Choosing the right RMF

[Bangkokhatter]

I want to open an RMF mainly for the tax relief and will be putting in a monthly amount.

 

My question is which one ? I have looked at many on offer and am stuck for what way to go. I would estimate as many as 75% of funds are down for the last 6 months which is no surprise given the current economic conditions, but my knowledge of such things is very limited.

 

Do i go for one of the funds with positive growth which also tend to have a high NAV or select a fund with a low NAV in the "hope" that as things improve i get more bang for my buck ?

[retarius]

I looked at them in depth, some time back.....they seemed expensive for what they offered. At the time I didn't look 'bite'. I'll follow this to see if I missed something. I'm interested in net returns....net of tax and net of fees. 

[Foxx]

Don't let the tail wag the dog! With Thai funds, the expenses are high and the performance over the last few years dismal.  Only 5 equity RMFs have returned more than 5% annualised over the last 10 years (that's out of 212, so 2/4% of them).  Are you feeling that lucky? And with fixed income RMFs, only two have returned more than 2% over the same period (out of 54).

 

With the current government being heavily influenced by the same forces as the previous military mandated governments, don't expect a turn around any time soon.

 

I, for one, will not be adding to my Thai fund holdings until there's a democratically elected government that represents the will of the people.

[Bangkokhatter]

43 minutes ago, retarius said:

I looked at them in depth, some time back.....they seemed expensive for what they offered. At the time I didn't look 'bite'. I'll follow this to see if I missed something. I'm interested in net returns....net of tax and net of fees. 

I take your point, i did do well in a couple of LTF's until they were stopped but i am sure other financial products did far better.

However as i said i can get tax relief and i just don't have the knowledge or time to do my own investing.

[Bangkokhatter]

2 minutes ago, Foxx said:

Don't let the tail wag the dog! With Thai funds, the expenses are high and the performance over the last few years dismal.  Only 5 equity RMFs have returned more than 5% annualised over the last 10 years (that's out of 212, so 2/4% of them).  Are you feeling that lucky? And with fixed income RMFs, only two have returned more than 2% over the same period (out of 54).

 

With the current government being heavily influenced by the same forces as the previous military mandated governments, don't expect a turn around any time soon.

 

I, for one, will not be adding to my Thai fund holdings until there's a democratically elected government that represents the will of the people.

Thanks for your reply, i had no idea the performance of the RMF's were so bad, my LTF'S certainly did better, but that was a few years back.

 

So what sort of investment fund would you recommend for the unknowledgeable ?

[Foxx]

3 hours ago, Bangkokhatter said:

So what sort of investment fund would you recommend for the unknowledgeable ?

 

I would suggest not investing in Thailand, but investing offshore.  And for the less familiar with investment, a simple index tracker such as iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF [SWDA], with an expense ratio of 0.2%.  Over the last 10 years it's given an annualised return of 8.8% (USD class).  It's available on a number of different stock exchanges, and in different currencies.

Of course, not being an RMF, you have the flexibility easily to switch to other investments or cash in should circumstances make this desirable.

[Mike Lister]

LTF's seem to have had their day, the Thai Airways bankruptcy killed mine stone cold. Couldn't agree more, invest of offshore, the charges here are seriously heavy.

[MRtommyR]

You shouldn't take this as advice, as what is suitable for each investor is dependent on their circumstances and objectives, but for me I have found SCB Asset Management have a decent selection of funds. They have feeder funds which invest in offshore index trackers for the MSCI World or the S&P 500. Good way of getting the tax benefits without having to invest in Thai equities, which aren't to my taste. I use these to max out my THB 500,000 allowance per year in a combination of super-savings fund (SSF) and retirement mutual fund (RMF). Of course SCB adds a layer of fees on top of the underlying tracker.

[Bangkokhatter]

1 hour ago, MRtommyR said:

You shouldn't take this as advice, as what is suitable for each investor is dependent on their circumstances and objectives, but for me I have found SCB Asset Management have a decent selection of funds. They have feeder funds which invest in offshore index trackers for the MSCI World or the S&P 500. Good way of getting the tax benefits without having to invest in Thai equities, which aren't to my taste. I use these to max out my THB 500,000 allowance per year in a combination of super-savings fund (SSF) and retirement mutual fund (RMF). Of course SCB adds a layer of fees on top of the underlying tracker.

Thank you for your reply, after reading the replies above and what you mention about Thai equities it seems steering clear is good advice.

However like you i want to take advantage of the tax savings and will contact SCB.

 

I understand your comment regarding giving advice but would you be so kind to name a couple of RMF funds that invest in the offshore trackers mentioned in your reply, it would give me some idea where to look.

[Mike Lister]

4 hours ago, Bangkokhatter said:

Thank you for your reply, after reading the replies above and what you mention about Thai equities it seems steering clear is good advice.

However like you i want to take advantage of the tax savings and will contact SCB.

 

I understand your comment regarding giving advice but would you be so kind to name a couple of RMF funds that invest in the offshore trackers mentioned in your reply, it would give me some idea where to look.

Morningstar Thailand is a reasonable starting place.

 

https://www.morningstarthailand.com/th/screener/fund.aspx#?filtersSelectedValue={}&page=1&sortField=legalName&sortOrder=asc

[Bangkokhatter]

20 hours ago, Mike Lister said:

Morningstar Thailand is a reasonable starting place.

 

https://www.morningstarthailand.com/th/screener/fund.aspx#?filtersSelectedValue={}&page=1&sortField=legalName&sortOrder=asc

Thank you for the link.