Key Post: Lowest charging unit linked funds for lump sums

Brendan Burgess

Brendan Burgess

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>>Lowest charging unit linked funds for lump sums

What are the lowest charging unit linked funds which don't have entry or exit charges? Here is what I have found so far:

New Ireland - Nil Commission
.625% annual charge up to €100k
.5% above €100k

Add in €200 for setting it up on an execution only basis ( quote from Liam Ferguson)

Quinn Life
1% annual charge on most funds
1.2% on American funds

EBS Summit Funds
1.1% on most funds
1.4% on technology funds

The New Ireland fund seems like a clear winner and has a range of tracker funds as well.

Brendan
 
Re: Lowest charging unit linked funds for lump sums



But don't New Ireland charge a 5% down to 1% early encashment fee in the first five years (at least by default) whereas the others are completely open ended with no such early encashment charges? Just in case that's relevant...
 
Re: Lowest charging unit linked funds for lump sums

Yes but if your broker is taking zero commission up-front or ongoing, they will waive the early exit penalties. But your broker will have to agree that with them on each investment.

Liam D Ferguson
www.ferga.com
 
Re: Lowest charging unit linked funds for lump sums

Thanks for that clarification.
 
Yesterdays Independant

When I looked at New Irelands Fund in the paper yesterday it contained a bid/offer spread difference whilst Quinn lifes did not - are you taking this into account ?

What other charges apply to the New Ireland fund other than the 0.625% are there administration charges ?
 
Re: Yesterdays Independant

I have some SmartFunds investments and I don't pay any bid-offer spread. Note that EBS Summit Funds are also quoted with a bid offer spread even though this is not actually payable by investors. Confusing I know...
 
200 euro set up charge

Whilst the 200 euro set-up charge is reasnoable, If the quinn life freeway product does not have any set-up charges is this not a major cost saving to the small time saver over the three to five year period.

i.e you need to be putting in a lot of money to recoup the difference in the management fee percentage.
 
summit

I believe that summit has 2 prices

If you buy today at 100
you will only get 95 tomorrow(assuming that equities
stand sill)

F16
 
Re: summit

No - even though there is technically a 5% bid-offer spread the cost of this is subsumed by the EBS so if I buy and sell immediately I get 100% of my money back.

[broken link removed]

3. The initial costs of investment, including the bid and offer spread, are nil.
Click to expand...
 
Re: 0

I'm 100% sure that the cost of the nominal bid-offer spread of 5% is subsumed by the EBS. As such, if you invest today and withdraw tomorrow then presumably you get your money back in full (assuming that the markets stand still as above).
 
Info

Where would i get more info on the New Ireland - Nil Commission fund it looks quite reasonable and i expect this can be paid into monthly / for euro cost averaging.
 
Re: Info

A broker. I'd recommend Liam D.Ferguson myself but feel free to go by other recommendations:

www.ferga.com
 
Don't forget about Rabo Direct's many funds accessed on line.They are run by Merrill Lynch, Hendersons, and Robeco. Their "Fund of the Month" is accessible at 0.25 percent instead of the normal entry charge of 0.75 percent. The exit charge is 0.75 percent. These funds have been doing well in general and are worth a look. However, their website is difficult enough to negotiate one's way through it, particularly for people not familiar with doing business on line. There are no penalty charges as such for exiting, just the normal 0.75 percent.They pay 3.5 percent on deposits.
Watch out for the charges within the funds though, which can vary from 1% to 2% p.a. Up to recently, this was not so obvious but seems to be mentioned more lately.Actually when you add in the entry charge, the charge within the funds, and the exit charges, these funds are not as attractive as they first appeared.With Quinns, you know exactly where you stand from day one, everything is crystal clear, no ambiguity.Where a lot of investments are concerned, people may not be aware that the broker gets a commission of usually between 3 and 5 %, and may take a trailer on your investment of approx. .5% pa. They are supposed to tellthe investor all this in advance. This ;leaves the door open for the investor to do a deal with the broker where he may give the client a portion of the commission and perhaps forego the trailer which may lead to the fund doing much better when there is only the management charge to be paid from the outset. This can make a difference especially during a time of poor returns.
 
Last edited:
feorais said:
Don't forget about Rabo Direct's many funds accessed on line.They are run by Merrill Lynch, Hendersons, and Robeco. Their "Fund of the Month" is accessible at 0.25 percent instead of the normal entry charge of 0.75 percent. The exit charge is 0.75 percent. These funds have been doing well in general and are worth a look. However, their website is difficult enough to negotiate one's way through it, particularly for people not familiar with doing business on line. There are no penalty charges as such for exiting, just the normal 0.75 percent.They pay 3.5 percent on deposits.
Click to expand...

I would consider the charge of 1.5% (0.75+0.75) as excessive.
 
JPD:
Forgive me if I'm wrong - but aren't the Rabo charges once off's? i.e. if you have a fund for more than 2 years, it works out better than the 1% p.a. or more charges from other fund providers.
 
In addition to entry/exit charges there are also annual fees ranging from 0.7% to 2% depending on the fund.
 
Sarsfield said:
In addition to entry/exit charges there are also annual fees ranging from 0.7% to 2% depending on the fund.
Click to expand...

Is it true that a portion of these fees may be given to Rabo based on their agreement with the fund provider?
I used these funds and found them very expensive compared to trackers, especially with when it takes two days to liquidate at an unknown price when you commit to sell. I hate to think how many people have started to contribute without being aware of the real cost, not that I'm implying it's hidden in anyway just that the average person may not be fully aware of the costs.
 
Just had a look at the Quinn product, Freeway and it says

15 What charges do I incur on my Freeway
investment plan?
We at Quinn-Life have a policy of keeping our
charges simple and transparent, and we also
want to be able to keep them as low as possible.
Our primary charge is an administration fee that is
charged each time we calculate the unit prices of
our investment funds.
The rates of these charges are set out in the
‘Freeway options and charges‘ leaflet in the back
pocket of this brochure. We reserve the right to
revise these charges. However, if we decide to
increase them, we will give you twelve months
notice in writing.
Questions & Answers on Freeway Investments
Click to expand...

Our primary charge is an administration fee that is
charged each time we calculate the unit prices of
our investment funds.

The question is how often is administration fee charged per year?

administration fee is currently 1%.

Is it naive to say that they calculate the unit prices of
our investment funds once a year?

1% annual charge on most funds
Click to expand...
What does this mean? Are these funds outside of the Freeway product?
 
This thread is a Key Post about unit linked funds.

It should not be used to ask general questions which are answered elsewhere on Askaboutmoney.

People should only reply if they are updating the information already provided.

I have deleted all off-topic posts.

Brendan
 
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