Eadwig
20 Nov 2015
Re: Alibaba NCMR: "I was surprised to note that FCSS no longer holds Alibaba"I hold Alibaba directly and it has been having a tough time, although had reasonable trading results recently. If FCSS timed it correctly they could have missed as much as a 20% drop and then re-bought in - a smart move. I'd be surprised if they don't become holders again given the nature of their strategy and growth of online sales.I note the Baltic Dry Goods Index (global shipping) is at around 8 year lows. This is an indicator of world trade. Goods in and out of China, unsurprisingly, is the largest part of that. This may well be an indicator of a faster than expected slow down in China which would be bound to have a knock-on effect on all China related stocks. The index is currently suggesting global growth at 2% or less going forward.
Eadwig
20 Nov 2015
Re: Eadwig - Junior ISA le vin est par,Thanks for the reply and sorry for the late response, I only just saw your post. I'm very much in the same position as your friend and came to more or less the same conclusion. My daughter is just 2 years old next week, where as I am over 50, a heavy smoker and not the fittest person in the world.It would take quite a money pot to build a worthwhile diversified portfolio, but how do you future-proof it for 16 years in today's increasingly volatile markets? If something happens to me, there is really no one who understands stocks to takeover management of such a portfolio.I came to the conclusion that Junior ISAs are really a little additional tax fiddle for higher rate tax payers - which I am not - and therefore not suitable for her couple of grand and relatively small monthly contributions.Trouble is, I still haven't found a place for her cash that will pay a little interest and it is very difficult to swap in and out of limited time introductory offers when the account is in someone elses name, even if they are your daughter. I guess that is the problem in such a low interest rate environment.
NCMR
19 Nov 2015
Alibaba I was surprised to note that FCSS no longer holds Alibaba - does anyone know when they dropped the stock and why?
le vin est par
05 Nov 2015
Eadwig - Junior ISA I looked into JISAs for a friend for her new born daughter earlier this year. The biggest neg was no access to the cash until the child is 18. In their case they only had some cheques gifted for the birth plus plans to make a (relatively small) monthly contribution. I suggested a regular saver initially in a plan to build a pot that could be invested at a later date.
Kingel
05 Nov 2015
October's 10 most-bought trusts nvestment trusts invested in UK and global equities dominated Interactive Investor's most-bought list in October, with Scottish Mortgage (SMT) and Woodford Patient Capital (WPCT) holding onto the top spots.Scottish Mortgage, a Rated Fund on our sister website Money Observer, was the most-bought trust for the sixth consecutive month in October. The £3.2 billion global generalist has been Interactive Investor's most popular closed-ended fund for 19 of the past 20 months due in part to its strong long-term performance record and low fees.Scottish Mortgage is the second best-performing trust in the 36-fund large global sector over three, five and 10 years to 1 November, returning 89%, 110% and 278% in share price gains respectively, and boasts an ongoing charges figure of just 0.51%.UK equity income starsScottish Mortgage was unseated from the top spot for only one month in April this year when UK equities trust Woodford Patient Capital replaced it after its record-breaking launch in the same month.The latter was the second most-bought trust in October for the third consecutive month. This is despite Woodford Patient Capital having shed 10% of its value in the three months to 1 November while it trades on the second highest share price to net asset value (NAV) premium in the UK all companies sector (6.1%).Money Observer Rated Fund Finsbury Growth & Income (FGT) climbed one place from September to be the third most-bought fund in October. The enduringly popular trust is the third UK equity income vehicle to make it into the top 10 in October, underling investors' continued thirst for yield in a low interest rate environment.Fellow Money Observer Rated Fund City of London (CTY) as well as the Edinburgh Investment Trust (EDIN) - a former charge of Neil Woodford - were the other two UK equity trusts to make it into Interactive Investor's top 10 in October, as the fifth and ninth most bought trusts respectively.Despite a worrying period for Edinburgh following Woodford's departure in January 2014, the trust has performed well under new manager Mark Barnett and over one year has returned 16.6%; this makes it the second best performer in the sector during the period.In contrast City of London has struggled, returning just 7.3% over one year and shedding 3% over three months. However, City has more of an income bias than Edinburgh, yielding 4% compared to 3.3% from the former, while it has raised its dividend every year for the past 50.Special favouritesHigh-profile specialist trusts also continued to prove popular in October. The Biotech Growth Trust (BIOG) fell one place from September to be the fourth most-bought last month as the volatility seen in the biotechnology sector over the summer appears to be abating.While over three months Biotech Growth has shed a painful 20.5%, it has recovered some ground recently, with shares gaining 4% last month.BlackRock World Mining (BRWM) also continued to prove popular despite the steep losses seen in recent months and years as it clung onto its place as sixth most-bought trust. This is thanks in part to the trust's impressive 9.4% yield, although doubts continue to be raised about the sustainability of this dividend.Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) also climbed one place to eight most-bought trust in October as a strong rally in Chinese markets last month helped manager Dale Nicholls to recover some of the steep losses endured over the summer.[link]
Eadwig
23 Oct 2015
Re: Should I plunge in again? holland44, [market garden?]I think you have slightly misunderstood me there, perhaps I didn't explain myself well enough (people on this board used to know my posts and thinking pretty well).I'm not concerned about a Chinese crash, it is that if I were to look to invest by buying specific stocks to exploit retail sales growth in China, I would have to research a lot of companies, then make a choice of what I deemed to be the best one and put all my eggs in that basket. At best, I might be able to build a reasonable position in two companies. (Three, as I already own Alibaba).So instead, I choose a fund which spreads the risk, is managed by people who know what they are doing (supposedly) and saves me a lot of research time which is badly needed in other parts of my portfolio in these turbulent, "when-and-which-way-will-the-Fed-jump" times.I've never used the drip-feed mechanism on ii, it kind of goes against the grain for my style and personal position. I accept that I can't time tops and bottoms of markets so I build a position in tranches. Perhaps 3 or 4 of them, including trading out again during the process, until I am happy with my holding price. This probably reflects my investment horizon for holdings which is about a maximum of 5 years, but is probably closer to an average of 12 months. I will give it some thought though, I have been considering drip-feeds on one or two companies that are supposed to be giving me a solid, high yielding base to my SIPP. I don't think a growth fund would ever be suitable though, really - just look at the plunging profits on my biotech funds, one of which I have sold this morning and doubt I shall be buying again this side of the US election in November NEXT year. (Shut up, Hillary, please!).I have considered using the drip-feed option for a junior ISA, if I decide to open one for my 22 month old daughter. I'm not really sure what the point of a junior ISA is as she obviously doesn't pay tax, and neither do I. You can't really build a diversified portfolio drip-feeding a maximum of £4800 a year, so I shall have to ponder that some more, especially as it would be very doubtful I would be maxing it every year. I keep trying to read the ii stuff on junior ISAs but something always asserts priority - usually my daughter. It's tough being a house-husband.
NCMR
23 Oct 2015
Re: Should I plunge in again? why Feb?
lambrini girl
23 Oct 2015
Re: Should I plunge in again? wait for the sell off in FEBruary..
NCMR
23 Oct 2015
Re: Should I plunge in again? I was interested to read in this week's 'Money Week' that the editor is an investor in this fund
holland44
23 Oct 2015
Re: Should I plunge in again? I wouldn't invest directly in Chinese equities: too risky, too easy to made a mistake through under-research and simple lack of familiarity with the Chinese market.If you're concerned about another Chinese crash, why not drip-feed into FCSS rather than jump in with a lump sum?
Kool Keith
22 Oct 2015
Re: Should I plunge in again? Spotted your comment on FCSS on another board earlier today (HSBA I think) and popped over here. I thought the same re dividend and found the following in the financials. Hope it helps.DIVIDENDThe Board recommends a dividend of 1.30 pence (2014: 1.15 pence) per Ordinary Share for the year ended 31 March 2015 for approval by shareholders at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting. This represents a 13% increase on the 1.15 pence paid in respect of last year.The dividend will be payable on 24 July 2015 to shareholders on the register on 19 June 2015 (ex-dividend date 18 June 2015).
Eadwig
22 Oct 2015
Should I plunge in again? Recent figures from the Chinese economy showed GDP growth down at 6.9% but retail *growth* now up to 10.9%.That encouraged me to take a look at FCSS that I held for a long time, but finally bailed out of after disappointing performance on a sound thesis - Ie. Choosing companies catering to the growing consumer class of China. The final straw was the share buybacks, a ludicrous thing, I thought, to do with a fund that had fought hard to sell itself and get the cash to invest in the first place.I note that much of the share buyback was spent on shares while around the 170p mark, which leaves me feeling pretty well vindicated.I also think that the fund is looking a little oversold right at this moment, but the discount on the NAV is far greater than it used to be in the old days when 10% was considered extreme.So, I'm undecided, but I do very much want a pretty direct way to play that 10%+ retail growth figure without taking the risk of spreading my cash around a handful of companies myself - all too easy to get that wrong, especially as I don't really have time to research them properly.Any advice or comments from people following FCSS would be gratefully accepted. PS. What happened to the 2015 dividend? Much of the ii figures on the fundamentals page don't look like they can be right? (not unusually). I will check this elsewhere when I get the chance, but any quick answer also appreciated.
NCMR
14 Sep 2015
Re: Discount may be fair value You may easily be spot on the the delta between price and NAV seems to be a function of the buyback process. I was interested see in Moneywek that they were suggesting that this may be time to start buying back into China.
Afrosia
14 Sep 2015
Discount may be fair value I've been thinking about it a bit and I think that FCSS might be fairly valued at a significant discount to NAV. The reason is the steep TER which is around 1.5% If you accept that a share price for an investment trust should equal the NAV less the present value of the charges then this suggests a discount of 18.75% (based upon an average return of 8%).The calculation for this is 1.5 / 0.08. Have I missed something here or do you guys agree?
tegami01
26 Aug 2015
share price... ...looks overbought to the untrained eye - now at 13% discount to NAV. Strange discount should be so narrow given current circumstances and past history. Looks priced in expectation of a significant rise in Shanghai composite tomorrow.
