# BOI SMART & Evergreen Fund Vs Current Deposit Rates



## Devine21 (4 Mar 2009)

Aged 24, working in full time job,

I invested 22,000 in November 2005 in BOI Smart & Evergreen Fund evenly split, 10k in each.

Currently valued at 15,379e 

Should Pull my inestment & place on fixed deposit rates 

EBS offering 6% for 18 months,
Irish Nationwide offering 4.25% for 12 moths.

I dont need the funds until 2-3yrs time.

Should i take the loss on the chin & remove the risk of losing all my savings?


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## GeneralZod (4 Mar 2009)

I'd take the loss and move into cash. The pain of crystallising your loss will be eased as the market continues on down.

In case it isn't clear that EBS 18 month account is 3.96% AER.

Anglo-Irish offer a better 12 month rate of 5.25%. 

Halifax and An Post have the highest 2 and 3 year rates respectively.


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## Dave Vanian (5 Mar 2009)

GeneralZod said:


> I'd take the loss and move into cash. The pain of crystallising your loss will be eased as the market continues on down.


 
It's as dangerous to post this without qualifying it by admitting that's purely speculation, as it is to talk up the market e.g. "Hang in there - the bounce will occur three days after the Easter break and markets will rise by 35%".  

Nobody knows whether the markets will go up, down or sideways in the short-term.

If this person does switch to cash now, they will certainly be excluding themselves from any possibility of participating in any potential bounce-back.  That said, if devine21 requires the cash in 2 - 3 years time, I have no idea if a recovery will have occurred within that time-frame.  But neither does anyone else.


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## Dreamerb (5 Mar 2009)

Can you split it, perhaps? Leave some in the fund so that if the market does recover in you can benefit, but move half to cash (crystallising the loss on that portion, but safeguarding the current value)? 

No matter what happens, as Dave Vanian points out, you're taking a risk.


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## mercman (5 Mar 2009)

Devine21, Have you taken into account that there is probably an exit penalty which you will incur if you cash in now. Not as bad as if you cashed in earlier but you might have to wait until after 5 years when the penalty goes.


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## GeneralZod (5 Mar 2009)

Dave Vanian said:


> It's as dangerous to post this without qualifying it by admitting that's purely speculation



The OP asked for opinions and that's what I gave. I doubt that they think I know with certainty what's going to happen. None of the advice here comes with a money back guarantee.


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## Dave Vanian (5 Mar 2009)

GeneralZod said:


> The OP asked for opinions and that's what I gave. I doubt that they think I know with certainty what's going to happen. None of the advice here comes with a money back guarantee.


 
Fair point, but if I posted "The markets are going to start rising sharply from April so you should hurry to invest more over the next few weeks" would the Mods not (correctly) take a dim view?


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## Devine21 (8 Mar 2009)

Thanks EVERYBODY for the above advise. Very much appreciated. Just confirmed with BOI life, there's no penalty (They Get paid enough in their Management Fee). Good idea, perhaps to crystallise half & transfer the remaining into Cash on deposit. Any more views, would be greatly appreciated.


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## mercman (8 Mar 2009)

Make sure the Management figures are correct. i.e. that you have not been overcharged. Tell them you want a print out of the deductions.


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## Barlow08 (8 Mar 2009)

I was in the same fund, moved out some of the funds in the fund to another fund on advice from my Investment manager, which has done slightly better, though still has fallen,of course it is terrible to see how it has dropped in value,it does boil down to your own personal circumstances, for me I don't need the funds for a few years and while things look terrible in the markets at the moment everyone says that the markets will turn around eventually and some of the big gains can happen over a very short period of time,personallyI'm going to stick with it and hope that things do turnaround over the next two or three years.

But as others will no doubt say you really have to take professional advice.


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## Devine21 (10 Mar 2009)

Would you advise me to go into this Fund now....Putting the 15,379e on deposit will take 6+ to recoup my loss. If I invest in a managed fund, perhaps it would take 2-3 years to recoup?

Any views....Its a difficult decision, 

Do I 

1.Take the Loss on the chin? (Presuming I dont require the funds for 
   3-  5years)

2. Place the funds on deposit, recouping my loss over 6-7years? 

Any suggestions?


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## RstarB (15 May 2009)

Hi there,

Don't go pulling your money out yet before you explore more options. I also set up an Evergreen fund in July 2007 (when the downturn in the fund began, worst timing ever!) but only invested €5,000 as I'm willing to take a risk. I also payed into it every month. In March I went in to speak to the bank because I could bear watch anymore of my money disappear and after a lengthy discussion I did 2 things:

1. I moved around the way the fund was invested. It was very easy: 29% was in property - property is still falling so I took everything out of that and put it in bonds because government bonds are guaranteed and tend to go up when property/shares go down in a sort of see-saw effect.

2. I stopped payment for 2 months until things settled a little without losing my bonus. I have now restarted it but pay in a much smaller amount every month since buying low is the way to go and markets are cyclical so they will eventually rise again.

I have already seen an improvement is what my fund is worth. Basically I have put in €7,800 to date (initial lump sum plus monthly payments) but it was only worth €5,100 in March. After only 2 months it is worth over €200 more so at least I can see it improving even if it does take time. You can move around the profile of your investment anytime you want, changing the percentages in each section depending on what is going up and what is going down. 

It does sicken me that the bank get a percentage to manage the fund but essentially haven't managed it well at all, I have to go in a change the percentages myself but now that I know that I'm happy to do it.

At this point I have a few more years before I intend to use the money and I am still hopeful of recouping my loss by keeping an eye on everything so if time is on your side hang in there. Bonds are going up and property is going down still so that is a good place to start. Shares are already improving slightly and if you have bought low well then things can only get better!

Thats my story anyway, best of luck!


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## johnny1234 (15 May 2009)

Have you checked the other posts on AAM in relation to these funds ? Crikey there are so shocking stories posted. I think from reading others investment problems it may be better to shop around and find funds that are not so hungry in Management Charges.


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## MugsGame (16 May 2009)

The loss has already happened. You now have €15,379 to invest - you need to decide the best place to put that sum now. 

Charges tends to eat your money on actively managed funds.

Inflation tends to eat your money on cash and bonds.

Passively managed index-tracker funds tend to be low on charges, but aren't good when the index is trending down.

I'm 100% in cash and have been for some time, but it's not without risks. If there's a swift "market recovery", I won't benefit. If the euro devalues significantly, the value of my money will be inflated away. Diversification between cash deposits, bonds and equities might be better for my overall return, but I have other reasons for choosing cash.

No one knows the future. Once you choose a type of investment you can at least shop around to minimise any charges imposed. If your current fund has high charges, move.


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