Manage own funds.

[CGW]

Current situation is I have funds invested in various funds through investment "companies", these are managed by a financial advisor. Due to lack of faith in advisor - managed to find yet another one who is only interested in %, I would like to start to manage myself, is this possible?

[wgdanson]

I did that in 2017. Had some investment bonds with units recommended by an IFA in Pattaya back in 2012. Lost over Bht 3,000,000 in four years. He got his commission and management fees, and the charges for administration and management were more than the divis coming in. I took over as my own IFA. I do it all on-line and am slowly winning the losses back. Takes a bit of work and you gain knowledge the more you do it. PM me for more details.

[simoh1490]

I took over management of my UK SIPP when I found out my IFA hadn't done anything for two years except collect fees. Several months of tuition via the web plus some assistance from kind people on another forum and I rejigged everything - made lots of mistakes, learned a lot and actually started to make progress. Then Trump declared a trade war with China and much of my gains were erased.

 

Decide an asset allocation; only go for funds with 5 star fund managers; spread your assets globally; use actively managed funds only; don't box yourself in.....they're all sensible things to do but you're going to need some luck also. Personally, I wish I could give the whole business to somebody who really knew what they're doing but I doubt there's too many of those people around. My advice: farm out the work to somebody who knows what they're doing.

[CGW]

2 hours ago, simoh1490 said:

My advice: farm out the work to somebody who knows what they're doing.

Therein lies my problem! I cant find anybody, I have gone through them all in Bangkok, not one has performed.

[simoh1490]

1 minute ago, CGW said:

Therein lies my problem! I cant find anybody, I have gone through them all in Bangkok, not one has performed.

Perhaps we can chat about this offline later, I'm in the UK and traveling today so perhaps if you can remind me in a week, in case I forget. I have some web sites that may be of value to you but which I can't post in the open forum.

[AJBangkok]

You are probably better to open a brokerage account and just buy funds yourself.

 

You will have to do some work researching the funds but if you stick with open ended funds and ETF’s it’s not that hard to manage it yourself. But as another poster said managing is one thing and making money is another.

 

Good luck 

[CGW]

3 hours ago, AJBangkok said:

You are probably better to open a brokerage account and just buy funds yourself.

 

You will have to do some work researching the funds but if you stick with open ended funds and ETF’s it’s not that hard to manage it yourself. But as another poster said managing is one thing and making money is another.

 

Good luck 

Thanks for the reply, believe I would struggle to open a brokerage account as been out of any "tax system" for 40 years now, tried to set up an account to buy shares some years back but they wanted lots of details I was unable to supply.

[AJBangkok]

What you might need is a Tax Identification Number. If you are based in Thailand then you can go to the local tax office and get one. You don’t need to pay tax to get one and you don’t need a work permit. You don’t need to fill out a tax return even if you have one. If they ask why then say your bank wants it. There is a form to fill out so I suggest you google Thai tax identification number.

 

With that number you should be able to open an account at interactive brokers which is the biggest online broker in the world. Alternatively if you have an offshore account in Singapore then upgrade it to a premier account and you can buy funds through it although they do charge high commission rates.

 

a Thai broker will probably open an account for you but their access to international products will be limited. 

 

I’m sure other on the forum may be able to offer better advice.

Edited October 2, 2018 by AJBangkok

[Thailand J]

I have always been managing my own investments without a money manager or financial advisor.

Most of my money is in Vanguard index funds, VOO, VTI, VYM. Low cost, diversified and maintenance free for the long haul. I also have 15% " funny money" invested in FAANG, MSFT and BRK/B which I watch carefully.

It was easy to open an account with Charles Schwab : My US passport, Thai driving license, utility bill .

Interactive Brokerage required  $10,000 to open an account, which was eliminated last month. Charles Schwab still wants $25,000.

There is a monthly fee of $10 for account balance below $100,000 at IB.

Also check out TD Ameritrade.

 

9 hours ago, AJBangkok said:

With that number you should be able to open an account at interactive brokers which is the biggest online broker in the world. Alternatively if you have an offshore account in Singapore then upgrade it to a premier account and you can buy funds through it although they do charge high commission rates

 

Edited October 2, 2018 by Thailand J

[CGW]

On 10/2/2018 at 2:50 PM, simoh1490 said:

Perhaps we can chat about this offline later, I'm in the UK and traveling today so perhaps if you can remind me in a week, in case I forget. I have some web sites that may be of value to you but which I can't post in the open forum.

Noted, thanks...

[Thailand J]

On 10/2/2018 at 7:51 PM, AJBangkok said:

With that number you should be able to open an account at interactive brokers which is the biggest online broker in the world.

I assume you have an account with IB, may I ask is it true they allow one free wire transfer per month? Thanks.