• hunter_boyce_chandler said on Aug 04, 2006....

  Good point, but please lose the fake gansta slang. No one speaks like that except posers.

• MoKaHas said on Aug 04, 2006....

  ok buddy.. thanks for the advise.

• Susmaryosep said on Aug 05, 2006....

  I am sorry for you, and losing your money investing in unit trusts, is a normal thing... Look at my letter to the Securities Commission reproduced below. 2 important criteria for profitable investing in Trusts.... You must stay at least for two years, and you should not go in, if the KLCI goes above 830 points... The fund managers screw you with the Upfront and the management fee. Take Care Dear Sec Comm., Further to my email to you in September , reproduced below, another letter of discontent has surfaced in TheStar today, also reproduced below. I feel it's timely that the SC make some comments and feedback to the public, on the workings of Mutual funds in Malaysia. Notwithstanding that such Funds are established and governed by international rules and procedures, it will seem to the public, by and large that there is a lot of misrepresentation in the promotion of Mutual Funds. As I have said previously too in the NST, charging the investor a fee for using his money to invest, upfront, and then subsequently also charging him a management fee, is naturally abhorrent, and goes agaisnt the principle of fairness. We also cannot dispel our lingering doubts that some Fund managers may not be totally transparent in their daily transactions. A fee to be charged based on Performance of the respective managers and their Funds would largely work to dispel these doubts. Please don't wait util the Prime Minister directs you, then only will you do something. the continual complanits in the Press, can only mean that many many more invesotrs have been badly burnt, and have been left to lick their wounds, while Fund Managers sing their way to the banks!! Regards tam ys Tuesday October 11, 2005 Trust in fund lost after investment started shrinking I STARTED investing in a trust fund since early 1997, when the Government allowed EPF contributors to utilise a portion of their money from Account 1 for investment in the stock market through trust fund companies. The Government meant well, no doubt. Two books published and circulated by a trust fund management company aroused my interest in financial management. The contents of the books were almost flawless, so to speak. They talked about inflation and its implications. Just like many others who read the books, I was completely convinced that investment in trust fund was the right way for long-term financial well-being. However, I had a completely different experience after investing in a trust fund management company for eight years. My RM30,291.35 withdrawn from the EPF for the investment has shrunk to RM25,853.35 as of Sept 26 despite the accumulated “bonus units”. Had I not withdrawn the sum from the EPF, it would have grown to RM41,455.80 based on 4% dividend per annum – an apparent loss of RM15,602.45. My confidence in trust funds has been shaken. Nearing my retirement age and seeing my investment fund eroding is indeed hurting. I hope people will be more careful with their life savings. HO, Kuala Lumpur. Tam YS wrote: > > Dear Sec. Comm, > The letter, extracted below, is one of the many that have appeared in the media in recent months, describing the unethical, and immoral way mutual funds are selling their products. I know this is just the tip of an enormous iceberg, and unless the authorities regulate and reform the industry, many more ignorant investors are going to be hit badly. Please impress upon the Funds that they are 'selling' an investment opportunity, not a health supplement, or snake oil. Most of the 'agents' will do anything to sell their required quota of units, in order to earn awards like trips to Paris, which will have to be paid from investment profits belonging to the investors. And in most cases, the upfront fee is not explained, just 'hidden' in some mumbo jumbo like the NAV. If the Securities Commission cannot protect the innocent investors, who can? There are some professional financial planners around who put integrity before profits, like those that I know, but by and large, most of the agents treat the Mutual Fund business as one big MLM (multi level marketing) opportunity. > Please do something. > > regards > tam yeng siang. > > Trust fund’s trustworthiness in doubt > > IN 2003, I was approached by an agent from a leading trust fund investment company to invest in one of the funds launched by the company by using my Employees Provident Fund savings or through cash investment. > > I was told the return would be between 9% and 15% per annum at least. > > I was impressed and invested RM30,000 of my hard-earned savings. > > After the first year of investment, I was informed that a 10% bonus had been added to my total investment. > > Recently, I was in need of money. > > I approached the company to liquidate the trust fund units but, to my surprise, I was told that my investment was worth only RM22,774.32. > > The reason given was that my investment was related to “small cap fund,” a term I did not understand and which wasn't explained to me. > > I accept there are risks in investment, but when such funds are promoted customers are not told about them. > > Irrespective of what fund is launched, minimal risks should be ensured, otherwise there is no need to promote such funds to investors. > > Losing about 25% of your investment is no small matter. > > Are trust funds really trustworthy? > > > > DISAPPOINTED, > Kuala Lumpur. > (via e-mail) > >

• MoKaHas said on Aug 05, 2006....

  dear sus thanks for the advise. i too wud rather keep it in the epf for now. how about klse? u have any hot tips?

• Susmaryosep said on Aug 06, 2006....

  avoid the KLSE too!..

• ohtidak said on Aug 08, 2006....

  sorry to hear that.. to be honest, i was once trying to be a unit trust consultant. i followed my colleague almost everywhere to learn (she is a certfied consultant). and we are from SBB Mutual from what i've been through, i decided not to be a unit trust consultant because i know i could not effort to be one. why? because i was trained to be a good one.. in fact, my dear colleague is a good one from what i can see, based on her client's investment progress and performances. a consultant should update his/her clients every three months at least for epf investments, because epf can only be withdrawn every 3 months for unit trusts investment. and from my study, if you invest regularly in the same period of time i.e. every 3 months, the potential to earn more profit is high.. i've seen some earned almost double with Dana Al-Mizan in 4 years of investment.. investment in unit trust is for a long term. only luck can bring you high profit in 1-2 year(s). a good consultant will teach you many ways to earn profit, and help you from time to time. they will suggest you to diversify your investment to makesure your epf is gaining and not shrinking. what i'm trying to say here is, if you want to invest, find a good consultant. because these people are the people who will guide you, and help you to make a good profit. how to find a good consultant? when someone approach you, dont invest right away.. make sure you get to know them first, 1 month is okay if you meet up every week (one of my investor, a good one, took 6 months before he actually put a trust me, and this man play with australia's unit trusts - i passed him to my colleague because i never took my exam). makesure you know them well, check their client's track record to see the performances they managed. if possible, get one with a good attitude and pr skill, because this type of consultant will always be there for your investment needs, and and because you will be dealing with them for quite some time.. you should know that not many agents dedicate theirselves to clients, they rather choose money. that's why cases like yours happen many2 times by many people. investing in any bank or any unit trust company should be fine and can offer you good return, just makesure you have a good consultant/agent p/s : i'm not a consultant. just sharing some info

• Susmaryosep said on Aug 08, 2006....

  Please read TheStar, the NST and TheSun today! Nowwe know thetrust funds arecheating us. Fund managers' fees hould be based on performance, not paid upfront.....

• Susmaryosep said on Aug 09, 2006....

  [b] Just to let you know, I wrote to the EPF, the MOF, the Sec Comm, and the PM the letter below, concerning the fact that 80% of those who invest in funds lose money![/b] Have a look! Dear Sirs, I read in all your newspapers today on EPF's concerns on the performance of Unit Trusts, and together with "restoring trust" (as The Sun puts it), all have raised suggestions that stricter procedures be followed when inviting the public to invest in Mutual Funds. I think everyone is just beating about the bush, and is not addressing the problem at its roots. I have raised this issue in the NST before, and it was bannered by the NST in the Letters page, "Unit trust fees should be based on Performance" . It is a naturally abhorrent thing for anyone to charge an upfront fee, when inviting the public to give their hard earned money, and their retirement funds to a third party to invest, with glowing promises of fantastic returns(look at the current CIMB invitation to invest at 8% per annum, but try to read the fine print). I have mentioned in that letter, that Fund managers can only earn the 1% management fee, but the upfront fee of between 6 to 7% must not be taken off, AT THE MOMENT OF INVESTMENT! That's the reason why more than 80% of the EPF retirees lose money when they put the funds in Unit trusts. However, if the Managers are paid fees (other than the 1% annual fee) based on their glowing prospectus and subsequent performance, we will not have innocent investors getting burned, and losing ALL their livelihood funds. Will the EPF only sanction the investment in Funds that DO NOT charge such upfront fees, that is, if the contributors decide to withdraw soon after investment, due to falsely presented "facts' by the Fund Managers, they will just lose the 1% management fee? EPF has a noble duty to protect the public, and so has the Securities commission! You know, my friends, it's very tiring to read regularly that the poor public continues to be hoodwinked into investments that are too risky, and please don't retort by stating the fine print warns us of the risks that we must be aware of. We all know the fine print's real motives are! Do the 'salesmen' of the Unit trusts actually emphasise the fine print? Give us a break! EPF should be tough in its decisions, as the ultimate protector of our livelihood funds.

• MoKaHas said on Aug 09, 2006....

  i salute all you guys for the advises. lately the government had made many announcements. the epf had freeze any withdrawal for trust fund recently. i just wondering what is the MTUC comments on this. i never heard so far of their voices. they suppose to stand the rights of the workers. i think they even have their own representatives in the epf board. well the trust fund. if you check their financial statement, you can always see their 'good performance' but of course at the end of their financial closing. in between that, they will somewhere spend and lost our money. these consultant fees are too way too much. for shares the remisers just charge 0.6%. yeah they wrote in bold in their brochures like the 8% return but there always the fine print. i think they should refund our monies back. i mean those management fees. epf must shoulder some responsibility. the holding banks too should shoulder some responsibility. this what we call corporate social responsibility.

• Susmaryosep said on Aug 11, 2006....

  MTUC? sitting on its fat backside..... We must strive to make our voices heard, some friends say I am stupid to make noise? Why should anyone allow big corps to con the innocent? ... We must convince all to say their piece, sometimes the Govt listens......

• MoKaHas said on Aug 11, 2006....

  dear sus maybe we are not that clever the first time thats why trust our monies to these jokers. but definitely we are not stupid. we didnt make noise but we are mad becoz we lost our monies due to their unprofessional conduct of doing things. they should only be paid if they perform well but yet they still get paid if they lost our money. everybody's talking too much on productivity-linked wage systems but yet this kinda thing rampantly happened in broad day light. i really wanna the MTUC to be involved. unless they too are makin money out of us workers. the systems must be improved and must be fair. CEMERLANG, GEMILANG, TERBILANG.

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