Asset Managers lose more than...

[Mikeyboy]

I got my annual statement through today from my Pension. Its a managed scheme and I've had it for four years. So it should be up right, or if its down it should be down no worse than a few percent, maybe four or five, 'cos they should have switched the money into a better earning asset...

Well no, no they've managed to lose 32% of the money I've given them. 32%!
And thats before you take into account inflation and the theoretical gains I would have made from just leaving it in a bank account, even a current account.

Dios Mio, how is it possible to be called a professional in your field and do so amazingly badly? Does anyone have recourse against such blatant ineptitude?

So the next time someone says I shouldn't go and buy a car and shoudl put my cash into my pension I will point out that over the same period of time my car has held MORE of its value than my pension.



I'm having a bit of a rant week this week.

[Justayellowbadge]

Strewth chap, that's shocking.

I'd start getting used to the taste of cat food now, if I were you.

[tonyvid]

That's the great thing about Banks and financial organisations, lose their money and you are in all sorts of major trouble, they lose yours and you get a shrug and "market conditions".

[Mikeyboy]

Justayellowbadge said:

Strewth chap, that's shocking.

I'd start getting used to the taste of cat food now, if I were you.

shudder, don't say that, it reminds me of a guy at Uni who seemed to be practicing for that 44 years too early.

Edited by Mikeyboy on Tuesday 2nd September 16:50

[Timmy35]

I'm sure WelshBeef will be along shortly to tell you that pensions are the perfect investment because of the tax breaks.

Perfect if your a commission based IFA that is......

Edited by Timmy35 on Tuesday 2nd September 16:52

[richyb]

tonyvid said:

That's the great thing about Banks and financial organisations, lose their money and you are in all sorts of major trouble, they lose yours and you get a shrug and "market conditions".

Spot on.

[shadowninja]

tonyvid said:

That's the great thing about Banks and financial organisations, lose their money and you are in all sorts of major trouble, they lose yours and you get a shrug and "market conditions".

It does make you wonder. Any tosser can make money by buying shares in a bull market but it's the pros who should be able to make money all the time, right? Someone correct my ignorance on the matter.

[anonymous-user]

I remember, stupidly, taking out a MIP (Maximum Investment Policy) with Allied Dunbar many many moons ago. It was a 10 year policy. That paid out less than I put in in cash terms and thus substantially less in real terms. Useless wrs! I now control all my assets as I do not trust anyone to case about my wealth creation as much as I do!

[Mikeyboy]

shadowninja said:

tonyvid said:

That's the great thing about Banks and financial organisations, lose their money and you are in all sorts of major trouble, they lose yours and you get a shrug and "market conditions".

It does make you wonder. Any tosser can make money by buying shares in a bull market but it's the pros who should be able to make money all the time, right? Someone correct my ignorance on the matter.

I actually met a guy who had been down 12% YoY when the FTSE was rallying at levels it hadn't seen in years. I politely assured him he wasn't going to be put forwards for the role as a Prop Trader. Nice guy though and probably enjoyed the 12 month trip around the world that was the result of his enforced early retirement.

In comparison to whichever guy runs my pension though he was an f'n financial genius.

[Timmy35]

Mikeyboy said:

In comparison to whichever guy runs my pension though he was an f'n financial genius.

Oh I don't know mate.....whatever happens he gets his annual % management fee. As does the IFA if you used one when you set the pension up

fancy a beer....I'm sobering up again

[elster]

Mikeyboy said:

I got my annual statement through today from my Pension. Its a managed scheme and I've had it for four years. So it should be up right, or if its down it should be down no worse than a few percent, maybe four or five, 'cos they should have switched the money into a better earning asset...

Well no, no they've managed to lose 32% of the money I've given them. 32%!
And thats before you take into account inflation and the theoretical gains I would have made from just leaving it in a bank account, even a current account.

Dios Mio, how is it possible to be called a professional in your field and do so amazingly badly? Does anyone have recourse against such blatant ineptitude?

So the next time someone says I shouldn't go and buy a car and shoudl put my cash into my pension I will point out that over the same period of time my car has held MORE of its value than my pension.



I'm having a bit of a rant week this week.

Well I know aviva have a lot of Property so I am guessing the pensions will show a huge drop when the properties drop in value.

[NoelWatson]

shadowninja said:

tonyvid said:

That's the great thing about Banks and financial organisations, lose their money and you are in all sorts of major trouble, they lose yours and you get a shrug and "market conditions".

It does make you wonder. Any tosser can make money by buying shares in a bull market but it's the pros who should be able to make money all the time, right? Someone correct my ignorance on the matter.

"but it's the pros who should be able to make money all the time, right?"

Unfortunately, the numbers indicate that they can't, so you may as well put your money in a tracker

[Mikeyboy]

Timmy35 said:

Mikeyboy said:

In comparison to whichever guy runs my pension though he was an f'n financial genius.

Oh I don't know mate.....whatever happens he gets his annual % management fee. As does the IFA if you used one when you set the pension up

fancy a beer....I'm sobering up again

Hmm yes I know that and to add insult to injury this one was sold to me with a slightly higher management fee, because it was better managed

:small: yeah I'll give you a call tonight, it'll have to be later in the week though:/small:

[Mikeyboy]

NoelWatson said:

shadowninja said:

tonyvid said:

That's the great thing about Banks and financial organisations, lose their money and you are in all sorts of major trouble, they lose yours and you get a shrug and "market conditions".

It does make you wonder. Any tosser can make money by buying shares in a bull market but it's the pros who should be able to make money all the time, right? Someone correct my ignorance on the matter.

"but it's the pros who should be able to make money all the time, right?"

Unfortunately, the numbers indicate that they can't, so you may as well put your money in a tracker

Or the bin

[Fittster]

Does your pension scheme give you any flexibility about where the money is invested?

I always suspect that fund managers must give the people running the pension funds a nice backhander for their business. If not why do pensions put up with management fees for poor results?

[Timmy35]

Mikeyboy said:

Hmm yes I know that and to add insult to injury this one was sold to me with a slightly higher management fee, because it was better managed

It's not a bad racket at that, I was looking into joining a firm over in the West a while back......get a couple of hundred clients on your books, and it's a nice 6 figure income and a life of golf courses and holidays. Why work when you can take a slice of someone elses.

[princeperch]

I thought that a lot of pension funds invested in high risk investments in the early days of the fund (thus risking losses)and then as the fund grows in age and so does the beneficiaries, the investment strategies are less risky so as to preserve any capital that has been achieved?

[Mikeyboy]

Fittster said:

Does your pension scheme give you any flexibility about where the money is invested?

I always suspect that fund managers must give the people running the pension funds a nice backhander for their business. If not why do pensions put up with management fees for poor results?

Actually quite a bit of flexibility, and I kept a sharp eye on which ones they would propose and the like, mostly it seemed sound but turned one down when they proposed moving out of Oil and Gas into Biotech at the turn of the year, which seemed a little odd to me. That O&G fund alone then made something like 26% returns 'til I switched out so this loss is trebly shocking when you think of that.

[Justayellowbadge]

Timmy35 said:

Mikeyboy said:

Hmm yes I know that and to add insult to injury this one was sold to me with a slightly higher management fee, because it was better managed

It's not a bad racket at that, I was looking into joining a firm over in the West a while back......get a couple of hundred clients on your books, and it's a nice 6 figure income and a life of golf courses and holidays. Why work when you can take a slice of someone elses.

My father managed to get his pension fund out of a supposedly locked in company scheme and into a fund of his own choice as he neared retirement. (Apparently the first person in a BIG PLC to have done so.)

Family adviser chap that negotiated it and moved the fund received a commission of 50K+

Being a decent sort, he took half and put the other half into the fund.

Good lad, he is.

[rev-erend]

Maybe they have some of the investments in the property companies like Barretts .. they have been hit bad on the share price lately and many traders got stuck with them..