Going to go for growth. Suggestions?

Hatone

I'm contemplating on putting a lump of £1000 into the following five funds. I'm looking at 5 - 8 year investment.

I've chosen these following funds:

• Neptune Japan Opportunities
  
• Blackrock Gold & General Acc
  
• M&G Emerging Markets Bond X Acc
  
• Jupiter Financial Opportunities
  
• First State Asia Pacific Leaders GBP Acc or Newton Int Global Bond

I can shoulder a 35 - 40% loss.

Would you agree with my selection, fund spread and risk profile?

I'm staying away from UK equities until we're out of recession which won't be for some time.

WEEGIE

Hatone wrote: »

I'm contemplating on putting a lump of £1000 into the following five funds. I'm looking at 5 - 8 year investment.

I've chosen these following funds:

• Neptune Japan Opportunities
  
• Blackrock Gold & General Acc
  
• M&G Emerging Markets Bond X Acc
  
• Jupiter Financial Opportunities
  
• First State Asia Pacific Leaders GBP Acc or Newton Int Global Bond

I can shoulder a 35 - 40% loss.

Would you agree with my selection, fund spread and risk profile?

I'm staying away from UK equities until we're out of recession which won't be for some time.

It may not be a good time to invest, as the recession is at the moment world wide. You say you are looking at a 5-8 year investment and can sustaian a 35-40% loss. I would wait until the middle of the year before investing in any funds, I know it is not a significant sum of money to invest but to lose 35-40% of your investment is not a good idea or good risk. I know this sounds bizzare, but you may think of buying £1000 worth of Premium Bonds, reason being you can get all your money back whenever you want AND you may win a few prize funds.

Lokolo

WEEGIE, he wants to invest, in for a hopeful return, not shove it in PBs and get nothing back.

However as W said, the recession is worldwide, not just the UK. Also putting your money in UK equities means there is less value difference from currency rates.

You seem to be extremely high risk, you seem to have a lot in asia rather than general global any reason why for this?

Other than that you may want to wait for dunton to come on for info.

dunstonh

I can shoulder a 35 - 40% loss.

Yet you pick high risk funds capable of a 70% loss.

It may not be a good time to invest, as the recession is at the moment world wide.

It may be the perfect time to invest for the long term. Just look at those that invested since October and have seen double digit positive returns already. The stockmarkets dont follow or work in line with economic issues unless there is an unexpected event. They work ahead.

but to lose 35-40% of your investment is not a good idea or good risk. I know this sounds bizzare,

You are right it does sound bizzare. It doesnt matter what economic cycle you are in. If you invest you have to accept the potential for losses.

but you may think of buying £1000 worth of Premium Bonds, reason being you can get all your money back whenever you want AND you may win a few prize funds.

What it really means is that you dont have the risk profile. Nothing wrong with that. However, if someone sees potential now and has the risk profile then they should go for it as it could turn out to be a very good decision. It could also turn out wrong but that if you accept the risk then its not a problem.

sh856531

It may be the perfect time to invest for the long term

Hi Dunston,

Is your general view that it is at times like this that you should pile in as much as you can because you will likely make good returns in the long run? Or do you think that people should be more cautious in times like these and stick to safer assets? Assuming that people are looking at a 5 year+ timescale?

Many thanks

Simon

dunstonh

sh856531 wrote: »

Hi Dunston,

Is your general view that it is at times like this that you should pile in as much as you can because you will likely make good returns in the long run? Or do you think that people should be more cautious in times like these and stick to safer assets? Assuming that people are looking at a 5 year+ timescale?

Many thanks

Simon

The answer is both. Dont you just hate that sort of answer

Actually, the reason it is both is that some people just wont have the risk profile and undestanding to invest and get paranoid at the smallest drop (we have seen it here where someone lost 1.7% and is complaining about it).

If you have the risk profile and understanding now could be a very good time to be paying in. I've certainly increased my monthly commitment to investments and I have a lot of clients doing the same. However, I have also increased my amount going into cash as well and I have utilised some lower risk areas more.

There is certainly value out there but it is still volatile. However, if you know that, accept it and dont go 100% into risk based then it is worth looking at. If we are at the bottom (and at the moment the markets are around 13% higher than the bottom last seen in October), then it will turn out to be a great time to invest. If it goes back down again then it may not be as good but how likely is it to drop another 50% from the current position? Long term, it will probably be higher as long as you diversify. Historically it has always gone up (Even after a worse depression and worse rescessions). Its just a matter of time and if you have the tolerance to wait with that money.

sh856531

dunstonh wrote: »

The answer is both. Dont you just hate that sort of answer

Actually, the reason it is both is that some people just wont have the risk profile and undestanding to invest and get paranoid at the smallest drop (we have seen it here where someone lost 1.7% and is complaining about it).

If you have the risk profile and understanding now could be a very good time to be paying in. I've certainly increased my monthly commitment to investments and I have a lot of clients doing the same. However, I have also increased my amount going into cash as well and I have utilised some lower risk areas more.

There is certainly value out there but it is still volatile. However, if you know that, accept it and dont go 100% into risk based then it is worth looking at. If we are at the bottom (and at the moment the markets are around 13% higher than the bottom last seen in October), then it will turn out to be a great time to invest. If it goes back down again then it may not be as good but how likely is it to drop another 50% from the current position? Long term, it will probably be higher as long as you diversify. Historically it has always gone up (Even after a worse depression and worse rescessions). Its just a matter of time and if you have the tolerance to wait with that money.

Hi dunst,

If you don't mind me asking, where in general do you put your money? I don't mean in terms of specific companies or trusts - just in terms of categories of investment. So for example,

- 20% cash or cash equivelent
- 20% direct into specific company shares
- 50% into unti funds
- 10% into pornography :-)

I totally understand if you'd rather not say. I was just curious...

Best Regards

S

dunstonh

10% into pornography - lol. Is that all


I use unit trusts. I dont use shares. Mainly as an IFA I am not authorised to advise on direct investments. So, i dont spend enough time researching them. However, i deal daily in unit trusts. So, I stick with them for my own investing as well. I have dabbled in shares every now and then but not much.

I'm about 80/20 (UT/cash). And I have loads of different UTs. I have fingers in most niche/specialist pots but in percentage terms, not large amounts. My biggest holding is Inv Perp high Income. My longest is Gartmore China Opps and JPM Natural Resources (and I am very thankfull for those!!!). I also rebalance. Especially on the riskier ones and that has paid off big time.

Rebalancing effectively means you take gains in the good times and put them into the ones that havent done as well (typically the lower risk ones and cash). In bad times it goes the other way and you put the money back in the ones that have gone down.

sh856531

Hi dunst,

Thanks for that. I'm thinking about trying Inv Perp high Income as well. It seems to be very well regarded. I can't tell though if the 1.25% management fee is worth it or whether its better just to stick to less risky funds that don't have a management fee.

I'm thinking about putting 100pm into that fund and 200pm into cash. The rest into pornography.

:-)

Many thanks

S

Primrose

Perpetual High Income is also one of my favourites. It seems to be everybodys' favourite for good reasons and I'm wondering if there's a real risk that this fund could become overinvested and the sheer amount of money going into it could one day make it to0 large to become manageable?

Hatone

Some very interesting points here. I'm always weary of popular funds - will they live up to their expectations.....

The reason I’m a little Asia bias is because I still believe the market has more potential for growth. Since October and over the course of 5 years, most Asian funds have been returning outstanding figures. I’m not using past performances as a guide for the future, but I still think Asia has more to deliver, especially in the next 5 years. Would dunstonh agree with me on this?

I know these funds are capable to dropping 70% and are volatile, but what are the chances of dropping a further 70% at present? I do expect losses, but hopefully not on that scale.

I gain nothing from premium bonds. It’s for those who do not have the stomach to invest. It’s the disinvestors who lose out when there’s a big market swing. It’s finding that exposure and having a degree of luck on your side - then again, winning on premium bond requires luck as well.