What is your favourite mutual fund for investing in the SET?

[Oxx]

I guess the title says it all.

 

I'm currently split 50/50 between ANW (a UK-based investment trust) and a SET50 tracker for my Thai exposure.  However, I want to (a) bring all my Thai investments onshore, and (b) to go down the actively managed route.

 

At the moment I'm considering SSB, TSF, & KTEF for large caps, and KFDYNAMIC & K-MIDSMALL for small/mid caps.

 

I do find the TERs to be somewhat eyewatering, though.

Which Thai equity funds rock your rʉa?

[Oxx]

SSB is apparently closed to new investment.  I guess that makes my short list that bit shorter.

[simoh1490]

The only investments I hold currently in Thailand are LTF's, in my case that's CG-LTF, although I do hold some offshore investments which invest in Thailand such as Fidelty Asia (5%).

[Orangutan]

ishares ETF Thailand + THD

 

 

[steve73]

I've recently added some ANW to my investments as a means to try to hedge the THB/GBP situation.  I'm also looking at VOF (Vietnam), listed on London, for some regional  diversification (and if I have to move there...!)

[Wake Up]

BRK A and BRK B. Why buy anything else?

[Oxx]

1 minute ago, Wake Up said:

BRK A and BRK B. Why buy anything else?

 

Off topic since they don't invest in the SET.  And in any case, the performance long term has been worse than the S&P 500.

[kingstonkid]

Why buy a fund.  A fund has management fees and attempts to match the Set.  Why not buy shares in the SET you get the benefits as well as stock dividends and no management fees.

 

Also us you want to take you over there is no penalty

[Oxx]

1 hour ago, kingstonkid said:

Why buy a fund.  A fund has management fees and attempts to match the Set.  Why not buy shares in the SET you get the benefits as well as stock dividends and no management fees.

 

Also us you want to take you over there is no penalty

 

A fund has a expert managers who can (one hopes) avoid the dodgiest stocks.  An actively managed fund doesn't attempt to match the SET, but to outperform.  All the funds I mentioned in my first posting have consistently outperformed the SET for years (after fees).  You still get dividends from funds (that is, if you want to - some funds will automatically reinvest the dividends for you).

 

And, to be honest, I don't have the time to research hundreds of Thai stocks (where most of the documentation is in Thai) to pick the couple of dozen that I think are good.  And let's not forget that the SET is a snake pit of corruption when it comes to stocks.  Many are run for the benefits of a single family and its associates - not for the general good of stockholders.

[PerkinsCuthbert]

1 hour ago, kingstonkid said:

Why buy a fund.  A fund has management fees and attempts to match the Set.  Why not buy shares in the SET you get the benefits as well as stock dividends and no management fees.

 

Also us you want to take you over there is no penalty

Agree, particularly on the SET, and anyway watching geckos wait for insects is far more lively.

[kingstonkid]

On 10/18/2018 at 7:52 PM, Oxx said:

 

A fund has a expert managers who can (one hopes) avoid the dodgiest stocks.  An actively managed fund doesn't attempt to match the SET, but to outperform.  All the funds I mentioned in my first posting have consistently outperformed the SET for years (after fees).  You still get dividends from funds (that is, if you want to - some funds will automatically reinvest the dividends for you).

 

And, to be honest, I don't have the time to research hundreds of Thai stocks (where most of the documentation is in Thai) to pick the couple of dozen that I think are good.  And let's not forget that the SET is a snake pit of corruption when it comes to stocks.  Many are run for the benefits of a single family and its associates - not for the general good of stockholders.

Okay compare an ETF to a mutual fund.

 

A good ETF is put together by the stock exchange.  In the case of the SET or any exchange.  it is the same procedure for all countries and exchanges no matter what country.

 

The SET 30 is the top 30 performing stocks in the different categories.  There is no magic there is no crystal ball.  This is reviewed n a quarterly basis usually or if a problem with a company arises it is dealt with quickly.

 

IIf you are paying monthly you are using dollar cost averaging which means that if it goes down you get more.  

 

The dividends from these countries are paid to you directly.

 

If you take a look at the mutual funds in the US they never do better than the exchange.  

 

an ETF has no annual fee you pay a commission to the broker when you make the deposit and when you withdraw your money PERIOD.

 

A mutual fund takes on average about 5% of the money in your account no matter if the fund makes or loses money.

 

you are right didien\ds go back into the fund.  Hey, they have to get the nice suits and cars money from somewhere.

 

I have heard of people that invest in the market and have become rich I have only one person that got rich on a mutual fund and he owned the fund.

 

Also, there are thousands of mutual funds you mention that you do not have the time to pick stocks.  I was a broker in Canada and can tellyouthat A my clients were not allowed to get the best funds only the ones my company had a finger in.

 

You are directed to sell the funds that have the highest income for the company.

 

I pulled my money out in 2008 and have done quite well using the ETF.  dealing with ASEAN there are too many variables.  Let the pros do it 

 

[captpkapoor]

Krungsri Bank recommended KFSDIV to me yesterday (Krungsri Dividend Stock Fund).

Any opinion on this?

[captpkapoor]

21 hours ago, kingstonkid said:

Okay compare an ETF to a mutual fund.

 

A good ETF is put together by the stock exchange.  In the case of the SET or any exchange.  it is the same procedure for all countries and exchanges no matter what country.

 

The SET 30 is the top 30 performing stocks in the different categories.  There is no magic there is no crystal ball.  This is reviewed n a quarterly basis usually or if a problem with a company arises it is dealt with quickly.

 

IIf you are paying monthly you are using dollar cost averaging which means that if it goes down you get more.  

 

The dividends from these countries are paid to you directly.

 

If you take a look at the mutual funds in the US they never do better than the exchange.  

 

an ETF has no annual fee you pay a commission to the broker when you make the deposit and when you withdraw your money PERIOD.

 

A mutual fund takes on average about 5% of the money in your account no matter if the fund makes or loses money.

 

you are right didien\ds go back into the fund.  Hey, they have to get the nice suits and cars money from somewhere.

 

I have heard of people that invest in the market and have become rich I have only one person that got rich on a mutual fund and he owned the fund.

 

Also, there are thousands of mutual funds you mention that you do not have the time to pick stocks.  I was a broker in Canada and can tellyouthat A my clients were not allowed to get the best funds only the ones my company had a finger in.

 

You are directed to sell the funds that have the highest income for the company.

 

I pulled my money out in 2008 and have done quite well using the ETF.  dealing with ASEAN there are too many variables.  Let the pros do it 

 

Your point is perfectly valid. ETFs are the best for a passive investor, with very low fees. I'm a newbie in Thailand. How do I go about buying an ETF for the SET here? I happen to have some baht lying around earning very low savings bank rates (0.5 % or something) and fixed deposits also at very low interest rates (1.85% max). 

[Oxx]

12 minutes ago, captpkapoor said:

Krungsri Bank recommended KFSDIV to me yesterday (Krungsri Dividend Stock Fund).

Any opinion on this?

 

Krung Sri recommends a Krung Sri fund.  Now there's a surprise.  Annual charges 2.3476%.  Back away, quickly.

 

Source of charges:  https://www.krungsriasset.com/DataWeb/AYFWeb/en/pdf/FFS_KFSDIV_EN.pdf?rnd=20181021081323

[captpkapoor]

5 minutes ago, Oxx said:

 

Krung Sri recommends a Krung Sri fund.  Now there's a surprise.  Annual charges 2.3476%.  Back away, quickly.

 

Source of charges:  https://www.krungsriasset.com/DataWeb/AYFWeb/en/pdf/FFS_KFSDIV_EN.pdf?rnd=20181021081323

True, but most fund houses in India - where I'm originally from and where I have a lot of money invested in funds of different categories - charge 2.5% management fee.

I think best would be to buy an ETF - any pointers please, on how to go about it?

[Oxx]

To buy an ETF in Thailand you'll need to open an account with a brokerage firm.  I recently posted a list of brokerage firms in Thailand.  Check my previous postings.

 

Easier for you if you already have a relationship with Krung Sri would be to buy a fund such as KFENSET50.  The fees are 0.9129%/year.  Still steep (and ludicrous for an index fund), but TIT.

 

 

[thaistocks]

The real problem with funds nobody here seems to mention is that these manage a large pool of funds, well beyond 100 mill Baht and more.  This so makes it impossible for a fund manager to consider smaller capitalized companies, due to liquidity, which however make up together the bulk of the Thai economy.  For many years these stocks overall performed much better then the SET index, and I have ample proof of this...ha soo many missed it here.  Yet, in the past 3 years they have lagged...many are hoovering at 5 year lows.  One reason is that neither the broker nor these acclaimed funds can/do consider these for various reasons, not least their own obsession with big trading liquidity.  Thai brokers just want you to trade/speculate and smaller companies are not conducive for that.  Also consider that in the past Thai retail investors made up 60 to 70% of average daily trading SET volume vs. barely 40% at present.  This demonstrates the overall failure of the Thai broker industry to say the least. The key question now is: with so many smaller faster growing companies, run by the backbone of Thailand is it not time to invest what is out of fashion and oversold. I think selectively, yes.  As to information, there are ways to get that...but most people here think the internet gives them "a birth right" for free information. So you get the good with the bad...and what you pay for.  Good & unbiased professional information/opinions is like a good investment, not a cost.  Smaller individual investors have huge but often untold advantages...  

Just one example, look at the long Bangkok bus saga. For over 10 years Bangkok good people have been waiting for new more green buses. Well they are getting them now!  As the court and other hurdles have finally just passed, and some 400 will be delivered shortly...and more next year.   A smaller Khon Kaen based company is at the forefront of this (!)...and will now benefit greatly.  Yet nobody writes about this company, and I bet it features in no (or barely no) fund nor broker buy list, as its just too small for these gnomes, handicapped by their own size. But not by us individuals!  Yet, this company stock price is very low around 1.47 Baht vs. over 5 Baht 4 years ago, while earnings are now exploding due to it now all happening.  Vs 4 years ago when it was trading at 5 Baht, it was all on a going to happen.  This company is also at the forefront on building new coming light rail trains...and more.