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Cash vs. fixed interest as asset classes

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I think there was a thread about this but cant find it again so apologies if repeating.

I recently have had cause to have a look at returns for cash deposits and 'fixed interest' securities, both because i am shortly going to need to park a decent chunk of cash somehwere for a while, and also because I am doing a 'foundation of financial planning' module and struggling to get my head round the asset allocation parts of a project, or in particluar struggling to see the point of the 'fixed interest' allocation.

'Australian Fixed interest' appears to include;
govt bonds, returns around 4%
some corporate bonds, only 3 are listed on the ASX website, returns around 8% but never heard of the companies backing them
and 'floating notes' - 20 or so listed by ASX, issued by the big name banks plus AMP , WOW etc
The CBA one has an effective return of 5.55% and the NAB one 7.56%. they go on up from there but only a higher risk

as a comparison there are savings accounts paying up to around 6% floating and around 5.8%fixed interest

queries;

why would an individual ever buy a govt bond which pays 4% v a saving account which pays 6% and is backed by the same govt?

Fixed interest is supposed to be slightly higher up the scale of both return and risk. I can see how it might be further up the scale of risk but not sure about the return. If both govt bonds and NAB notes were included, say 50% each , the return would be the average of 4% and 7.5% = 5.75%, which you can get in the bank. The risk side however would now be greater than the default risk of a deposit account with a bank (due to its govt guarantee), and fluctuation of capital risk has now been introduced. So a cash deposit would always dominate 'fixed interest'?

An inidividual might gain something by investing only in notes that pay more than 6%, but not in a portfolio that included govt bonds


I am further baffled by; why would an individual ever give his money to an institution which will charge him say 1.5% pa for investing at 4% or 6% return? thanks very much. In the case of a managed fund, in or out of super, a typical 'balanced' portfolio would have 40% in cash and fixed interest asset classes, which might as well be all in cash from what i can see, yet they charge their fees on the whole lot. that means that for 40% of the fund you would be donating 1.5% in fees for the same or less return than you could get in a bank.

An individual who wants 40% defensive assets would surely be better putting his cash in the bank himself at 6%, with no entry or exit fees, and then putting the other 60% in growth funds (if he was unwilling to do direct investments). that way at least he would only be paying 1.5% on 60% of his money. Just saving 1.5% on 40% is a .6% pa improvement in the overall portfolio perforamance.

any comments appreciated thanks
 
queries;

why would an individual ever buy a govt bond which pays 4% v a saving account which pays 6% and is backed by the same govt?

I have often wondered this myself. I invest in both fixed interest and cash and I only hold government bonds through my industry super fund.

An inidividual might gain something by investing only in notes that pay more than 6%, but not in a portfolio that included govt bonds
And that is why I don't invest in Government bonds directly, but I do invest in hybrids and floating rate notes.

I am further baffled by; why would an individual ever give his money to an institution which will charge him say 1.5% pa for investing at 4% or 6% return? thanks very much.
I only do it in my industry super funds, why? Because the fees are very very low like .05% nothing like the fees you suggest. On that basis (super fund only) it is not a bad deal for the return. For the first 6 Months of the financial year this year my super fund in cash and fixed interest 50/50 paid me 5% already. To beat that I would have to invest in an UBANK account at 6.01% and then pay tax on top. The super funds return was after tax. Remember 5% for 6 Months means 10% per annum. Ok, lets say I pull an extra 2 or 3 % between now and the end of financial year then I am doing very well..

Apart from that, I invest outside of super. The lowest paying interest income security I have is 6% and that is from a floating rate note that was sold in the 90's. 6% as a minimum is not too bad, most of my interest rate stocks return a lot more, my highest is SVWPA 11% gross, cheers.
 
For the first 6 Months of the financial year this year my super fund in cash and fixed interest 50/50 paid me 5% already. To beat that I would have to invest in an UBANK account at 6.01% and then pay tax on top. The super funds return was after tax. Remember 5% for 6 Months means 10% per annum.

thanks for your reply bill. So if the cash and FI were split 50/50, and the cash part made say 3% of 50% =1.5%that means the 50% FI part must have made 3.5%, equiv to an annual rate of 14%. any idea what it was invested in to produce that return?

thanks
 
village idiot, it is best that I just do a screen shot from their website to show the returns. I had 50% in Australian fixed interest and 50% cash.

And here is what is written on their website regarding the Australian Fixed Interest part.:
---
This option aims to achieve investment returns above inflation over the medium term. The portfolio is designed to hold a diversified range of interest-bearing securities, and its performance is benchmarked against the UBSW Composite Bond Index. Although fixed income securities typically deliver a steady stream of investment returns, over short time periods fixed income portfolios can deliver low or even negative investment returns.
http://www.firststatesuper.com.au/TalkingSuper/InvestmentStrategies/AustralianFixedInterest
---
 

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Australian Super now lets you invest directly in the term deposit of your choice.

I think the other industry funds will soon offer it as well.

http://www.australiansuper.com/inve...e/super-investment-choices/member-direct.aspx

Yep, looked into that, the best they can do is ME Banks 5.90% and you got to lock it up for 6 Months, not worth it really. Anything under 6% just isn't worth it.

Also hybrids don't make the grade for 'picking your own". They are out of the top 300 stocks.
 
I recently have had cause to have a look at returns for cash deposits and 'fixed interest' securities, both because i am shortly going to need to park a decent chunk of cash somehwere for a while, and also because I am doing a 'foundation of financial planning' module and struggling to get my head round the asset allocation parts of a project, or in particluar struggling to see the point of the 'fixed interest' allocation.

On the asset allocation front I think this chart has lots of implications. Arbitrary allocations to either cash or fixed interest make little sense for long time frames.

Untitled.jpg

Interested to know if my thinking equates to what they teach? Probably not.

Cheers
 
as a comparison there are savings accounts paying up to around 6% floating and around 5.8%fixed interest

queries;

why would an individual ever buy a govt bond which pays 4% v a saving account which pays 6% and is backed by the same govt?
Indeed. A question to which I've never seen a sound answer.

An individual who wants 40% defensive assets would surely be better putting his cash in the bank himself at 6%, with no entry or exit fees, and then putting the other 60% in growth funds (if he was unwilling to do direct investments). that way at least he would only be paying 1.5% on 60% of his money. Just saving 1.5% on 40% is a .6% pa improvement in the overall portfolio perforamance.
Perhaps in this you need to take into account people who have these various investments in Super, thus only being taxed at 15%. I don't know whether avoiding the management fees in managed funds would balance out paying tax at the top rate if investing outside of Super. I'm assuming that when people have investments in Super/managed funds and they elect the cash option, they are still paying the same management fees as a percentage of capital invested?

Australian Super now lets you invest directly in the term deposit of your choice.
Overall, the online at call accounts at present are better value than term deposits unless you're up for locking the funds away for several years. Will they offer at call as well?
 
thanks for that screenshot Bill. It would seem the returns quoted include capital movement as well which could just as easily go the other way. nevertheless, it was a good browse through there

Perhaps in this you need to take into account people who have these various investments in Super, thus only being taxed at 15%. I don't know whether avoiding the management fees in managed funds would balance out paying tax at the top rate if investing outside of Super. I'm assuming that when people have investments in Super/managed funds and they elect the cash option, they are still paying the same management fees as a percentage of capital invested?

yes, if you have funds in super, other than a SMSF, theres probably not much you can do about it. I suspect they would be paying the same management fees on the cash component, which if it is the case is an utter rort.

for someone in 30% tax bracket they would actually be better off with the cash component of their overall portfolio in the bank outside super with no fees.
 
Overall, the online at call accounts at present are better value than term deposits unless you're up for locking the funds away for several years. Will they offer at call as well?

They have only their own paying 4.81%
 
Indeed. A question to which I've never seen a sound answer.

Surely it would be an attractive and reasonable proposition to look at bonds for institutional sized deposits of $$$. Opening a savings account or two is just not an option when they'd be looking at a big chunk of money to whack away somewhere safe.

Or just for the patriotic ?
 
queries;

why would an individual ever buy a govt bond which pays 4% v a saving account which pays 6% and is backed by the same govt?

That may be the case now but will not be the case forever. I assume your asset class allocation module is written for all occassions, rather than just the current interest rate environment.

The other thing to note is that the government guarantee is only up to $1m (or is it $250k) so it is no good for persons with substantial assets, let alone a superfund.

Now, let's say there is no government guarantee on bank deposits, what interest rate margin would you like to earn above the government bonds to justify the additional risk?
 
as a comparison there are savings accounts paying up to around 6% floating and around 5.8%fixed interest

queries;

why would an individual ever buy a govt bond which pays 4% v a saving account which pays 6% and is backed by the same govt?

Govt Bonds are long dated and you can buy in/out hence trade rate movements. You can’t do that with bank deposits also with bank deposits being of shorter maturity you have re-investment rate risk.

I am further baffled by; why would an individual ever give his money to an institution which will charge him say 1.5% pa for investing at 4% or 6% return? thanks very much.

Management expenses for cash are normally very low, rates for fixed interest are between cash and equities as you are paying for managing changes in yield to maturity. (ie bond trading) and risk assessment around default risk for corporate bonds.

Well thats what I understand - but I aint no expert.
 
That may be the case now but will not be the case forever. I assume your asset class allocation module is written for all occassions, rather than just the current interest rate environment.

a fair point indeed, as I am coming to realise. I am pretty sure they want to see the answer for all occasions as well, but now isnt all occasions. I am sure they want me to put this poor chap in a balanced managed fund with 40% cash+ FI, paying 1.5% fees on the lot, so i guess thats what he's going to have to get.....:)
 
The other thing to note is that the government guarantee is only up to $1m (or is it $250k) so it is no good for persons with substantial assets, let alone a superfund.
$250K per institution. So you can split assets up around various institutions.

Now, let's say there is no government guarantee on bank deposits, what interest rate margin would you like to earn above the government bonds to justify the additional risk?
I guess we'll consider that when it happens. Even if the government guarantee is eventually completely withdrawn, can you actually see the government allowing e.g. CBA to fail, even if that looked like a possibility which I don't think it does?
 
cash+ FI, paying 1.5% fees on the lot, so i guess thats what he's going to have to get.....:)

Just a quick question, why do you have to pay 1.5% fees for a cash and fixed interest option? That is way over any benchmark?? My Super fund charges .05%. The poor bloke will be losing out on fees alone.:eek:
 
I've received today a email from betashares :

BetaShares ETFs [info@betashares.com.au] Mon 12/03/2012

BetaShares has today announced the listing of the
first high interest cash ETF on the Australian Securities Exchange
,,,,
,,,,
ETF: AAA
 
I've received today a email from betashares :

BetaShares ETFs [info@betashares.com.au] Mon 12/03/2012

BetaShares has today announced the listing of the
first high interest cash ETF on the Australian Securities Exchange
,,,,
,,,,
ETF: AAA
Not a good investment in my books. No Government guarantee and only paying 5.2% p/a according to the fact sheet. UBANK pay 6.01% and is Government guaranteed.
 
Not a good investment in my books. No Government guarantee and only paying 5.2% p/a according to the fact sheet. UBANK pay 6.01% and is Government guaranteed.

I'm agree with you. less than 6.% Nok.
Just waiting for other ETS provider to release the new fixed income ETFs.
 
Just a quick question, why do you have to pay 1.5% fees for a cash and fixed interest option? That is way over any benchmark?? My Super fund charges .05%. The poor bloke will be losing out on fees alone

did you say your fund was an industry fund? cant imagine a retail fund charging only 0.05% of anything.

EG just looked up colonial first state;
100% cash fund; they charge .97% pa plus contibution fees + transaction costs (whatver they are)
Balanced fund; 1.52% pa.
there might be cheaper but I think thats about the going rate
 
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