Selecting an investment fund

Hi

There are so many investment funds in the market. I need advice about selecting the fund to invest, but the insurance agent and adviser normally recommend only those funds that they they are engaged to sell. Can I expect to get impartial advice? I am quite confused.

REPLY

You should ask the adviser to recommend a fund that meets the following criteria:

* is a large, well diversified fund
* has low annual fee, i.e. less than 1% per annum for equity fund or 0.5% for bond fund
* have a low upfront charge (less than 3%)
* invest 100% of the monthly savings
* no exit penalties

If the adviser can recommend a suitable fund that you meets your criteria, they will be giving a useful service to you.

The adviser may not be able to recommend a fund that meets all of the above criteria. You have to take the next best choice.

I have recently decided to invest in a Vanguard fund that is based outside of the USA (to avoid US withhholding tax). It is a very large equity fund that has an annual fee of 0.35% and no upfront charge.

The STI ETF in Singapore also have similar features.