Irish Life International Spanish Portfolio Bond - Is it a good idea?

littleflower

I am looking for some unbiased advice with regard to a possible investment in an Irish Life International Spanish Portfolio Bond. As I am now a resident of Spain, I have been advised that this Bond would provide me with a medium risk investment. Never having ventured into this type of investment before I am a little wary and would be interested to hear from anyone with advice or experience of investing in this manner.

blinko

i would AVOID anything investment wise with the words IRish Greece and spain unless you are shorting of course

can you post a link to the product

Cautious_Investor_3

littleflower wrote: »

I have been advised that this Bond would provide me with a medium risk investment.

Hi

Make sure you know what you are getting.

The Bond is simply a tax wrapper, it is the investments (funds) held within it which carry the risk.

For example an Offshore Bond could invest in a deposit account (low capital risk) or a BRIC Fund (high capital risk).

The wrapper dictates things like charges to some extent, taxation, tax relief, access etc. The fund dictates, risk, return, charges.

It is two separate decisions:

Decision 1: Tax Wrapper

Decision 2: Investment

I hope this helps.

Thanks

The Cautious Investor

Loughton_Monkey

I think that investing in something just because it is your 'home' country is not relevant.

Investing in some "Euro" fund might make sense to reduce currency risk, but these days, you cannot avoid a significant currency risk anyway due to globalisation of most 'investable' companies.

It's just my own view, but currently I wouldn't dream of investing in 'PIGS' currently. I much prefer 'BRIC' since they are performing excellently at the moment. This scenario may change, in which case I will re-balance and shift. The words "Life Assurance Bond" would worry me about locking me into a certain asset class for a very long time - whether it be Greece, or Russia. Flexibility is more valuable in these volatile times.

Cautious_Investor_3

Loughton_Monkey wrote: »

The words "Life Assurance Bond" would worry me about locking me into a certain asset class for a very long time - whether it be Greece, or Russia. Flexibility is more valuable in these volatile times.

Investing in a Life Assurance Bond doesn't lock you into an asset class, as I said in my previous post the Bond is just the wrapper, it can invest in a wide range of funds, from low to high risk and most bonds offer a sufficient range of funds to cope with the requirements of diversification.

Loughton_Monkey

Cautious_Investor wrote: »

Investing in a Life Assurance Bond doesn't lock you into an asset class, as I said in my previous post the Bond is just the wrapper, it can invest in a wide range of funds, from low to high risk and most bonds offer a sufficient range of funds to cope with the requirements of diversification.

That's fine, then.

littleflower

Thank you for the responses, the division of my capital within the bond has been advised as:
Brandeaux Student Accommodation 37.5%
Milton Special Solutions 25 %
Templeton Global Government Bond Fund 24 %
Invesco Perpetual High Income 10 %
Leaving a small amount of retained cash to service the management fees. Do you have any thoughts on this?

Cautious_Investor_3

littleflower wrote: »

Thank you for the responses, the division of my capital within the bond has been advised as:
Brandeaux Student Accommodation 37.5%
Milton Special Solutions 25 %
Templeton Global Government Bond Fund 24 %
Invesco Perpetual High Income 10 %
Leaving a small amount of retained cash to service the management fees. Do you have any thoughts on this?

Hi

As I thought, a range of funds within a single tax wrapper.

I do not know what other investments you have or how much you propose to invest in this bond, nor do I know your attitude to risk, however I would make the following observations:

1. 37.5% in the Brandeaux fund is a large percentage in one very specific type of property fund. The key to property is diversification, both geographically and between industries. I would be wary of such a large proportion in one single, very spcific area

2. Diversification comes from having exposure to a variety of asset classes, you have no exposure to Corporate Bonds

3. Despite what I say in point 2, four funds would seem to be too few

overall I'd say it was a curious portfolio, I'd be interested to know how much you are investing and what process the financial adviser went through to select these funds.

The Cautious Investor

pqrdef

littleflower wrote: »

Brandeaux Student Accommodation 37.5%

There's a story behind that one, Google it. Was suspended for quite a while.

Being cynical, I'd be looking at just how big a commission your adviser gets on this, and wondering if he hasn't chosen that particular obscure platform just because it offers this particular fund.

(Actually, it calls itself a fund, but I don't think it's really a fund in quite the usual sense.)

Cautious_Investor_3

pqrdef wrote: »

Being cynical, I'd be looking at just how big a commission your adviser gets on this, and wondering if he hasn't chosen that particular obscure platform just because it offers this particular fund.

(Actually, it calls itself a fund, but I don't think it's really a fund in quite the usual sense.)

I'd doubt it that fund, good or otherwise, will be available on most Offshore Investment Bonds.

Still doesn't explain why 37.5% should be invested in it though.

The Cautious Investor

missile

Living in spain it makes sense to invest with a spanish IFA / investment house. There are many to coose from. Just like in the UK there are a few good, most are average and many are spivs in suits.