Your thoughts on this fund portfolio please

Jegersmart

There is someone above who says that actively managed funds are not worth it, I strongly do not agree. The reasons for this have been discussed many time here.

I hold a few of the funds above myself, especially as I use M&G Optimal Income and CF Miton SS during times when I feel uncertain about the equity markets and want to go defensive because these types of funds have lower volatility than a pure equit fund. There may be a number of bond funds above, but there are many types of bonds that can be held and I am pretty certain these do not have the same holding. For example, I am switching from Government bonds to Corporate bonds recently (in tranches) because I feel that the unbelievable performance of gilts and other govvies will start to wane soon so I don't want to be holding as much as I have been....I could be wrong but at least the profits I have made are partially "cashed in".

I don't think the above portfolio is too bad although emerging markets exposure is low for a longer term investment, and there are probably better choices in terms of cost and focus - but that is my personal opinion of course!

Out of the above, the funds I rate relatively highly are the 2 already mentioned, Asian Income and L&G Dynamic. But ONLY at certain points of the economic and markets cycle. We will probably have a fairly large equities sell off at some point in the next month or three, which is why I am positioned the way I am. I could be wrong of course but I retain a 24% equities weighting in mainly EM territoriesat this stage.

The main point here is that all investments are very subjective and personal to the individual in question. If you do not understand what you are investing in and what these mean then I wouldn't do it even with an IFA advising you.

Good luck with what you choose - and as said before I am happy to take fund and portfolio discussions offline with anybody here - not to give advice but to share ideas and thought processes.

J

gadgetmind

Jegersmart wrote: »

I hold a few of the funds above myself, especially as I use M&G Optimal Income and CF Miton SS during times when I feel uncertain about the equity markets and want to go defensive

I've never held that CF Miton fund, but I have often looked at it. I use Personal Assets and Ruffer ITs (and Troy Trojan and Ruffer Total Return OEICs in smaller quantities) for a similar function.

There may be a number of bond funds above, but there are many types of bonds that can be held and I am pretty certain these do not have the same holding.

I'm sure they don't, but I'm also pretty sure that what they hold varies with time. At some points they might be changing type, territory and duration in lock-step, and at other times have different views. What if they all get tempted into (say) high-yield financials all at the same time?

I am switching from Government bonds to Corporate bonds recently (in tranches)

Ditto, and the process is nearly complete for me. I'm mainly using corporate bond ETFs but I also hold a single strategic bond fund and a fund that holds high-risk financial debt.

Jegersmart

Hi Gadget

With regards to the bond funds above, you could well be right which is why I also choose my bond fund holdings with some degree of care - however I have been holding the Threadneedle Emeerging Market Debt fund for a while which has done very well indeed - presumably at least partially because there are fundss that would normally not be avoiding Euro debt if you see what I mean? Again, I could be wrong of course, but not so far my balance tells me...:)

Good luck with your investments, it is rare that I come across someone that seems to have a similar view as me

J

gadgetmind

Jegersmart wrote: »

Good luck with your investments, it is rare that I come across someone that seems to have a similar view as me

Beware confirmation bias!

However, we strongly disagree on active versus passive, so that's a good sign.

Jegersmart

gadgetmind wrote: »

Beware confirmation bias!

However, we strongly disagree on active versus passive, so that's a good sign.

Yes, and I am sure we only agree on certaing things at this point in time, it is probably a rare coincidence

J

atush

Like Gadget, our long marriage is based on sharing EVERYTHING. So no mine or his. I tend to make a lot of the decisons, but always run them by for the Rubber Stamp lol. No recrimations when things don't work out, and no presents when they do lol.

I also thought there were to many MM funds, and too many bond funds in that selection. Seems a bit strange to me, but there you go. What do I know, I am an amateur lol.

gadgetmind

atush wrote: »

I tend to make a lot of the decisons, but always run them by for the Rubber Stamp lol.

I tend to arrange my financial affairs around tax years, so late March is the time for assessing and planning, and early April tends to be a lot of fairly frantic activity.

So, in a couple of weeks, I'll be sitting down with my wife to go through our investments, explaining what I've done and why, what HMG has done to try and derail things this time, and what my projections now look like.

She tends to glaze over somewhat, but I think it's important for me that I understand there will be scrutiny!

Despite 2011 being a bit of a bear (in many ways!) a combination of the early 2012 rally, my tech shares, and some investments in late summer, I should just about be on target.

Phew!

Imnoexpert_2

Thanks again for all the comments.

Like some of you I am skeptical of managed funds versus passive. I do though hold managed funds in the hope of good returns. I lack a bit of confidence in my own selections though I've done ok - that's why I post here, and have an IFA.

An IFA is useful to us. Investing the ISA is probably the least useful thing he does. The fee/commission from this probably pays for the 'free' advice I get. He says a.fter the review advice will be much more expensive. What do you all think?

Before I met the IFA this year I specifically asked for an asset allocation strategy and I was disappointed not to get an explicit one. I shall ask again though obviously as posters have said this portfolio puts the allocation in the hands of the fund managers. I shall also ask for a rationale behind the funds - which I did express surprise about at the meeting.

IFAs have an answer for everything though. In our meeting I referred to the poor performance of some pension funds over 3 years and the answer was 'well these are long term and can't be judged over 3 or even 5 years', then he suggested moving last years ISA funds which by the same token haven't had chance to demonstrate their long term performance.

The comment I made about the downside risk of managing 'her indoors' money is one of those relationship things which probably belongs in another forum. Having separate money means I can buy a new pc for £500, and new golf stuff without having to ask or feeling guilty and she can waste £30 on a haircut! It works for us - (so far).

I'll keep you posted!

gadgetmind

Imnoexpert wrote: »

An IFA is useful to us. Investing the ISA is probably the least useful thing he does.

What's the most useful thing he does?

The fee/commission from this probably pays for the 'free' advice I get. He says a.fter the review advice will be much more expensive. What do you all think?

Nothing is free, and all professionals should be able to provide ample proof that they add value. Demand such proof.

Before I met the IFA this year I specifically asked for an asset allocation strategy and I was disappointed not to get an explicit one. I shall ask again though obviously as posters have said this portfolio puts the allocation in the hands of the fund managers. I shall also ask for a rationale behind the funds - which I did express surprise about at the meeting.

Keep on being demanding. They are taking big commissions and *must* justify them.

Having separate money means I can buy a new pc for £500, and new golf stuff without having to ask or feeling guilty and she can waste £30 on a haircut! It works for us - (so far).

Such sums fall below our "frivolous purchasing budgets", but once we get into £x000 plus we discuss it with each other. Each to their own.

atush

Quote:
Having separate money means I can buy a new pc for £500, and new golf stuff without having to ask or feeling guilty and she can waste £30 on a haircut! It works for us - (so far). Such sums fall below our "frivolous purchasing budgets", but once we get into £x000 plus we discuss it with each other. Each to their own.

Neither one of us (even me who acutally has accts that he was not privy to) would do secret buying.

We dont buy anything more than a100 w/o consultation normally. Not because we have to, but because we want to. Heck, I'll discuss merits of different things for much less (like a toaster- I bought a cheap one to replace our other that was over 10 years but he hated it- he got a new one for xmas). He just ignores me and watches football ;-)

But if I wanted to buy something for 1000s he wouldn't say a word.

Basically, as the money belongs to both of us- neither of us wants to waste it. Trust. I used to go to auctions and buy antiques. Never a mention. He does love some of the items I bought with him in mind such as the GF clock.

We want anything nice (even a new toaster/laptop/wristwatch) we just give it to the other for xmas/bday. Even meals out are adjusted to fit holidays so they tie in with 'normal' expenditure. I have ordered my new phone and had him pick it up and wrap it for my xmas pressie- why waste buying extra things when you can get what you need and want for a present?

We would never keep seperate funds. The only seperate accts we have (mostly mine) are due to paperwork.money laundering regs that we can't be bothered with.

the whole seperate money thing mystifies me really.