H&L Investment Times

bongoali

Very new to investment and after speaking with H&L on the phone they've sent me some booklets etc about all the areas I mentioned on the phone.

Also, they sent me (their?) "Investment Times"

Seems like on lots of pages of the IT there are statements of good time to invest which graphs/charts to show why.

Anyone know how long has this mag been going, how often is it published and whether in every mag they always say good time to invest and just change the graphs/charts ?!?

Lokolo

I think they come every quarter or so?

But yes usually they have a few articles about where the markets are going, which funds to invest in. and usually you get a thousand application forms. It's usually a marketing thing.

I mainly read it for the Funds List whcih comes with it.

dunstonh

Anyone know how long has this mag been going, how often is it published and whether in every mag they always say good time to invest and just change the graphs/charts ?!?

Its a marketing mag. Treat it as such. It should be considered in the same way you would treat a brochure from Aviva.

Rollinghome

bongoali wrote: »

whether in every mag they always say good time to invest and just change the graphs/charts ?!?

Yes they'll always say it's a good time to invest as will any financial adviser or managment company which only earns if they persuade you to give them your money. Just as a car dealer will never tell you to go away and come back when prices are cheaper.

Be vary wary too of their fund recommendations. You'll notice them pushing certain funds month after month regardless of how they're doing. In some cases they'll include new funds in their Wealth 150 list that have no track record at all and then go on to do very badly. Hargreaves lansdown rely very heavily on the marketing fees and special arrangements they have with the fund managers.

You need to do your own research perhaps with some help from sites like Morningstar and the various research companies (who may or may not have their own vested interests). The best place for Investment Times is in the bin with the rest of the junk mail. I seem to get it every month.

Micky_Mouse

Their blind faith and ceaseless unwavering optimism does have a tendency to get on your t*ts after a few months.

bongoali

Oki doaki - thanks peeps.

StevieJ

bongoali wrote: »

Very new to investment and after speaking with H&L on the phone they've sent me some booklets etc about all the areas I mentioned on the phone.

Also, they sent me (their?) "Investment Times"

Seems like on lots of pages of the IT there are statements of good time to invest which graphs/charts to show why.

Anyone know how long has this mag been going, how often is it published and whether in every mag they always say good time to invest and just change the graphs/charts ?!?

I have told them I don't want any of their junk anymore

StevieJ

Rollinghome wrote: »

Be vary wary too of their fund recommendations. You'll notice them pushing certain funds month after month regardless of how they're doing. In some cases they'll include new funds in their Wealth 150 list that have no track record at all and then go on to do very badly. Hargreaves lansdown rely very heavily on the marketing fees and special arrangements they have with the fund managers.

A classic case is the Psigma fund, never made a penny since launch but still in the 150, their current justification appears to be that they have now become defensive

There has been a slight change in strategy, leading to a marked improvement in relative performance since the start of the year. Bill Mott has taken a defensive stance, focusing on companies with strong balance sheets that sell everyday essentials. This includes pharmaceuticals, telecoms and utilities companies, which should be less reliant on a strong economy.

http://www.hl.co.uk/funds/fund-discounts,-prices--and--factsheets/search-results/p/psigma-income-income

Rollinghome

StevieJ wrote: »

A classic case is the Psigma fund, never made a penny since launch but still in the 150, their current justification appears to be that they have now become defensive

Haha, yes very amusing his comment on that. You might have assumed that if he liked Mott's strategy before, despite the big losses, then he wouldn't like it now that Mott's changed course and abandoned it. But no, it seems they're still bunging HL the backhanders so either way it's his favourite.

I also liked Dodgy Dampier's comment on the the HSBC American Index: "Once fees are taken into consideration our research suggests passively-managed tracker funds are likely to underperform the index they aim to track over the long term".

It's quite true of course even though the AMC for HSBC tracker is just 0.25% now. Trackers are expected return the index less costs, doesn't need his "research".

What he doesn't say is that the big majority of managed funds, that are most profitable to them, will also underperform their index with fees typically more than 6 times as high. And his sole Wealth 150 selection for North America has returned only half as much as the HSBC tracker (even including the period before HSBC fees were slashed) and has lost 9% this year against the small 0.33% gain of the HSBC index. Got to admire the man's brass neck.

webnibbler

Micky_Mouse wrote: »

Their blind faith and ceaseless unwavering optimism does have a tendency to get on your t*ts after a few months.

That made me chuckle.


So did a recent HL Investment Times article that suggested I might consider starting my portfolio all over again with all new funds, due to the recent economic gloom. The article may as well have had the title: ‘Panic, churn your portfolio and make us some money please’.

mostwelcome

To balance this up a bit.

Rollinghome wrote: »

Yes they'll always say it's a good time to invest as will any financial adviser or managment company which only earns if they persuade you to give them your money.

It always is a good time to invest: the question is "in what"?

StevieJ wrote: »

A classic case is the Psigma fund, never made a penny since launch but still in the 150, their current justification appears to be that they have now become defensive

I believe the purpose of this fund is to pay a dividend: it's an equity income fund. A yield of 4.59% paid biannually hardly invites the comment 'never made a penny'. Might trust Dampier's analysis over yours there

I appreciate the Investment Times, it gives helpful forward looking information in a digestible size for those of us who don't read the FT and Reuters every day. HL have been doing this for yonks and following their comments has helped plenty of us become smarter investors It's by no means the only source but it is a good one.