Fisher Investments UK - opinions?

Eyeful

Silverpete said:

In the UK Fishers run their own funds through Purisima. The most adventurous appears to be Global return (B version unless you've c.£5M and are an IFA to invest) :-) 
I've had half my pension in this fund with them for 3 years now and have struggled to beat them self investing the other half. Fees are highish but the service is very good. They've been happy to share research on individual shares with me. 

Fund/Index	5-Year Annualized Net Return	Typical Fees
UK Fishers Global (B version)	12.08%	1.51% ongoing charge
MSCI World NR GBP Index	13.49%	~0.10%-0.20% (ETF/index funds)

Hence, the MSCI World Index outperforms the Fisher fund by about 1.4 percentage points annually over 5 years, reflecting the difference between active management fees and lower-cost passive investing options

UncleK

........and then add Fishers management charge........

Pumpkin75

I have been talking to Fisher this week after years of ignoring their calls. Performance is stated net of all fees.
I have done some analysis compared with a passive equity fund of an IFA that i have been looking at and there returns are good, I have to date been DIYing and by luck done ok. I work out that over this period Fisher is around 13% annualised and BD 7-8%. I have only found negative reviews from people that were out off by the sales tatics.

	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Brewin Dolphin
Passive plus MPS		11.36%	-5.71%	18.36%	2.40%	17.06%	-7.41%	11.40%	13.96%
Passive Global Equitues portfolio		13.14%	-7.37%	21.74%	0.90%	20.41%	-6.94%	13.13%	16.74%
Fisher		14.21%	-6.84%	26.76%	21.50%	24.42%	-17.28%	27.27%	24.38%

Upfront

0.50%

Ongoing1.50%

Custodian 0.15%

UncleK

Which Fisher fund is this? The Fishers Global (B version)?

Pumpkin75

Purisma Global Total Return B

masonic

Pumpkin75 said:

Purisma Global Total Return B

Looks like a slightly higher risk version of a global index tracker. It does rather better in rising periods and rather worse in falling periods. It has a tendency to give up all of its gains during those falling periods.

Pumpkin75

They apparently invest in 100 stocks

Pumpkin75

So I may as well just invest in a world index tracker?

UncleK

Vanguard's all world tracker (VWRP) has 12.92% per year over the last five years. Charges are 0.15% per year (capped at £375) with a minimum of £48. Compare that with Fisher's management charge of 1.5% to 1.125% plus the custodian charge you mention and the upfront fee actually sounds light to me - I was quoted almost 1.5%. That needs to be subtracted from the performance figures mentioned above.
Obviously I am with Vanguard but other passive trackers funds with other places like A J Bell are similar prices. It's not just the sales tactics - it's the constant drain of money they take every year - compounded up. I calculated Fisher's total fees were a factor of 17 compared to Vanguard's.

masonic

Pumpkin75 said:

So I may as well just invest in a world index tracker?

I see no long term benefit in this fund for the investor. It's probably being extracted for the fund manager via the exorbitant 1.50% annual management fee.

Had the fund demonstrated some ability to preserve capital in falling markets, then that could have made a case for the fund, but in fact it tends to do worse than an index tracker.

So personally, I'd prefer the option that delivers almost the same returns with less risk.