Professional IFA HELP needed for £80,000

dunstonh

If I was to comment on the fund choice and your later posts, I would say that either your IFA has understated your risk profile. In other words he/she is investing at a level under your risk profile. Or, you are picking funds which are above your risk profile without realising they are higher. I think you need to review and discuss your risk profile a bit more to make sure the funds recommended or the funds you propose match your risk profile.

Within sectors you have funds which are more volatile with others. So, whilst some perform better than others in a defined period, it could be that they are slightly higher risk or have got lucky. Consistency can be more important than short term top performers. Some funds can jump around from 1st quartile to 3rd and back again and so on. Others can be consistent 1st/2nd quartile and whilst never spectacular, can be better to invest in.

Skandia Global Best Ideas fund was mentioned on a thread the other day. I dont think any of us thought it was worth investing in. Of course, we could all be wrong. What made you consider these other funds? (i.e. why do you think they are worthwhile?)

What type of spread would you recommend?

We cant answer that. Someone with a cautious risk profile will have a different spread to someone with a higher risk profile. Its the most important thing to consider before you start picking anything to invest in.

wongseefu

Sorry guys, didn't know it was against the rules l apologise again.

Yea, time after time l think my lack of knowledge is getting the better of me. I only started becoming interested in funds about 2 months ago so alot to learn.

What l'm doing is comparing funds against each other and as you have rightly said it's the top performers for each quarter that l'm looking at. Consistency is def. a more important factor.

Ok if l rephrase the question. I want to have more exposure to the asian market and further east. Any recommendations in how to tinker with my portfolio. Something like another £100 monthly to a asian fund (include Japan). That way l won't be commiting a big lump sum of my portfolio in there and if it's not doing well l can review it in my next meeting.

Another question l have is regarding the Morning Star ratings. What is the best way to interpret these star ratings and are they that reliable?




Best regards,

See fu

Chrismaths

Just a tip, it's best not to look for the "top" performing fund - as more often than not, it's because that fund takes more risk than others in it's peer group. Look up the results of Legg Mason Japan compared to others in the Japan sector to see that.

Morningstar ratings are backward looking measures of past performance. They are best interpreted with indifference.

EdInvestor

You can further investigate funds here:

https://www.citywire.co.uk/Funds/Home.aspx

Look for top 10 performers in each sector over 1,3,5 and 10 year periods.That way you will get the consistent performers.Also check out the top rated fund managers on the site.

For Asia Pacific funds the outstanding fund manager for many years is Hugh Young at Aberdeen Asset Management.

If you want to do a bit of tinkering you might be better off to buy investment trusts rather than unit trusts. ITs are funds in the form of shares listed on the stockmarket. You can trade them at online brokers, but your IFA won;t deal with them.

There are fewer of them then unit trusts so it's a bit less baffling to understand them.They also have cheaper charges (no commission for a start) and much more liquid.

Investment trust list

Chrismaths

Look for top 10 performers in each sector over 1,3,5 and 10 year periods.That way you will get the consistent performers.Also check out the top rated fund managers on the site.

Although of course that will bias you heavily towards recent performance, and should therefore, as with most of Ed's posts be ignored.

For Asia Pacific funds the outstanding fund manager for many years is Hugh Young at Aberdeen Asset Management.

That's pretty close to a recommendation. As I've said before, anyone who will make you a recommendation on this board is probably not worth listening to.
Indeed, Hugh Young only recently started to manage FE ex-Japan money, as his old fund used to include Japan, making any comparison on past performance a bit pointless.

ctdctd

Chrismaths wrote:

Although of course that will bias you heavily towards recent performance, and should therefore, as with most of Ed's posts be ignored.

That hardly seems fair or within the spirit of MSE?
I enjoy reading the views from both sides!

mroller

dunstonh wrote:

It is worth noting that at least three on that list can be beaten on like for like terms by IFAs depending on the investment product used and assuming the IFA gets full enhancement on the commissions. The enhancement being rebated would give better terms.

Do you mean that there are IFAs cheaper than discount brokers like Hargreaves Lansdown?

Chrismaths

Not really pru, I just get hacked off with correcting the errors and misinformation she spreads.

EdInvestor

Look for top 10 performers in each sector over 1,3,5 and 10 year periods.That way you will get the consistent performers.Also check out the top rated fund managers on the site.


Although of course that will bias you heavily towards recent performance, and should therefore, as with most of Ed's posts be ignored.


Well of course, if we can find a source that gives 15 and 20 year performance statistics I'd be very happy to direct posters to it, though I very much doubt there would be any funds featured which are not already in the 10 year list.

I'm a bit surprised that you think 10 years is recent.I'd have thought 10 years was a bit before your time.

Jake'sGran

ctdctd wrote:

Chrismaths wrote:

Although of course that will bias you heavily towards recent performance, and should therefore, as with most of Ed's posts be ignored.

That hardly seems fair or within the spirit of MSE?
I enjoy reading the views from both sides!

I was thinking exactly the same thing and have been a fan of EdInvestor since I started reading this forum. Compared to the professionals on this board I am a real novice but have used performance tables for some time now. What is the point of them if they not meant to be a guide for seasoned and novice investors? Whichever forum I do read, on MSE, BBC (gardening :-)) etc there is always someone who seems to enjoy having a go at another contributor! Don't know about others but it puts me off posting.