Fools rush in, or the early birds catches the worm?
Posted by: admin in General, Unit Trust on May 12th, 2009
To quote an article by IFast in Fundsupermart.com,
“However, we have recently seen a change in sentiment and increasing investor risk appetite, and this has benefited most equity funds and even higher-risk fixed income funds.”
There’s certainly a hint of optimism among the investors out there. Being a forward looking individual like myself, the storm will eventually subside as they always do. Unless you’re talking about the end of the world that is..
Is it still safe to be in “safe” funds now?
Posted by: admin in Unit Trust on May 11th, 2009
Have you realized that the Bond Funds prices has been consistently dropping lately?
The Insider understands that Equity and Bonds generally in opposite directions to each other, like a magnet’s South pole and a North pole. The big difference is that the Equity fund is a bigger “magnet” then the Bond fund.
So we see how the Equities, a.k.a. the Stocks, have a BIG influence in how the Bond funds would react.
I took a couple of Bond Funds to compare against a popular Equity Fund, the DWS China Equity Fund in the past 6 months. Do you see the “magnetism” between them?
bonds movement against the equity fund
I don’t think anyone would like to be invested on a fund that is dropping, but channelling 20% of your investment into an Equity Fd for a small start could be rewarding in the long run.
How will the H1N1 virus affect the global market
Posted by: admin in General, Unit Trust on May 4th, 2009
Just when the world market looking set to recover, the H1N1 crisis is causing concern around the world. It is still early to say how it would turn out, but a good indicator of how it would affect the market is to look back at how the world deals with SARS and other past pandemics, as highlighted in the report by the author of AMP Capital Investors. Click on the image to see the report.
SARS in 2003
Here’s the short of it:
- There might be short term volatility
- Unlikely to be a major impact on the share market
- SARS didn’t really eventuate, economic impact was modest although it caused some volatity in the market
What should you do now?
MohdKhair.com feels that it may not be a good idea to get aggressive on your investment now, but being 100% in conservative funds may cause you to lose out on strong gains when global market eventually recovers. It usually comes quicker than we can react.
Why do we see stocks picking up while RECESSION is still all over the news?
Posted by: admin in General, Unit Trust on April 27th, 2009
Why does the stocks sky-dived when the economy was going strong, and why lately does it seems to defy gravity when it’s still doom and gloom in the economy?
An Insider understands that stocks movement is the first indicator of the direction of economy. In the process, it also dictates the fall of the property market as we are experiencing right now.
Stocks trend first indicator of the economy (source).
Unit trust investors have seen an average spike of 30% return back then when the world recovers from the Asian Financial crisis. Though no-one truly knows when will be the start of the recovery until it is too late, we have seen a sustained growth over 6-8 months after the Asian Financial Crisis was over.
Question is, will you be one of them who will catch the wave?
The Secrets of Investing in Unit Trust
Posted by: admin in Unit Trust on April 9th, 2009
There are 3 common strategies used in unit trust investment.
1. Dollar Cost Averaging
Regularly invest a fix amount in a unit trust fund regardless of market trend is called the Dollar Cost Averaging strategy. The actual market performance is fluctuating. When the equity market is high, you buy fewer units with the same amount. When the market is low, you buy more units. For long term, you will get much more unit in the lower price range.
2. Portfolio Re-balancing
Portfolio re-balancing is the process of bringing the different asset classes back into proper relationship following a significant change in one or more. More simply stated, it is returning your portfolio to the proper mix of stocks, bonds and cash when they no longer conform to your plan.
Example:
You start investing 50% in equity and 50% in fixed income fund.
1 year later, the equity rises and now your portfolio consists of 80% equity and 20% fixed income fund. To re-balance your portfolio, you should sell 30% of your total fund in equity and invest it in fixed income fund so that the portfolio is maintained. This is the simple principle of buying low, and selling high.
3. Switching
Switching will lock in the gain you made in your unit trust investment. When you are making profit from an equity fund, you can switch it to some lower risk fund to lock the gain instead of selling it for cash. When the market turns low, you can switch it back to equity fund.
Rooms for rent (immediate!)
I have a business deal with CityHomes, putting this up for a client:
Type of Property : Terraced House
No. of Room : 1 Master Bedroom, 1 Common Room
Property Location : Bedok
Property Address : 6 Wiltshire Road
Rental Asking : SGD$950 Master, SGD$750 Common
Co-broke : OK
View the images here (opens in new window).
Stocks losing momentum in falling?
Posted by: admin in Unit Trust on April 3rd, 2009
Source: Dollardex
Lately, I observe that the downtrend is starting to lose momentum. I’m beginning to see some positive returns in some of my account holders’ portfolio, especially them who opt into DWS China and DWS Noor Precious Metal. By chance or not, the gainers among these account holders are on the IFAST RSP account. RSP is short for Regular Savings Plan. It’s a great plan if you would like a potentially higher return than your average fixed deposit but not taking too much risk. More about RSP in the future articles.
Summary of Customers' Profit & Loss (Adviser's view)
Oh, if you’re wondering what’s Pru Global Balanced Fund doing up there, it’s one of the current funds that I’m looking into. You may want to switch into that if you’re currently fully invested in Bonds fund.
Future CPF-SA Investors, this may affect you..
Posted by: admin in General, Unit Trust on February 18th, 2009
This is just in!
Abstracted from CPF Website - New Changes in 2009:
CPF Investment Scheme
To lower cost and improve quality of the funds included under CPFIS, the following changes will take place:
- From 1 May 2009, CPF members must first set aside $30,000 in their Special Account (SA) before they can invest their SA monies under CPFIS.
- From 1 January 2011, all funds in the CPFIS must meet all admission criteria applicable since 1 February 2006.
As it currently stands, you must set aside $20,000 before they can invest their SA monies under CPFIS. Meaning that currently, to be able to invest $10,000 from you CPF Special Account (CPF-SA) into a unit trust fund, you’ll need to have $30,000.
From 1st May 2009 onwards, you should have $40,000 in your CPF-SA to be able to invest $10,000.
If you’ve already invested your CPF-SA, this will not affect your current investment, but you may not be able to make a further investment i.e. top-up unless you meet the above guidelines.
I don’t believe in Unit Trust until I found this..
Posted by: admin in General, Unit Trust on February 17th, 2009
Performance of stocks from year 1925 to 2000
Some of the top reasons I’ve encountered by the people who don’t invest (or re-invest) is that it’s too risky, or it’s not a good time to buy in. There are another group of people who consistently see no “luck” in their investments, always losing the moment they go into that new fund/s.
These people usually have one thing in common - they usually see Unit Trust and its counterparts as a short term investment instrument.
Stretch it to a 10-years period or more and you’ll begin to see the opportunity right up there in the chart, almost regardless of when you come in. This is the most ideal period for accumulating funds for children education funds or retirement/old age funds.
Can’t manage your own investment? Working with a competent adviser with a cool head would be a good idea. Though the volatility nature of this investment can be a roller-coaster issue, one will eventually come out a winner with time on his/her side and sound investment fundamentals. I will discuss more about unit trust investing tactics and strategies in the near future.
View the full chart here (this will appear in a new window).
Have a burning question? Let it out here.