Forum Archive Index - January 2002

[Mike Hudson <mikehudson@clear.net.nz>]

Geoff

 

In general I agree with your comments regarding fund manager but there are exceptions, I have been in the MLC Global Platinum Fund, run by Kerr Neilson, since its inception and it has returned on average 20% per annum in the six years it has been in existence. Neilson is very much a "value" manager and although the fund did not do relatively well during the tech boom his philosophy has been well and truly proven now.  

 

I am also in one of the OMP funds which has returned an average of 22% in the 31/2 years it has been running. However these funds are not for the faint hearted and despite the capital guarantee (which means they put half of your money in the bank and gamble the other half) are extremely volatile - the gains could be wiped out almost over night.

 

Another investment class to consider are the UK investment trusts. We have discussed these before in this forum but for those who are new they have several advantages over NZ$/AUS unit trusts. The management fees are lower, as little as 0.5% per annum in some cases and the tax treatment for NZ investors are is much better. The downside is that they tend to be more volatile. Many of these investment trusts are quoted on the NZSE. RIT Capital Partners PLC (which is not quoted in NZ) has a investment philosophy very similar to Neilsons and despite losing 8% in the last year has made in excess of 16% pa for the last five year.

 

A comprehensive data base of these funds can be found at www.trustnet.com

 

Cheers

Mike H