How many funds in a portfolio?

lemon26

Hi again, i've finished tinkering for the time being and my portfolio now looks like this:

AEGON High-Yield Bond A Acc: 6.43%
Artemis Strategic Assets R Acc: 16.09%
HSBC Pacific Index Acc: 7.41%
Invesco Perp Corporate Bond Inc: 8.65%
Invesco Perp High Income Acc: 17.32%
JP Morgan Natural Resources A Acc: 6.91%
Jupiter Financial Opps Inc: 7.03%
Jupiter India Acc: 6.94%
Jupiter Int'l Financials Acc: 7.11%
M&G Global Growth A Acc: 9.59%
Threadneedle UK Property Trust Acc: 6.51%

How does thsi sound now - balaced / agressive or plain stupid? I'm learing as I go so thoughts are appreciated.

I've also seen a book about investing, 'Smarter Investing: Simpler Decisions fro Better Results' by Tim Hale - is it any good if anyone's read it or do you know of anything better or more informative in layman's terms?

Funally, using Morningstar portfolio manager I have a total return for December 2009 of 2.9% but a personal return of 11.66% - what is the difference? I've tried looking at the article linked to in the help section but it says that it can't be found and must have been removed.

slinga

Diversification is advised by all the 'experts'.
How much though is an individual thing I suppose.

Rather than worry too much over the number of funds I'd check that you have the best performing fund in each sector.
You can do this on the Fidelity site maybe the H&L as well.
Take your Jupiter India it looks about the best Indian fund around it certainly performed 13% better last year than quite a few other Indian funds.

Aegis

slinga wrote: »

Diversification is advised by all the 'experts'.
How much though is an individual thing I suppose.

Rather than worry too much over the number of funds I'd check that you have the best performing fund in each sector.
You can do this on the Fidelity site maybe the H&L as well.
Take your Jupiter India it looks about the best Indian fund around it certainly performed 13% better last year than quite a few other Indian funds.

Not the ideal way to pick funds. The best performing fund over a given time frame may be the most volatile in the sector, it may be because of short term gains caused by the recovery of recent large drops, the management style might not fit your objectives, etc.

There are lots of considerations other than past performance, which, remember, is no guarantee of future performance.

mr_fishbulb

Also managers can move away from funds, leaving a dud in charge.

And as Aegis says, the focus of the funds can vary greatly (I'm thinking of Green/Ethical funds in particular).

Jonbvn

Me & OH have 6 funds each in our S&S ISA's.

The reason for this is quite simple. With a minimum monthly amount for each fund of GBP50 equates to GBP300pm, with a limit of GBP3600 per year due to ISA limits.

With the increased ISA limits in April, we will adjust our contributions and the number of funds we invest in accordingly.

jon3001

Jonbvn wrote: »

S&S ISA's. ... a limit of GBP3600 per year due to ISA limits.

The limit is currently £7200.

Rollinghome

lemon26 wrote: »

I've also seen a book about investing, 'Smarter Investing: Simpler Decisions fro Better Results' by Tim Hale - is it any good if anyone's read it or do you know of anything better or more informative in layman's terms.

Yes it is. Published by FT. Probably the best return on a tenner you can get for looking through all the advertising spin and clarifying how and why you should invest. The best basic reference book is the Financial Times Guide: Investing for £12.50 at Amazon. Bang up to date if you get the new edition published 2010. Far better than all the barmy 'how to get rich trading shares books' which are as cynical and useful as all those dieting books.

lemon26

Hi again RollingHome, in your opinion which book would be better to read first, the Tim Hale book or the FT guide that you refer too? I would make sure I got the 2010 edition too! Cheers again

Jonbvn

jon3001 wrote: »

The limit is currently £7200.

I know. However, the other £3.6k went into cash ISA's.

Rollinghome

lemon26 wrote: »

Hi again RollingHome, in your opinion which book would be better to read first, the Tim Hale book or the FT guide that you refer too? I would make sure I got the 2010 edition too! Cheers again

Different sort of books really. FT 'Investing' is a reference book that explains all the building blocks of investment including shares, bonds, options, futures, as well as pooled investments such as UTs, ITs, investment bonds etc. and explains the pitfalls of some.

'Smarter Investing' is specifically about pooled investments and helps define your investment strategies. Explains how to assess your needs and how best to get there without the hokum. Even if you don't agree with it, a lot of food for thought. The sort of stuff a good IFA should explain but won't unless you go to an expensive fee-only one.

You can lose the price of both in the blink of an eye on investments so worth both worth having. A lot of it is obvious but many people lose a sackload of money without the penny ever dropping. Both FT publications, both up to date, one published 2009, the other a new edition just out this month, and both from the UK perspective.