Hello besiegetank,

I'm no expert at the subject matter but i'll do my best to answer yr questions:

1) there's 2 types of return in UT investment namely, capital growth and distribution. hence, to answer yr question UT distribution is actually a form of ROI. Sometimes, it's the fund manager playing with investor's psychology in distributing the profit from the fund because many unitholders (unfortunately) still associates a fund performance solely base on its distribution.

2) First of all, you need to ask yrself, "what's your retirement number?" once you've got it then a portfolio of UT investments can be constructed based on yr risk appetite and investment time horizon to meet that goal. Hence, the question of which fund to save in will arrive to what are your needs in the first place.

3) IMHO, all investments are focused value appreciation. The terms used above are different types of capital appreciation that would be experienced by the investors. Below are the terms explained to the best of my knowledge:

Capital growth - increase in the value of the units over time. these type of funds usually do not give distributions. eg: PCSF price per unit is at 0.25 sen on 2009 compared with 0.15 in 2008

Fixed income - usually money market and bond funds as these financial products aim to pay a certain amount of interest on the capital every year. their focus is to give distribution every financial year to the investors and not price movement i.e capital growth.

Dividend or distribution - focused on giving distribution every financial year to the investors. how is it different from fixed income u might ask. well, the answer's simple, the term dividend/distribution tells you that the source of that income is not from bond or money market but it's from stocks listed that have a good track record of paying out dividends. hence, it's even more risk to the investor compared to a fixed income fund as the dividend is not given in fixed amount every year.

I hope the above explanation helps a little. 

NightCrusader

Dear besiegetank,

I'm glad the explanation above helped. It's a good habit to always ask and have some information regarding any investment instruments that you would like to invest in. However, do take care not to suffer from a syndrome known as information overload  And now to answer your questions:

1) Distribution increases the number of units in the fund and is reinvested at zero charge. Fund managers encourage it to capitalize on the compounding effects over time. for
eg: Mr A has two funds, 1000 unit of Fund A and 1000 units of Fund B. Fund A's distribution is reinvested every year while Fund B is payout.
    if distribution is RM1/unit for both funds
    Fund A- 1000 units + 100 units from distribution=1100 units
    Fund B- 1000 units + distribution payout          =1000 units

    2nd financial year, assuming distribution is the same and price per unit is RM0.50, we get
    Fund A- 1100 units + 100 units from distribution=1200 units (RM600)
    Fund B- 1000 units + payout                            =1000 units (RM500)

    The difference in that amount may be small but over long terms like 30 years the difference is very significant due to compounding effect. However, this doesn't mean any form of ROI is better than the other. It really boils down to the investor if they feel more comfortable with distributions or capital growth as long as they meet their investment objectives.

2) A consultant has responsibility to do a retirement planning for you to help you reach the amount desired after 30 years. A half-yearly or yearly review of yr retirement blueprint is highly recommended. Normally the UT portfolio will comprise of a mix of fund types to help u achieve a certain % on yr ROI to help u reach yr financial goal.

3) The fund manager will send a statement after the distribution showing you the net payable after deducting all the relevant expenses like income tax and management fees. Alternatively, u can contact yr agent to know the ROI of yr fund.

Regards,
NightCrusader

Don't scare the guy with wrong info lar.

You need to buy a minimum RM100,000:
http://www.publicmutual.com.my/page.aspx?n...tualgoldelite01