"Investors Corner", perhaps?

[swissie]

This sub-forum covers a very wide range of issues concerning "money". A large part of threads only concerning "how to send money to Thailand". How about adding a seperate sub-forum that might be called "Investors Corner".

Of interest to existing or future investors, living in Thailand or elsewhere. A forum to exchange opinions/views/ideas concerning this matter only.

Hello Mods, how about it?

[Keeps]

I think it's a good idea. A place to swap financial insight and tips. If it does happen, I just hope it doesn't get bogged down with "buy crypto" comments. 

[V8M8]

17 minutes ago, swissie said:

This sub-forum covers a very wide range of issues concerning "money". A large part of threads only concerning "how to send money to Thailand". How about adding a seperate sub-forum that might be called "Investors Corner".

Of interest to existing or future investors, living in Thailand or elsewhere. A forum to exchange opinions/views/ideas concerning this matter only.

Hello Mods, how about it?

Sorry Swissie, NO! We have to sort out 7/11 scamming first. Then slowly graduate to the adult section of money management.

[swissie]

Just now, Keeps said:

I think it's a good idea. A place to swap financial insight and tips. If it does happen, I just hope it doesn't get bogged down with "buy crypto" comments. 

AFAIK there is already a crypto sub-forum here.

[CharlieH]

@swissie

If you want to start a topic, it can then be "pinned" at the head of this finance section and if there is sufficient interest and participation that could then be split off later into its own sub-forum.

 

So, yes it can be done, step by step.

[Mike Lister]

I think it's an excellent suggestion, I would support that.

[Mike Lister]

Maybe this will get the ball rolling:

 

I only buy investment funds, I’m 74 and try to keep my risk level in check. At present I hold 50% in global equities, 13% in global bonds, 30% in Money Markets and 7% in cash. (I’m 16% mid Caps and 7% Small, the rest is Giant or Large)

 

Vanguard Global Bond Index tracking the Agg

L&G Strategic Bond Fund

 

Fidelity Cash (MM) 30%

 

Vanguard Global Small Caps

HSBC FTSE All World

 

Royal London Global Equities Select

Invesco Pacific

Guinness Global Equities

BNY Balanced Mixed Assets

JPM Global Equities

 

Geographically I’m split:

 

US - 52%

Japan - 10%

EU - 14%

Asia Dev 8%

EM - 7%

UK - 7%

 

I like trackers but I prefer managed funds that are spread across different markets, this gives the Fund Manager somewhere to go if one market goes bad. I rarely hold funds with a P/E greater than 18. I look for low volatility and beta levels, <15 and <1 respectively. I pay 0.5% average for a fund and 0.25% for the platform, I'm very OK with both. My target return is 9% pa.

[save the frogs]

I'm guessing I haven't been invited to the party.

 

So I guess I'll have to crash the party then.

 

Quote from billionaire Mark Cuban: "Diversification is for idiots"

 

 

[Mike Lister]

8 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

I'm guessing I haven't been invited to the party.

 

So I guess I'll have to crash the party then.

 

Quote from billionaire Mark Cuban: "Diversification is for idiots"

 

 

The exact quote came from Buffet who said that, "diversification is for people who don't know what they are doing", so it's perfect for me!  Fortunately, the Fund Managers do and that's what I'm paying for!!

 

According to Warren Buffett, "wide diversification is only required when investors do not understand what they are doing."3 In other words, if you diversify too much, you might not lose much, but you won't gain much either.

 

https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/031115/what-did-warren-buffett-mean-when-he-said-diversification-protection-against-ignorance-it-makes.asp

[KhunLA]

2 hours ago, Mike Lister said:

The exact quote came from Buffet who said that, "diversification is for people who don't know what they are doing", so it's perfect for me!  Fortunately, the Fund Managers do and that's what I'm paying for!!

 

According to Warren Buffett, "wide diversification is only required when investors do not understand what they are doing."3 In other words, if you diversify too much, you might not lose much, but you won't gain much either.

 

https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/031115/what-did-warren-buffett-mean-when-he-said-diversification-protection-against-ignorance-it-makes.asp

I agree & disagree, depending on someone's research skill & risk.

 

Buffet himself says he regrets not getting into bitcoin/crypto.

 

I remember my brother found a stock, for subscription gay TV/news, before it was main stream.  Being ignorant & Christian he had 2nd thoughts and asked me.  

 

I'm like, who cares, it's a niche market in demand, buy.   Turned out to be one of our best ROI.   

 

Same with an early universal health tracking software, now being used to record everyone health history.  Unheard of at the time, another buy & good ROI.   

 

2000, Cheney/Bush2 appointed, OK, no brainer.  Oil stocks.  Only regret, didn't buy into defense contractor's stock, for moral reason, but definitely regret it, as simply don't care any more.   If people are that stupid ... oh well.

 

People need to be current in politics and follow the big boys.  Any wonder the pipeline got shut down.   Couldn't be that Buffet is heavily invested in train lines and non pipeline transport of oil.

 

Always need to look at the big $$$ picture behind the MSM BS spin.

[persimmon]

17 hours ago, Mike Lister said:

 Fortunately, the Fund Managers do and that's what I'm paying for!!

 

 

 

 

Good luck finding a fund manager who can beat the index year after year . There may be a few , but they are extremely rare .

[Mike Lister]

7 hours ago, persimmon said:

Good luck finding a fund manager who can beat the index year after year . There may be a few , but they are extremely rare .

Its not about beating the index every year, I don't care too much about that, if a fund goes South I can always sell it and find a new one. Buy and hold forever is fine for young guys who have got time on their side but it doesn't work for people over 70. I'm happy to trade funds the same way an investor trades stock and shares, it's cheap and easy enough to do. No, the reason I hold managed funds is so that a Fund Manager can get out of a down market, which is something a tracker can't do. If a tracker starts to go down, you have to take the ride and if it's a long ride to the bottom, a person over 70 may not have time to recover losses. I'm holding JPM Global Equities and the FM went into cash to the tune of 26%. Ordinarily an investor would squeal if an FM held that much cash but he was merely protecting himself against a down trend and also positioning the fund to buy the dip, it was a very good move to watch.

 

The other aspect of this is I don't look to maximise my profits, I'm not looking for 15% per year and to double my money every 5 years. I'm very happy with my target 9% pa because that fits with my investment plan and it means low volatility and risk. As a wise man once said, "slowly slowly catchee money". I did however get lucky this year with Royal London Global Equities Select, it's up 17% and the fund is now closed to new buyers, happy days.

[KhunLA]

I stopped listening to broker's suggestion early on, when I noticed my car in the parking lot, was better than theirs 

[Mike Lister]

1 minute ago, KhunLA said:

I stopped listening to broker's suggestion early on, when I noticed my car in the parking lot, was better than theirs 

Using a broker is merely an excuse for doing some work and learning about the industry, all the information is right there, if you want to look for it.

[noobexpat]

1 hour ago, KhunLA said:

I stopped listening to broker's suggestion early on, when I noticed my car in the parking lot, was better than theirs 

 

I met many clients with cars better than mine but i had far more assets and they were decades older too 

 

I got to see what not to do, so that was invaluable!

 

[noobexpat]

2 hours ago, Mike Lister said:

Using a broker is merely an excuse for doing some work and learning about the industry, all the information is right there, if you want to look for it.

 

Picking funds is easy as long as you're not a total dope. Picking the right wrapper is not always so simple: pension, isa, unit trust, oeic, eis, vct....

 

Investment bonds are not even available to retail people any more. 

 

[1FinickyOne]

2 hours ago, KhunLA said:

I stopped listening to broker's suggestion early on, when I noticed my car in the parking lot, was better than theirs 

not a good gauge - - I owned a business and bought good used cars for myself saving a lot of money - my employees mostly had new cars... and lived in trailers. 

[swissie]

On 12/16/2023 at 11:50 PM, Mike Lister said:

The exact quote came from Buffet who said that, "diversification is for people who don't know what they are doing", so it's perfect for me!  Fortunately, the Fund Managers do and that's what I'm paying for!!

 

According to Warren Buffett, "wide diversification is only required when investors do not understand what they are doing."3 In other words, if you diversify too much, you might not lose much, but you won't gain much either.

 

https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/031115/what-did-warren-buffett-mean-when-he-said-diversification-protection-against-ignorance-it-makes.asp

The thing about diversification. By buying an Index, maximum of diversification is achieved. Drawback: One carries a lot of stock that one doesn't really want.
Seems to me, 10 different positions is enough diversification. Even Warren Buffet is holding more than 1 position.

[Mike Lister]

5 hours ago, swissie said:

The thing about diversification. By buying an Index, maximum of diversification is achieved. Drawback: One carries a lot of stock that one doesn't really want.
Seems to me, 10 different positions is enough diversification. Even Warren Buffet is holding more than 1 position.

I'm a bit more philosophical about things. The chances of me being able to guess which number on a roulette wheel is going to win, is almost zero hence I'm never going to win the big odds and it's too risky to even try. But I will play red or black because the odds are 50/50 and if I win I'll double my money. It's all about risk/reward, isn't it. A 15% return per year is nice but 9% is OK too, especially if it means I sleep soundly at night. :)

 

I have a friend who invested heavily in Baillie Gifford funds such as Scottish Mortgage, Monks and Edinburgh etc and on paper he was seeing a huge profit, unfortunately he had no downside protection and all the funds lost up to 50%. Three years on and he's still not recovered his position, I couldn't live like that.

[Mike Lister]

8 hours ago, swissie said:

The thing about diversification. By buying an Index, maximum of diversification is achieved. Drawback: One carries a lot of stock that one doesn't really want.
Seems to me, 10 different positions is enough diversification. Even Warren Buffet is holding more than 1 position.

An index can contain lots of things you don't want or need but it depends on which one you buy. I hold HSBC FTSE All World because it doesn't contain many small caps which I prefer to hold separately because of their nature. Similarly, I hold Vanguard's Agg tracker which doesn't hold any junk which means it doesn't truly reflect the entire bond market. Holding Strategic Bond funds that do hold junk offers a higher return, include junk and is more representative of the market as a whole. Lastly, global equity funds usually hold 5% in Developed Asia and a few percent in EM, they do that for completeness as much as anything else. That doesn't mean the buyer is actually invested to any meaningful degree in EM or Dev Asia, which is why I hold Asian funds separately. Is the primary purpose of holding investments in all those markets really diversification or is the prime reason more about investing across a wider spectrum of markets, for me it's the latter. 

[Thailand J]

small cap will go up 50% in 2024 according to Fundstrat's Tom Lee.

17 minutes ago, Mike Lister said:

small caps

https://www.cnbc.com/video/2023/12/14/small-caps-could-climb-50-percent-in-the-next-12-months-says-fundstrats-tom-lee.html

[Mike Lister]

2 minutes ago, Thailand J said:

small cap will go up 50% in 2024 according to Fundstrat's Tom Lee.

https://www.cnbc.com/video/2023/12/14/small-caps-could-climb-50-percent-in-the-next-12-months-says-fundstrats-tom-lee.html

Fundstrat is notorious for promoting their own calls, regardless of what markets are doing, I'd take them with a pinch of salt. That said, small caps do typically bounce first out of a bear market, my VG Global Small Caps is up 6.4% in three weeks.

[Mike Lister]

One problem area for me is how to play Asia and the Far East. I held FSSA Asia Focus for a long time but eventually sold it a few months ago because of disappointing performance. The time is right to get back into that territory but it's a question of knowing how to divide it up and hold it.

 

Stewart Investors Asian Leaders is solid but with over 46% in India it's too concentrated. 

 

Invesco Pacific looks very good but only if you believe Japan at 35% has any life left. plus it's expensive at 0.90%

 

iShares EM is another choice but I prefer managed funds

 

FSSA is a plodder but I kinda wanted something more fun (but not too much)

 

How to divide and concentrate India, China, Japan and the lesser territories is not easy, does anyone have any suggestions?

[noobexpat]

I have an emerging markets fund that uses a segregated mandate approach. Done well - top quartile. Its not available to buy direct though.

[Mike Lister]

JPM EM was the go to EM fund for a while but it seems to have fallen off a cliff, as many did, plus it's pricey.