A businessman deposits $1m into a bank. Down comes the relationship manager with 2 proposals that total, you guessed it, $1m.
2 hot funds plus a universal life plan were proposed. A whopping 5% sales charge was imposed but there was no attempt to asset allocate at all. The investment was split [...]
The past few weeks must have been really fun for Mr Market. Investors have been placed onto Battlestar Galactica and the ride has been going on for a few weeks. Below is a just a few observations of how things have gone wrong for many. Note: I am not trying to say that [...]
Listen to John Bogle, founder of Vanguard group and inventor of index funds, on why diversification is NOT for idiots. A good 20 min video.
Some investors have a view that intermediaries, for example investment advisers, remisiers, bank relationship managers, have insider information or is able to time the market simply for the reason that they are in the investment business. Well, its true that there are tons of fund house reports and investment investment views floating around. [...]
The market volatility in August has spooked many investors. A sudden flood of articles proclaiming the death of buy-and-hold has started to appear in many medias. A long-held belief, buy-and-hold simply means buying quality stocks, lock it up in the safe, throw away the keys and only come back 30, 40 years down [...]
The people behind the alleged Ponzi scheme, Sunshine Empire, are appealing their convictions, according to the 16th August 2011 edition of The Straits Times (Call for Sunshine Empire trio to get stiffer sentences) and Today (Sunshine Empire trio appeals against sentence). Prosecutors, however, pushed for heavier sentences.
The [...]
I was watching an online video when the interviewee mentioned the title of this post – Diversification is for idiots!
Ouch!
Well, didn’t Warren Buffett mentioned something similar when he said – Diversification is protection against ignorance? So should we mere mortals still practice diversification when the investment gods tout the [...]
The notorious Accumulators, also known “I Kill You Later”, are in the news again. An 88 year old Indonesian businessmen has sued a bank for US$17m for losses in Accumulators linked to currencies.
As usual, the bank has claimed that the plaintiff has “extensive experience in a wide range of investment products, [...]
The High Court has ordered a Swiss private bank to return US$2.34m lost through unauthorized forex transactions, reports the 11th June 2011 edition of The Straits Times (Give back customer’s US$2.34m, bank told). The customer’s client relationship officer made more than 160 unauthorized forex transactions, making losses of US$2.34m for the [...]
An investor, who has been sued by a French bank for $6.4m for losses from Accumulators, will get a new hearing after he appealed against a High Court decision in favor of the bank, reports the 20th April issue of The Straits Times (Investor sued for $6.4m gets new hearing).