Listed Investment Companies

Does anyone have an opinion about these, compared with other financials companies and with ordinary managed funds? Seems to me that if you can find one that matches your investment strategy then buying into it is a way to increase the diversity of your portfolio (assuming diversity is part of the strategy that is). You should also get better information and lower costs than most managed funds provide.

Comments?

Disclosure: I hold Clime Capital Ltd.

Listed investment companies are probably the best way to diversify your portfolio . They basicaly have portfolio managers that spread their monies into say 50 or 100 stocks , invariably blue chip and second line stocks . Gambling on penny dreadful stocks is not in their constitution. So if your happy investing in the sharemarket but can,t be bothered doing all the homework yourself take a look at something like Argo Investments which has been around for decades . Their return is normaly more than the share indices,even allowing for their fees . Regards KOOKA

Over the years listed investment trusts have gone through periods of trading below NTA per unit and periods of trading above NTA per unit.

I have bought them, but always when they are trading below NTA per unit. Most of them publish a unit value before and after tax on unrealised capital gains. There was a period that some of them were so far below NTA that liquidation was the only way of realising a fair value.

They are a fashionable investment. If the market is going up they tend to popular and go above NTA. When the market falls they drop below.


Bingo

Listed investment companies are probably the best way to diversify your portfolio . They basicaly have portfolio managers that spread their monies into say 50 or 100 stocks , invariably blue chip and second line stocks . Gambling on penny dreadful stocks is not in their constitution. So if your happy investing in the sharemarket but can,t be bothered doing all the homework yourself take a look at something like Argo Investments which has been around for decades . Their return is normaly more than the share indices,even allowing for their fees . Regards KOOKA

Thanks again Kooka.

I can be bothered and I can apply a lot of time to investing directly. What I can't do is apply a lot of money, and even if I could a market that keeps breaking price records offers limited scope for buying by the strategy I'm trying to learn. I bought Clime at the IPO because (a) <ahem> I've heard the principal on the radio a lot and he makes sense to me </ahem> (b) I expected to use similar investment strategy so I thought it would be useful to compare their record with mine (c) it was a way to get diversity in my portfolio early.

To date I'm happy with what they're doing, and I'm considering buying some options to add to the freebies that were part of the initial offer. I'm considering a couple of other things as well though - I'm not due to make my next trade for weeks yet ;-)

Hi Bingo

Over the years listed investment trusts have gone through periods of trading below NTA per unit and periods of trading above NTA per unit.

I have bought them, but always when they are trading below NTA per unit. Most of them publish a unit value before and after tax on unrealised capital gains. There was a period that some of them were so far below NTA that liquidation was the only way of realising a fair value.

They are a fashionable investment. If the market is going up they tend to popular and go above NTA. When the market falls they drop below.


Bingo

The fashion aspect worries me a bit, but I guess everyone finds themselves in fashion occasionally.

I went with a company rather than a trust. I didn't think that out at the time, but I think now that a company is a better vehicle for me because franking credits are significant in my overall plan. Does that make sense? Did you have a particular reason for choosing trusts over companies?

Thanks,

Ghoti