Why not interested in Public Greater China Fund?

1. It is a new fund, just open 2 days ago.
2. It is a normal equity fund like other existing funds with equity in the range of 75% to 98%.
3. The mixed asset funds lin the previous post, their equity portion can go much lower than 75%.

"The permissible range the fund can hold is 30% to 98% in the first 3 funds, 40% to 60% in the 4th fund, and in the last fund, 2% to 98%."

I was holding too much money-market and bond funds... now seeking higher returns for this batch of money, but not willing to take on more risk and enlarge the equity portion of the portfolio.

The mixed asset funds would be a compormised between risk and returns... still in the chase for higher returns, but with lower risk in the short term.

Currently, there is too much volality in the market. Good to have funds with mandate that allows the fund manager to judge and determine the bond/equity ratio to have.

As can be seen from the review, they have different equity holdings... from 58% to 92%.

"Equities & Related Securities – Domestic: 2.75%, 6.25%, 1.03%, 1.33%, 0%."
"Equities & Related Securities – Foreign: 85.78%, 78.39%, 90.82%, 56.59%, 69.45%."
Total equities (Domestic + Foreign): 88.53%, 84.64%, 91.85%, 57.92%, 69.45%.

This post has been edited by j.passing.by: Nov 17 2017, 01:32 PM

Aready quite some time ago, several months ago, that the webpage was made non-copy... cannot right click and copy.

To work around it, save the webpage as text, and copy the entire text into Excel.

1. Copy the very, very long text string into a cell.
2. Trim the text string into a column of lines, using Excel text functions.



=========

This section is edited and updated.... new Excel formulas to extract the data out of the price list.

Note: To get the entire text file in a long text string, open the text file using the browser... either Firefox or Explorer.

To get the webpage as a text file:


Tips for cutting and trimming the long text string:





Updated: 18 Jan 2018.


This post has been edited by j.passing.by: Jan 18 2018, 02:05 PM

2 more business days in 2017... and we will be welcoming 2018... Happy New Year!

So, how are you doing this year? And what's the market outlook for the coming new year?

If you are planning to restructure your portfolio next week, and intending to trim profits from several funds into another fund, here's an idea to consolidate your switches.

You can trim your equity funds into a money-market fund, and then switch again to another equtiy fund; instead of switching from several equity funds directly into the same equity fund.

This way, you can save some switching fees since switching into a money-market fund has no switching fee. Hence, when you switch out of the money-market fund, you only incurr one switching fee.

(Please note that you must have at least held the fund at least 90 days before switching out to get this free switch into a money-market fund.)

Wishing you Happy 2018... and may the bull rally continues.

Cheers.

================

Edit: Elite/Gold Members: Please note that effective 1st Jan 2018, there is a major change to the free switching entitlement.

The number of free switches is now UNLIMITED if done via PMO.

BUT the switched out units MUST BE AFTER 90 DAYS (of buying or switching into that fund).

If it is before 90 days, you will incur a switching fee of RM25 regardless whether you are Gold Member or Elite Gold.

================

With this change in the free switching rule, this means no more free parking for several days or weeks in a money-market fund.

The so-called RM25 Hotel tactical play goes out the window for those who wanted to jump out of equity for a few days or weeks, before jumping back in. Previously, the RM25 fee will be deducted from the Gold Member's quota of free swiches.

Now, this Hotel stay must be at least 90 days to be free.

The good news is the number of free switches is now unlimited. You can now switched directly from an equity or bond fund to another equity fund - as long as the former fund is at least 90 days old.

If you are holding a high percentage of equity fund in, say Asia Pacific region... you can now trim it as frequently as you like to another equity fund that covers the local equity market or Asean region.

I guess this minimal 90 days holding period to entitle for free switches is to discourage investors from doing too much 'trading' and encourages them to hold the investment a bit longer.

And that whatever portfolio's equity/bond ratio they are having currently or plan to have, this new free switches rule will encourage investors to keep it at 90 days before rebalancing or restructuring the ratio.

This post has been edited by j.passing.by: Jan 8 2018, 03:53 PM

It is to get around a non-copyable webpage. Previously, it can be copied and imported directly into Excel.

Now, you saved the webpage as a TEXT file, and then import the saved text file into Excel.

Since it is messy using Excel to import the text file... as the imported data is not very tidy, with some lines erratic...

So, as an alternative to Excel's 'import from text'. the whole text file is copied into Excel as a super long text string, and it is then chopped and trimmed as described in above post.

Previously only need to refresh the data within Excel.

Voila! The full price list is updated.

Now:
1. Open the Fund Price webpage.
2. Saved the Webpage as text...
3. Open the saved text file.
4. On the text file, right-click... Select All...Copy.
5. At your Excel file...Paste Special... Text only...

5 steps instead of 1.



This post has been edited by j.passing.by: Dec 30 2017, 10:20 PM

Here is another reason, aside from the high service charges, not to support Public Mutual.

As an organisation, Public Mutual does not see you as a client of theirs. You are not their customer, as you are a customer of your UT agent (UT consultant).

If you approached the company directly, you won’t get any friendly service a customer would expect to get.

I always come away with a feeling that I have somehow interrupted their daily siesta and they are annoyed and wondering why I am bothering them with my silly question instead of referring my silly question to my UT agent.

The company seems to be moving more towards internet as an added service; but on the other hand, the company seems to expect major announcements to flow to the customer via their UT agents instead of communicating it via their website.

Case in point is the recent change in the free switching entitlement. If you browse through the news and announcement segment of their website, there is no notice of any pending changes to the free switches entitlement by Gold and Elite Gold Members.

Not in their main webpage either.

If there is any other form of notice of pending changes to the customer, maybe there are… but me - a regular Joe and investor and customer – I am not aware of or were alerted to the change.

So, I asked my silly question… and in their reply, I somewhat felt that I am blind, and should have read the benefits that are clearly stated within the Mutual Gold page.

Yes, Public Mutual Sdn Bhd and her good customer service… thank you for your astute and precise reply.

A standard no-fault-lies-with-us reply….



=========

It was a very good first 4 days in the new year... my port gained more than 1% - though it is not as good as Yang Huiyan’s 2 billlion.

Happy New Year 2018... the rally continues...

This post has been edited by j.passing.by: Jan 8 2018, 04:10 PM

In short, the portfolio was set-up to supplement retirement income and as a trust fund for my spouse and family. It is currently up and running - only thing left is to switch the income distribution option to pay-out... no point to change to a new fund company and spend more time on the portfolio.

============

New year's resolution: spend less time on the net... cut down broadband fees... had switched to pre-paid... the cheapest I can find, RM30/month... less chit-chat gossip posts and will not reply to all posts.

The previous post on extracting data out of the nav price list is updated... using simpler excel formulas.

============

PS. With better facilities and services from EPF... now with no limits to the freqeuncy and number of withdrawals from Account 55 and Account 60, dividends paid till age 100, greater transparentcy in the naming of nominees and ease of changing it later... EPF is a viable and alternate option as a short term trust fund if your spouse is also holding an EPF account.

You can set up a plan to transfer up to 60k in a year to your spouse EPF... hence upon your demise, your spouse and family will get whatever is left in your EPF in a lump sum, and your spouse will also have a bigger amount in his/her EPF amount for monthly or annually withdrawals.

For a widow or widower to have too much cash on hand is worrisome... there is too much news of cons and scam artists on the prowl scamming senior citizens.

I think you should be thinking beyond 12-15 years to really know for sure whether it is worthwhile or not.

Mutual Gold is at least 120k to qualify... and taking it out of EPF, means you are earning above the basic savings table according to your age.

(Basically, EPF is in 2 accounts... Acct 1 and Acct 2 in ratio of 70:30 . The withdrawal to invest into UT is out of Acct 1, and only up to 30% of the excess amount above the basic savings table.)

For those who intend to withdraw out of EPF, I would repeat what I said in a previous post... go for higher risk and more aggressive funds, which are the non-local funds such as Public Islamic Asia Leaders Equity Fund.

The returns you should be expecting should be in the region of 9% to 12%. At least 8%. Any lower, I don't think it is worthwhile... after taking the service charge into account, the risk/reward is not there.

And would also repeat this common advice... take your time and spread out the purchases. If you are planning long term, then make regular purchases and/or withdrawals from EPF into UT funds throughout the next 10-15 years.

The reasoning is this:

The EPF fund is viewed as a conservative and stable fund with stable returns or dividends annually. The portfolio of UT funds act as a counterpart to the EPF fund, hence it should be more aggressive and more volatile and unstable annual returns in the short term, but it is expected to have higher growth than EPF in the longer term.

As mentioned above, the withdrawal out of EPF is only a small portion of the total amount in EPF... especially if Account 2 is untouched.

If you are also investing into UT funds from your own savings, then you should also look into the overall picture and take another closer look into the funds you are now currently holding.

If the portfolio is not at least 80% in equity with higher expected returns, then maybe you are a more conservative investor than you think you are, and you are already holding equity funds in adequate amounts.

It would then be pointless to withdraw from EPF and add more to the less aggressive portion of the portfolio.

Maybe transfer those funds from the other portion first before transferring it out of EPF.

Cheers.

Edit: typos corrected.

This post has been edited by j.passing.by: Jan 18 2018, 01:56 PM

2017 was a very good year for equity funds... many funds gains more than 20%... see this webpage from Morningstar, click on the 1-yr returns to sort it downwards... you will have to browse till the 4th page to see those funds with returns lower than 20%... and browse till the 12th page for funds lower than 10%.

http://my.morningstar.com/ap/FundSelect/re...ce&Type=YTDBest

Maybe there is a kiasu or FOMO (fear of missing out) thing going on when more people are jumping into more aggressive funds.

When the market trend reverses, maybe we will see them jumping out and back to more conservative funds.

(First kiasu, then kiasi.)

For the full list of benefits of Mutual Gold... please see PM official website... https://www.publicmutual.com.my/

EPF allows its members to take out some of their money to invest into UT funds.

1. The money is drawn out of Account 1.
2. You approach a UT counsultant or directly with the fund company, fill in a form and they will submit it to EPF.
3. EPF pays directly to the fund company.
4. If you later sell the fund, the money will go back directly to your EPF Account 1.
5. EPF will release control over the fund when you reach age 55.
6. There is a Basic Saving Table. See EPF website for more details.
7. The Basic Saving Table is a list of savings you should have - according to your age - in Account 1.
8. You can only withdraw up to 30% of the excess amount above this "basic saving".
9. Check the EPF site for the full list of funds that EPF has approved and allowed to invest.

Cheers.

Preserving The Nest Egg?

(This post is more appropriate for those investors who are now at the immediate stage with a sizeable amount of UT funds.)

This month started badly, with global market sell-off on the first trading day (for Malaysia) of February, and Hang Seng and HSCEI indices yet to rebound back to their previous levels.

My portfolio, which is heavily in Greater China and Asia markets, dropped and its YTD is now negative, erasing the gains made last month.

Since the portfolio has already achieved its targeted size, I think I should also be more concerned on preserving it, and not only concentrate on expanding and growing it too aggressively.

In short, I think I have to reign in my greediness (kiasu/FOMO), and balance it with a bit of fear and "kiasi"ness of markets sell-off.

So, what are the numbers I should be looking at? How much should I trim from those equity funds in Asia and Greater China regions, such that any further market drops would not affect the total amount too greatly?

I think I should also view the portfolio in terms of ringgit and cents, not only in terms of ratio between Fixed Income Funds and Equity Funds.

Here are the steps I would be taking:

1. Identify the amount I wanted to preserve. (Say XYZ amount in ringgit terms.)

2. Calculate the surplus amount above this XYZ amount.

3. Calculate the total amount (in ringgit terms) in those relevant equity funds (either in Greater China and Asia markets or elsewhere).

4. Calculate the percentage drop that will nullified the surplus amount in (2).

So, at the last step of the above calculations, I had estimated the percentage that those relevant funds have to drop that will chop the surplus down to the preserved XYZ amount.

The percentage is not huge… only about 5%. This means that the Greater China and Asia funds can drop another 5% before affecting the nest egg amount that I wanted to preserve.

But what is the deepest drop that can happen? There was an opinion, I came across last week, that a market pullback or correction would happen later this year and it would be about 15%.

So, if this 15% pullback happens, the total amount in my portfolio would go below the preserved XYZ amount.

So, until this 15% pullback happens, I should be trimming those relevant funds bit by bit, from time to time when the market rebounds… till the calculated percentage in (4) hits 15%.

Cheers.

It is a new fund... no track record, no past performances for the past 3, 5 or 10 years... not much comment can be made except that this particular fund company has no other funds in the India market... new kid on the block, so to speak.

I think it is mainly for its existing customers/investors to have a new stock-exchange market for diversification purposes. But as the recent market sell-off shows, it is a global world, one market falls, all falls together... just that some markets is less volatile than others.

No, you won't see any ROI figures. Also the purchases at various times into the same fund are grouped together into one line of info, so the IRR (Internal Rate of Return) cannot be calculated.

This is the reason why some of us are tracking the purchases in Excel.

Just start using Excel to track your purchases... then add in, stage by stage, simple calculations for ROI and IRR and other info such as NAV prices.

(In the previous post above, the calculation was also added into the Excel file... so the file has becomes a dashboard for instant review everytime I open it to update the NAV prices.)

I have stopped adding in new purchases since the targeted amount has been reached. Switches were done mid Nov and early Dec when the markets dropped a bit at that time, and the last switch was into a local fund at the first trading day of January when KLCI dropped 1%.

I'm now trying to cut down the number of switches in a year, and also trying to have more balance between the many and various funds such that the portfolio could remained as static as possible... and try not to be too bother with external events.

From past switches, sometimes it is well timed, sometimes not... so in a way it averages itself out in the longer term.

It looks normal to me... the total returns when annualised is 9.65%.
The total returns of 357.97% is the compounded growth over 16.5 years.

KLCI is just a benchmark and the fund don't hold every components of the index and is not expected to hold stocks in same weightage as the component stocks in the index. The KLCI index components are the 30 largest corporations in the bursa, and the fund could also be having stocks outside the index.

=========

The total returns do not includes the upfront sales/service charge. If it is included, the total returns would be 332.78% and annualised to 9.28%.

The initial sales charge of 5.5% is amplified to a difference of 357.97% - 332.78% = 25.19% over 16.5 years. But when annualised the difference don't look significant, 9.65% vs. 9.28%.

From the performance chart that you had linked... "FBM KLCI : Total Returns from 04-Sep-01 To 05-Mar-18=167.93%."

Please find another chart to show they are using the wrong chart for comparision.

From Investopedia, “Total return, when measuring performance, is the actual rate of return of an investment or a pool of investments over a given evaluation period. Total return includes interest, capital gains, dividends and distributions realized over a given period of time.”

To dispute the chart (that was used in the comparison) and prove that it is wrong and misleading, either find a correct chart to show that the former chart is wrong, or since a chart is plotted based on a set of data, show that the data is wrong.

Or we can also dispute the given statement, and show that the total return is something else and not as stated.

========

Anyway....

Some random thoughts…

Cut Lost.

Recently, Warren Buffett said in an interview on CNBC that some folks are not meant to own stocks, because they sell the stocks at lower prices than the prices they had bought.

He could very well be saying about some folks who have bought unit trust funds. Some seems to withdraw and sell at lower value than their invested value.

Why do they withdraw and sell at a lost?

- They had jumped onto the bandwagon when they heard that folks were making easy money from unit trust funds when the markets were on the rise.

- The invested money is short term, and would be needed later in the near future. So, when the money is needed, they had to withdraw even at a lost.

- They can’t take risk and can’t withstand seeing that their invested money is giving negative returns even when they are quite sure that the UT fund will regain its lost. Maybe they were used to ‘fixed-price’ UT funds and comparing the comforts they used to have with ‘fixed-price’ UT funds. They thought they can take and bear the risk, but in reality, they can’t.


Possible ways they could done the investment more correctly?

- UT funds are longer term investments. The longer they are held, the downside risk will be lower. More importantly, the longer they are held, it is less likely to have a forced withdrawal when the invested money is needed. Don’t use ‘short-term’ money to invest in UT funds. Use savings that are set aside for the longer term.

- Think longer term and don’t invest for ‘fast returns’ in UT funds. For fast money and fast returns, indulging directly in the stock market as a retail investor would give better rewards. The daily volatility of UT funds could be in the region of +/- 0.1% to +/- 2%. While in an individual stock, it could be up to +/- 5% and even be up to +/- 10% or more. You can get faster results with the limited capital in the stock market as oppose to UT funds, which is a pool of many, many stocks and they averages and lower the volatility of all the individual stocks. Also the stocks are picked by the fund manager who, hopefully, has more financial and pricing knowlege than the individual retail investor.

- Don’t do a one-time investment or ‘sailang’ as in ‘all-in’ in a poker game. This is also called a ‘lump-sum investment’. UT fund is a longer term investment, so do long term regular purchases. Whether the regular purchases are at a fixed amount (DCA method) or in variable amount (VA method), it is not that important. Or whether the purchases are done at monthly or quarterly intervals. They are not that important. More importantly, don’t do lump sum or one time investment.

- Don’t cut lost. “Cut lost” is a misguided phrase borrowed from the stock market. It does not apply to UT funds when the investment is for the longer term. As said, UT fund is a pool of many, many shares – maybe up to 80 stocks and more with about 0.2% to 2% in each listed stock. As a retail stock investor, you may have to cut your lost if it is a distress stock with more impending bad news. In a market ‘sell-off’, it is normal market behaviour, it goes up, and it goes down.

===============

Please also note that taking profit or trimming profit is different from cut lost. Selling a fund when it drops 10% off its peak, could be taking profit since the fund had gone up maybe 40-50% since the initial investment.


===============

There are 2 possible reasons for doing a lump-sum investment.

1) It is a short term investment with a limited time-frame, with the exit date already known and planned at the entry of the investment.

2) It is a full-blown portfolio of funds for passive income. Say, a retiree at age 55 or 60, may have sold a property and pool the money together with other savings and buy a portfolio of UT funds to generate a passive income for retirement.

Other than these 2 reasons, the investment method is generally regular purchases. Work -> Earn -> Monthly Salary -> Monthly Savings -> Use part of the savings to invest into a longer term savings vehicle.

===============

Buy the dip!



This post has been edited by j.passing.by: Mar 23 2018, 06:41 PM

Here’s another long post!

Catch a Falling Knife.

Another often quoted phrase borrowed from the stock market.

It is a warning to be aware of buying a stock at a fallen level and low price. The low price may be value for money; and it is also an indication that the stock is distressed and could be heading into deeper waters. Worst case scenario, the stock could be suspended and delisted when the company files bankruptcy.

Does it apply to UT funds? NO!

This is why UT funds existed. It is precisely to avoid the danger of riding on one single stock which so happen to be a failed stock. Whatever amount of money you spend is not riding on one single stock – but a whole bunch of stocks in an UT fund.

But… but… but… one may counter that underlying the UT fund is a bunch of stocks, so the phrase is equally applicable, does it not? It is like buying a basket or handful of stocks, one failed stock will also impact the whole investment.

True. If the basket is holding several stocks, the impact of 1 failure in 5 stocks is 20%, and 1 in 10 stocks is 10%.

In a usual UT fund, it will be more diverse, it would be holding up to 80 and more different stocks across a wide range of industries and across several countries if it is a regional fund. The holding in any single equity is in the range of 0.2% to about 2%... with an average of about 0.5%.

So the impact of any one fail stock is reduced significantly. That is if the fund manager so happened to select it after doing all the due diligence and evaluation of all the stocks he selected.

Plus the usual UT fund is “actively managed”; and its allocation in each stock is not ‘dead’ nor set permanently in concrete. Its holdings and allocations is constantly reviewed and readjusted by the fund manager.

So when there is a market sell-off and someone is telling you to be aware of catching a falling knife, ignore it.

Market sell-off is a buying opportunity!

"Public Regular Saving Fund Plan"...

1. Regular Savings Fund is closed to new investments. What is available is its 'Sequel' fund.

2. 'Regular Saving Plan' is an investment plan offered by fundsupermart, not Public Mutual. Using this plan, the initial investment can be as low as rm100 instead of the usual 1k minimal entry.

If the subsequent auto-debit purchases are less than 1k, say rm100 or rm200, this DCA purchases is more even. And it is more strategic in a long down trend.

To gauge how well is the fund performing against its benchmark, see the Performance chart.
https://www.publicmutual.com.my/Home/Fund-Performance

The chart only shows the fund and its benchmark. So to know how well it is performing against its peers, you will have to display the chart to show the other funds one at a time… or read the quarterly review… or go to the MorningStar webside which ranks the funds in the same category.

What is shown in the attachment is:
1) Name of the fund
2) Type of fund (equity, mixed asset, bond, money-market, etc. etc.)
3) Risk level of the fund
4) Cash or EPF scheme investment
5) Total number of units
6) Total value of the fund in ringgit.
7) ROI (return of investment)... it is either profit (positive) or loss (negative).
8) Date of the NAV price.
9) NAV price.

- The NAV price is the NAV price per unit. Multiple it by the total number of units to get the total value of the fund.

- The invested amount in ringgit is not shown. Anyhow, it does show the ROI. If the ROI is negative, it means that the invested amount is MORE than the current value.

And now, the big question: Is the investment BAD?

Though currently the investment is at a loss, it cannot be said for certain that it is a bad investment. It depends on what was your objective in buying the funds.

If the objective is to gain some money in one or two years time, then obviously it is bad as the investment has failed to reach its objective.

If the objective is to invest for the long term – say to gain some money by year 2040, whether the investment is good or bad, its faillure or success is still unknown.

In every investment that was made, this is true: No risk, no gain.

===================

PS.

- Whether the fund was in one purchase or in several purchases, it is not shown. All the purchases will be grouped into one line. This is the reason why it is necessary to keep track of the purchases on your own using Excel. Only with the transacted or purchased dates known can the IRR be calculated.

- FYI, the small cap index drop since 1st Jan… YTD of small cap funds is about negative 10-12%. In end-March/early-April, it was about -15%.

Cheers.

This post has been edited by j.passing.by: May 18 2018, 07:21 PM

It better be long term! Since the service charge is so freaking high. It will take years to slowly amortize it.

Your ROI, about -10%, is included the service charge cost.
One way to have it really really long term is having an intention and plan to turn the portfolio into an passive income generator during retirement age.

BTW if not mistaken, both Public and PB funds can be purchased using the online service.

For long term, Public SEA Fund is good to have. Also Islamic Asia Leaders. Within PB series, I would select China Pacific Equity and Dividend Builder Equity.

Your presence is needed... to meet the agent from Public Mutual, or a personnel in Public Bank, for signing some documents, and fill in questionaires and forms. After this, you may registered into the online faciltiy and do transactions online.

3-4 working days. (If mutual gold, 1 or 2 days earlier.)

Good time to stock up!

Many funds were in the red in the past 2 weeks, and yesterday many funds dropped more than 1% and some around 1.5%... so had dropped about 5% in 11 trading days.

Just a note on fund analysis and fund picking... the online service (Public Mutual Online) has been revamped beginning of this year.

The main homepage shows a pie chart breakdown on the type of funds, eg. money-market funds, equity funds, mixed asset funds, etc. And it has a section on resources... all the published articles and reports can be downloaded from here.

For Gold Members, there is an additional section on fund analysis... where its performance chart can select several funds for comparison.