What to invest in

Re: Investing

I just want someplace (seminars, etc) where I'll get loads of ideas.
Click to expand...

You seem to have missed Clubmans point - If the guys giving the seminars really knew what the 'next big thing' was, they just wouldn't have time to be giving seminars - they would be too busy jumping into the 'next big thing'.
 
Crossed wires

Hi guys,

I seem to have stepped on everybody's toes. That wasn't my intention . It's a great site and I enjoyed using it.

So long ......
 
All this talk of Kiyosaki and "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" reminded me of a link someone posted here some time ago which was quite critical of him to say the least. I can't remember who posted it but I eventually found the article again on google after a bit of searching. Here's the link

www.johntreed.com/Kiyosaki.html

The author could perhaps be perceived as being on something of a crusade against Kiyosaki (considering the length and detail of the article) but it does make for interesting reading and certainly provides food for thought for those who seem to regard Kiyosaki as some kind of infallible financial guru.
 
Re: What to invest in?

Why? What's the advantage of these S&P funds versus a low charges index tracker or unit linked fund sold on the Irish market? I had a quick look at the site but couldn't find any information on charges? To buy these do you need to covnvert € to US$ first (thus incurring forex charges)?

I'll probably be accused of devils advocacy again now... :\
 
Re: Devil's Advocate

Clubman

You asked a valid question.

The main purpose of the site is for one to compare the performance of funds. S&P (also known as Micropal due to some corporate actions) act only as a "historian". They are in the business of rating and not selling funds. They collect information relating to funds all over the world. If I am not wrong, there are something like 70,000+ funds listed in their database.

I believe that the performance of the funds is based on net performance (i.e. less annual fees) but without considering distributors' costs.

In order not to be overwhelmed by the site, you may wish to look for a familiar name and compare it to its peers across the world.
 
Re: Devil's Advocate

I see - thanks for that clarification. I didn't realise that it was a fund performance tracking site and assumed that it was selling index tracking unit funds itself. While it is useful to be able to track performance of the indices on which certain "retail" products may be based people should remember that index tracking is not an exact science (i.e. there will probably be some discrepancies between the index tracker fund performance and that of the underlying tracked index) and, of course, there is no real point in making investment decisions based on past performance.
 
Devil's Advocate

"of course, there is no real point in making investment decisions based on past performance"

Do you mean a fund manager's past performance does not really matter?

If for example, you are interested in investing in a unit trust that invests in Continental Europe. There is this manager A that outperforms the MSCI Europe Index say for the past 5 years and this manager B who underperforms the MSCI Europe Index for the past 5 years, which one would you choose?
 
Re: Devil's Advocate

Hi Guest - The problem is that you invest in the fund, not the manager. What happens when the manager of Fund A is poached by Fund B for an extra Porsche in his bonus?
 
Re: Devil's Advocate

Do you mean a fund manager's past performance does not really matter?

In effect yes - for the reasons mentioned by Rainyday and because last year's best fund manager could easily be this year's loser and also, for index tracking funds (as opposed to actively managed funds) management influence on performance should be negligable as far as I understand things.
 
Summary Trial

Gentlemen

Based on what you have written, I believe that you have not really explored the website.

When I first came across the S&P website, I was very excited. I have access to so much information at zero cost (other than my broadband and pc). As you might have guessed, I spent a lot of time looking through many funds.

If you are merely looking at equity funds investing in mature markets, I guess you could not go very far wrong with index funds.

However, the World is not flat. There are tonnes of specialist funds with specific investment themes like high yield bonds, Asian equities, hedge funds, etc. I believe that looking at such funds would be a big eye-opening exercise.

Last but not least, like investing in equities directly, investing in funds is hard work. It means trawling through tonnes of info, useful or otherwise, before you find a good fund to invest in.

P.S. Rainyday, approximately 30% of my portfolio are held in 5 funds. 2 of them are indexed funds. Of the 3 non-indexed funds, the key fund manager(s) own the fund/asset management company in 2 of these funds.
 
Re: Summary Trial

Based on what you have written, I believe that you have not really explored the website.

My comments were general and not specifically about the site you mentioned which I only perused in a cursory manner.

Last but not least, like investing in equities directly, investing in funds is hard work. It means trawling through tonnes of info, useful or otherwise, before you find a good fund to invest in.

I disagree. I'm happy to simply find a low cost index tracking or unit linked fund that has a suitable mix of underlying assets (e.g. a good mix of sectors and/or geographic regions or something more concentrated if I'm feeling racy), stick the money in and leave it there for a few years. I don't have much faith that poring over technical data and, in particular, past performance figures will improve my chances of making more money to any significant degree.
 
Index Funds?

Clubman

Finally, I have understood.

You are contented with the up to 8%-10% p.a. returns that equity markets "MIGHT" dish out whereas I am not.

With that, I rest my case. :hat
 
Re: Index Funds?

Hi Guest. Practically all studies into fund performance
have found that the past performance of a fund manager
is no predictor to future performance. I.e. in your example,
A is no more likely to outperform B in a subsequent period.
 
Re: Index Funds?

You are contented with the up to 8%-10% p.a. returns that equity markets "MIGHT" dish out whereas I am not.

Ahhh... the old beat the market/index dream... Good luck with it... :\
 
Idex Trackers

Just to add that in the world of index tracking past performance is a good indicator of future performance. If an indexed manager's process has given him a tight margin around the index ("tracking error") in the past, then this can indeed be taken as suggesting that he will track it closely in the future (and vice versa).
 
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