Sometimes I am amazed that there is still a debate over investing in index mutual funds vs. actively managed mutual funds. Index funds have a proven record without the added risk.
DSC stands for Deferred Sales Charge, and most class B mutual funds are DSC funds. This is something that you should really be on the lookout for. When you buy a mutual fund with a DSC you are not paying your financial advisor a commission directly but the fund company will pay your advisor a healthy commission, usually 5%. On top of the commission your advisor still gets a trailer fee, normally about 0.5%. Although you do not pay the commission out of pocket when you buy the fund, you are the one who ends up paying for it.
There are various schemes and your manager can suggest you the paramount option according to your requirement. You can start off with a very small amount which can be directly debited from your bank account on a monthly basis. You can enter this sector with a low investment and can grow steadily. Fund managers keep a track of mutual fund NAV and accordingly suggest when to sell it off. Company that maintain records are trustworthy and you can be assured that your money is safe.
In Feb 2010 Standard & Poor’s launched its most recent Canadian Indices Versus Active Funds Scorecard with data for the five year period ending December 31, 2009. Below are a couple quotes from the report. “Over longer periods, we continue to observe indices outperforming the majority of domestic funds. In three-year and five-year periods, only 12.5% and 7.4%, respectively, of actively managed Canadian Equity funds have outperformed the S&P/TSX Composite Index.”
I took the most widely owned Canadian equity fund, the RBC Canadian Equity Fund and compared the holding to the RBC Canadian Index Fund. The data used is from the RBC 2009 semi annual report which had the holdings as of June 30, 2009. The majority of the investments held in the two funds, 77.36%, were the same, with 22.64% being different. It is only the returns of this 22.64% of unique assets of these two funds and total fees which will have an impact on the variance of their returns. The MER of the RBC Canadian Equity Fund was 1.97% and the RBC Canadian Index Fund was 0.68% a difference of 1.29%.
It could be really tricky to find the best fund for you. You may like to invest in a fund whose manager thinks exactly the way you do. Important is to get comfortable with the fund manager who understand your needs and accordingly take action. You may also buy an index fund which runs on autopilot. It is always better to read the annual report before investing. Fund manager compares the NAV’s of various companies and suggests the best option. Just be careful with high risk portfolios to play safe in the market
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