Hmm.. interesting... I invest in PB by myself, in which i go to PM HQ at Damansara to start the account. In all my statement i have a UTC name on it which i have never met and never seen before. So far invest 7 years liao, also never receive phone call before although already dump tens of thousands in 3 funds. Yet I have to pay the 5.5% at every transaction. Wonder where the money go? since I have contributed thousands in fees already, yet never got anything, I am beginning to move my funds to cheaper options.

Well there are ups and downs... lets just say 70% of my bets payed off. Yeah your statement is reasonable, but i did not get what i payed for, that's why i have currently stopped investing in the PB temporary for now.

IMHO, PB bond charges are actually reasonable, with 0.25% initial and average 0.81% per year. For bond holders, the risk can be gauges from the ratings agency. If the rating is A+/A the bond is actually very safe as the company have sufficient asset to cover the bond payments in case the company goes under. But as in all investment, these low risk bonds pays lower than usual interest rate. So as long as you know what your investment holds, you can gauge the risks. If you veer into junk bonds rated C-/D, then the interest can be huge (>10%) but you take the chances that if the company goes under, then your bonds are useless. Don't buy unless you understand the risk is the best answer.

In mutual fund, the dividends are not actual earnings unlike EPF or stocks. If the mutual fund declare dividend, the cost of the dividend is subtracted from the NAV, so by paying you cash, you get lower NAV. It all comes to square one, as the dividend you received from UT comes out of your own pocket. Also some UT pay more dividend than it's actual earnings to keep the UT 'popular'. Evaluating UT via dividend payout is not effective. In fact i would prefer the UT not to have any dividends.

5.5% sales charged is calculated for the total amount of money invested AND reinvested, basically for any 'buy' or 'switch' transaction. Also you may not use the 1.5% as a guideline as there are many more charges levied like transaction cost and trustee cost, admin fee and etc which will bring the cost to near 1.6%-1.8%%.

Always read the financial accounts and prospectus before you invest. (FYI I also own Public Smallcap)

This post has been edited by gark: Jan 3 2010, 06:13 PM

I bought my first batch of Smallcap on 2005, then followed by another infusion at 2007 and last one early 2009.
The 2005, one about 70% gains, 2007 break even and 2009 got about 50% gains. IMHO Smallcap is a good return but risky stock.

Fund managers, might get faster news, but remember, that the fund manage hold funds in the billions so if they try to load up or unload huge amount of stocks, the traders will get wind and do the same. So that's why in bad economy the funds generally somewhat follow the market cause they can't unload millions of shares in one go without devastating the price.

I can't be bothered with all those ASM, ASW etc cause they have quota of investmnet, if i want to invest, it will be on my own terms.

I have read the financials for CIMB funds, some of their funds have double layer management fees >2%, and also thier bond funds is one of the most expensive , so far i have not invest in CIMB funds cause they are expensive .

Ha, if you can get 30% a year continuously, you will be better than Warren Buffett, he is only compounding an average of 15%-20% a year.

Yes, the initial charge are quite low at 2.5%, , but their management fess are like.. very high especially those they out sourced to external managers where you get hit with double fees, 1.8% for CIMB and about 0.6%-0.8% for external manages.

Yeah, feeder fund are nasty, also local funds cannot invest 100% overseas. That's why all my international funds are from FSM singapore.

This post has been edited by gark: Jan 3 2010, 11:28 PM

That figure is much reasonable. However this year i have not invest anythins yet, still waiting for the market to have some 'discounts; . Also planning to sell off some asia ex. japan and china to ready some investment cash.

This post has been edited by gark: Jan 3 2010, 11:30 PM

Aisey you buy funds cheaper than me.. u must be a gold/platinum member . Fund cost plays a big role in the final earnings.

Hmm why didn't i think of that trick! Good idea you have there. This will save me load's of money. Thanks!

This post has been edited by gark: Jan 3 2010, 11:41 PM

Emm i think not right lar to advetise FSM in Public mUtual thread, or not later a lot of agents get angry.

Well congrats, for me I am going to slowly liquidate 20%-30% of my holdings before CNY, capture some profit first and then wait for better opportunity in mid 2010.

Nah for Public Mutual I am not doing it online, but for my other UT's yes I am doing it online. I am switching over to safer loaded stocks (balanced funds), and for my other cheaper UT's to bond funds, which I plan to switch back to full equities after the price is right. That way i don't need to pay the initial charge for PM and minimal charge (~1%) for other UT's

This post has been edited by gark: Jan 5 2010, 08:20 PM

Why not? If you refer your PM prospectus right, page 31 you can see all the switching charges and rules. It will cost you RM 25 (free if you are mutual gold) to switch to another loaded fund, so you no need to pay the 5.5% again. Switching is extremely useful for UT, either to re balance your holdings or play your UT like share market.

I am surprised that your UTC never mentioned about switching for you, which is an important strategy for UT.

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Added on January 5, 2010, 10:16 pmI am think i have enough gain liao, been holding a big bunch of UT since Oct-Nov 08. Anyway i am switching gradually, so can gauge the market conditions. Looks like you are pessimistic on 2010 as well eh?

This post has been edited by gark: Jan 5 2010, 10:16 PM

It does looks like the party is going to end, with everyone talking about the asset bubble looming, possible interest rate hike and japan defaulting on it's loans. If all these happen, both equity and bonds will suffer greatly...

Now internet age can get the latest prospectus, audited accounts and monthly factsheet online already leh . No need wait for hard copy to be delivered.

PM Prospectus (Latest)

Buy them when they are cheap? Unless you want to follow the theory of DCA....... I just collect all my investment, and invest when i think the market is at discount, not everyone's cup of tea though.