Regular investment in funds

B

bleary

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I know that most people here seem to recommend ETF's but I keep looking into them and then not following through , so I think some sort of managed fund to get me started would be best. I have had a look through some of the other threads but they seem to focus a lot on ETF's.

The last few years I have been setting up savings accounts after savings accounts and now I really want to invest a small amount of money regularly probably 10k lumpsum and the 250 to 500 a month. I would generally be conservative but for this scheme would prefer something medium pssibly to high risk. I am comfortable having someone gamble with this amount on my behalf.

I had a look at some of the plans on the Irish Life website but would anyone have recommendations, bearing in mind I want minimal involvement month to month with probably an annual review.

As an aside when looking into funds I checked out Setanta Asset Management as I hadn't heard of them before They have a meet the team page on their website with about 20 employees listed with their photos. There isn't even one woman listed in their entire team,senior management ,portfolio management etc. I know the industry tends to be male dominated but because of that I won't consider that company.
It just speaks to me of a very closed minded operation that I would not be comfortable dealing with.
 
Hi b
I really want to invest a small amount of money regularly probably 10k lumpsum and the 250 to 500 a month.
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You are better off simply doing a one off purchase of €20,000 or whatever figure you are happy with. You will be crippled by charges if you make regular payments.


You could consider one of the property funds discussed here

http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showpost.php?p=1345035&postcount=15

There used to be a firm of investment advisors staffed by women advising only women. Not sure if they are still around.
 
Regardless of costs, I don't think making a one off investment in a fund makes sense. If someone really knows something that makes "now" a good time to invest in a fund, then instead of buying a fund they should be using their knowledge to invest directly in whatever they know is about to swing the fund.

Rabobank seems to be one of the cheapest for regular smaller investments at 0.75%. The key advantage is the 0.75% is 0.75%, no minimum charges of 15 euro or whatever, so your 500e monthly investment costs you 3.75e in charges, you could even do 125e a week and it wouldn't cost any extra.

Serious disadvantages of regular investing via Rabo are that the tax becomes tricky, and the 0.75% exit charge is expensive on large sums.

There was a thread on regular investing via Rabo where after some discussion it seemed no one at that time could come up with a compelling alternative from an Irish regular investor point of view despite some initially interesting comments about ETFs and online brokers.

http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=176951
 
This broker on the invest and save dot ie site might offer you what you are looking for perhaps? You could also look to buy shares quarterly/bi-annually as you can get an execution broker that charges €20-ish per trade - making a €1000+ trade not too expensive on a % basis.
 
OP, some very serious consideration and investigation requires to be made before an Investment in Funds is made.

You will require to get independent advice from outside the Industry before a decision is made. I have an article from Money Observer which I am unable to place on AAM until Copyright terms are met. If I am able to find a link for the actual effect on charges on funds on the web I'll post it here tomorrow. The total charges in funds, otherwise known as the TER includes the cost of selling the invested fund to the Investor. The problem isn't what they will tell you. it is what they won't tell you is where the problems start.

Otherwise take your time and 'DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH'.
 
Thanks for the comments, yes i had read through the thread before some time ago. The thing is it just made me procrastinate again , to the point i did nothing.
Maybe I should just put it in an avc instead , though not sure how long i plan to earn in Ireland for in the future.
Brendan interesting point re the investment firm. Im not anti dealing with male advisors but the way it is unrelentingly non gender balanced just made me think of a credit cards behind the bar, heres to the bonus , anglo type culture. .
 
Bleary, sorry I didn't have time to undertake the task today. I'll bullet point them tomorrow and then you will be able to make a more realistic and informed decision.
 
mercman said:
This is an interesting article and is applicable to all who hold money invested in funds.
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It should be noted that this article relates to actively managed funds, which is not what the OP was as asking about! The poor performance of actively managed funds has been widely documented since around 2001 - 2002, but the bottom only really fell out of that market from around 2005 onwards as investors rightly switched to index tracking ETFs. The only point worth taking away from this article is that actively managed funds are rarely the best choice for most investors.
 
Whilst I'd prefer not to engage in a public spat about this article, or many others, I believe that if it is read in its entire and correctly, the content, by contributions by a number of authors, relates to the normal Managed Funds. In the case that you, Jim as a professional adviser, require more articles composed and written by professionals, I'll happily provide them for you.

All they all state is confirmation of the obvious, which is the fees charged in normal Managed Funds swallow up any profit or in fact, Capital, in poor years of investment.
 
mercman said:
...by contributions by a number of authors, relates to the normal Managed Funds.....

....All they all state is confirmation of the obvious, which is the fees charged in normal Managed Funds swallow up any profit or in fact, Capital, in poor years of investment...
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Managed funds are exactly what I was referring to and as I have already said with a few exceptions, most investors have long since got the message on those type of funds.

mercman said:
In the case that you, Jim as a professional adviser
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As I have already pointed out I an not a financial advisor and I'm sure Brendan will be happy to confirm that.
 
bleary said:
I know that most people here seem to recommend ETF's but I keep looking into them and then not following through , so I think some sort of managed fund to get me started would be best. I have had a look through some of the other threads but they seem to focus a lot on ETF's.

The last few years I have been setting up savings accounts after savings accounts and now I really want to invest a small amount of money regularly probably 10k lumpsum and the 250 to 500 a month. I would generally be conservative but for this scheme would prefer something medium pssibly to high risk. I am comfortable having someone gamble with this amount on my behalf.

I had a look at some of the plans on the Irish Life website but would anyone have recommendations, bearing in mind I want minimal involvement month to month with probably an annual review.

As an aside when looking into funds I checked out Setanta Asset Management as I hadn't heard of them before They have a meet the team page on their website with about 20 employees listed with their photos. There isn't even one woman listed in their entire team,senior management ,portfolio management etc. I know the industry tends to be male dominated but because of that I won't consider that company.
It just speaks to me of a very closed minded operation that I would not be comfortable dealing with.
Click to expand...

Hi Bleary

You really need to get expert advice on this. If you are conservative by nature, why do you want to go high risk? Do you need to achieve high returns or do you feel you should be moving away from your comfort zone? What are you saving for? Saving is only worthwhile if there's something to spend it on in the future.

Investments should be for a minimum 5 year term, so what kind of emergency fund have you got?

When picking a fund manager, you need to assess their investment strategy. What kind of risks have they taken to achieve their goals. What level of volatility has the fund got. Remember, looking at past performance figures is looking into the past, we have no idea if they will achieve it again.

Just to be clear, I am a financial planner.
 
Hi,
This is a scenario I have trying to work with myself over the last number of years. Similar to OP, I am trying to find a way to make regular contributions to some sort of investment fund on a monthly basis, without being crippled by charges.

The only 'approach' I have come up with is as follows:
1. make regular monthly contributions to my old Quinn Life index funds (now with Irish Life)
2. Once every 12-18 months, withdraw the money from these funds and invest in appropriate ETF's

Its not ideal, but at least it does facilitate some exposure to the underlying equities while the pot is growing to justify the transactions costs of the ETF

Has anyone any better approach than this, or how do others manage the scenario (or do they ??)

cheers
 
Don't know if this is appropriate thread. Am investing €131 pm in fund since 1998, current value of fund is €30.6k. Am I getting good value or should I opt out of monthly payments?
 
kenmare said:
Am I getting good value or should I opt out of monthly payments?
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Kenmare, you have not stated which company or fund you are invested in. Do you know what the Management Charges that you are paying is ?? Going forward this is important to note.

Have you considered encashing the present investment and moving to Investing in an ETF. Remember you might be subject to an exit charge.

Just an opinion as I'm not qualified to give investment advice. Therefore this post is an opinion.
 
Thanks mercman, am with Zurich (eagle star fund) monthly 131, policy fee 2.80 pm, policy charges ??? 108 annual (excludes ann. management charge).
I have paid in approx 25k over a 16 year period current value of fund is 31k. Has it been a good/bad investment ?
regards
 
Zurich are a reputable company. How much is the annual Management fee ? Are those you have already quoted part in the Policy Prospectus. Depending on exit charges it might be best to consider moving to an ETF. The charges applicable to any of the type of funds you're invested eats up a massive amount of the value of your investment over a period of time.
 
kenmare said:
Has it been a good/bad investment ?
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You've regular payments and regular charges (e.g policy fee; annual charges, etc.). You also know the encashment value. Put them in a spreadsheet and use the IRR function. Then you can decide if it has been a good or bad investment.
 
The easiest way to find out the true full costs, is to Google 'Money week 'fund management charges'. This is in the Public Domain and all and sundry should read this to see where their money is going or to see the charges before they do.

I bet that those that read this article might be in for a shock !!
 
kenmare said:
Thanks mercman, am with Zurich (eagle star fund) monthly 131, policy fee 2.80 pm, policy charges ??? 108 annual (excludes ann. management charge).
I have paid in approx 25k over a 16 year period current value of fund is 31k. Has it been a good/bad investment ?
regards
Click to expand...

That policy fee is the equivalent of a 2% charge each month. You should get rid of it. You would need to start a new contract though.

There shouldn't be any exit charges after 16 years, you will pay tax of 41% on the growth though.


Steven
www.bluewaterfp.ie
 
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