Sunday Times Article: Surviving Market Turmoil
Just a few observations abt the 4 portfolios.
- For the second update running they have been not performing well. This is “expected” by me since the market didn’t do too well to start with. However, this should be evidence that it is damn difficult for knowledgable investors to perform miracles. Out of the 4, I would think chan Wai Chee and Professor Chong to be very knowledgable men. But even then, their results do not match their pedegree.
- My opinion is that those 2 fund portfolio contains too much funds. Sure they look well constructed (especially that for FSM portfolio), however, i believe the eventual result of having so much funds equates to the result of having a global equity fund.
- I have to agree with Mr Ernest Low’s recommendation on Bonds. In the short term, Bonds should do well if the interest rates stabilise or weaken. (That does not mean the long term outlook for bonds is good)
- Prof Chong is essentially a value investor. The short time period may not be a good judge of whether his picks are shrewd.
- I’m not sure the intention of this series. To me, its like telling everyone what strategies that can earn a quick buck! there is no objective from the start. It goes to show that it is not to correct punters flawed mindset but to confuse them even further. I would think the most likely readers of these columns are folks who has just started to know abt investments or nerds who intends to finish every article in the news paper.
- I am beginning to think that SPH do not believe much in investor education. it is driven by advertising from these distributors to create more traffic and business for everyone of them.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
I only hope they have (1)the editorial will to keep the series going for at least 2-3 more years to see the long term results and (2)the brains to ensure the contributors make their portfolio changes _in advance_ and comit to their trading strategies beforehand. (I’m not casting doubts on the integrity of the contributors, I’m just suprised they allowed portfolio changes midway through).
The whole article gives me a very short-term, trading orientated impression.