Low cost share/fund investment opinion in NZ?

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Forums › Finance and wealth management › Low cost share/fund investment opinion in NZ?

iDear

60 posts

Master Geek

#177755 13-Aug-2015 11:33

Hi all,

I've been looking for a low cost share/fund investment opinion in NZ. Something like weathfront or betterment in US which is online program based with low cost. The closest I can find is Smartshare or buy Vanguard via ASB/ANZ on ASX.

Is there any other opinion in NZ?

JimmyH

2886 posts

Uber Geek

#1365851 13-Aug-2015 19:42

Not that I'm aware of.

Most of the NZ funds seem to be basically index-huggers, but they charge a fee that is way out of proportion for passive management, and a multiple of the fee rate you would pay in a big US mutual fund.

If you are in it for the long-haul and are investing a decent sum, then just buying a good coverage of the top 40 over time, and paying one-off brokers fees each time rather than fund entry-fees and outrageous ongoing ticket clipping might be the way to go.

mdf

3518 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1365872 13-Aug-2015 20:15

Have a look at Rabodirect's managed fund platform. Website platform that lets you buy various different managed funds. They are all PIEs/have a PIE wrapper, so best if you are an individual paying NZ income tax.

MikeB4

18435 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#1365875 13-Aug-2015 20:20

You should really see a professional regarding this.

JimmyH

2886 posts

Uber Geek

#1365924 13-Aug-2015 22:42

Finding a truly good and independent professional can be a challenge.

Most of them are affiliated with various providers, and have incentives to push particular products, rather than being truly independent. Particularly when they get commissions from firms they are investing clients into.

The OP wants a share investment fund. Assuming he wants a passive "hold the index" strategy (as implied by his Vangard statement) then he basically has two choices:

(i) buy into a fund and accept losing a good proportion of his return to ongoing fees (suitable for those with small amounts to invest who aren't terribly comfortable doing things themselves), for which he can just compare fee levels to pick the cheapest fund, or
(ii) bypassing them and buying/holding the shares directly, which can approximate the index over time and avoids ongoing ticket-clipping (suitable for those with larger amounts to invest, who don't mind a bit of admin and executing trades themselves).

Personally, if I had less than $75K to invest I would go with the first option, more than that and the second one starts to look attractive. Regrettably, I have a mortgage so won't be doing either for a while.

(Disclaimer: I am not a qualified financial advisor!)

minimoke

750 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1367388 16-Aug-2015 12:30

MikeB4: You should really see a professional regarding this.

You need to take care who you choose. The NZ market has dipped -3.22% this year and brokers top 5 picks have gained just 4.8%. As part of a competition I am using random numbers and have a 24.8% increase. Go figure!