iRobot
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Post by iRobot on Dec 29, 2019 17:19:05 GMT
Still looking at this but now I discover most of my pension is invested in this fund: www.aegon.co.uk/content/dam/ukpaw/hidden/Standard_B5SHMS9.pdfFair enough, but what I don't understand is how can I track this fund on the usual sites like Trustnet and Morningstar etc ? There appears to be no reference numbers or other way to identify it. On the face of it it seems to be doing quite well but to non-financial folk like me, it all seems very opaque. Edit: No doubt part or most of the reason for the apparent good performance is due to the dollar gain against sterling. Had a look at the fundsheet out of interest. What you have there is what looks very much like a closeted index tracker i.e. it's basically a bog standard passive global index tracker that's pretending to be actively managed. At first glance the returns actually seem slightly better, but then this fund reinvests dividends rather than paying them out.In fairness, the total charges on the fund at 0.73% aren't the worst I've seen, although three times what Vanguard charge ( VWRL = 0.22%). And yep, like everyone else exposed to global equities, some of the gain is GBPUSD, although nowhere near all of it. edit: I don't know how to track that fund specifically either, but you could just look at VWRL (other passive global equity trackers are available) and compare the numbers to see how it's stacking up : an important consideration and one which is often lost on folks attempting 'like-for-like' comparisons This: but might they be worse than is first apparent? I notice that the sheet states: " Aegon currently invests this fund in a fund managed by MFS." Might that mean there is an additional layer of fees eroding returns? In terms of the MFS utilised, I'm going for MFS Meridian® Funds - Global Equity Fund as it mirrors the Sector Exposure ( as at 30/09/19) almost exactly - to within 1/100th of a percent, which could be rounding errors. (CBA'd to check the others - so this is by no means a certainty.)
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michaelc
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Post by michaelc on Dec 29, 2019 17:31:32 GMT
Had a look at the fundsheet out of interest. What you have there is what looks very much like a closeted index tracker i.e. it's basically a bog standard passive global index tracker that's pretending to be actively managed. At first glance the returns actually seem slightly better, but then this fund reinvests dividends rather than paying them out.In fairness, the total charges on the fund at 0.73% aren't the worst I've seen, although three times what Vanguard charge ( VWRL = 0.22%). And yep, like everyone else exposed to global equities, some of the gain is GBPUSD, although nowhere near all of it. edit: I don't know how to track that fund specifically either, but you could just look at VWRL (other passive global equity trackers are available) and compare the numbers to see how it's stacking up : an important consideration and one which is often lost on folks attempting 'like-for-like' comparisons This: but might they be worse than is first apparent? I notice that the sheet states: " Aegon currently invests this fund in a fund managed by MFS." Might that mean there is an additional layer of fees eroding returns? In terms of the MFS utilised, I'm going for MFS Meridian® Funds - Global Equity Fund as it mirrors the Sector Exposure ( as at 30/09/19) almost exactly - to within 1/100th of a percent, which could be rounding errors. (CBA'd to check the others - so this is by no means a certainty.) Wow! Thanks a lot iRobot !! Incredible that there seems to be no mention of MFS anywhere in my pension website nor anywhere in any of the documents there. And yet there is only a choice of about 7 funds in total only two of which are in equities. I know that you haven't given me any "advice" but really its starting to seem that I need to get out into a SIPP where there are more than 7 funds to choose from. The only down side I can see (if you ignore the DB stuff) is that I _think_ my pension charges zero annual management platform fees. But the sipp on II for example, would appear to charge £20 per month which is a lot less than than say 0.4% or 0.5% or more fund charge gain I would make by switching.
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