Moneyspider Articles

Ignorance is not bliss

There's an old saying "Ignorance is bliss."  Where money is concerned ignorance is a disaster. 

If you saw a £10 note lying in the gutter, you'd almost certainly pick it up. However, when it comes to investing, most people don't realise just how much money they're potentially losing by not keeping a close eye on their fund's performance. You can lose literally thousands of pounds a year by keeping your money in poorly performing ISAs, PEPs and Unit Trusts.

In November 2007, fund analyst Moneyspider.com carried out research, which showed that £5,000 invested in a top-performing fund over the last five years, would have made a profit of £31,035. But that same £5,000 invested in another fund from the same highly regarded fund manager would have made a 'profit' over 5 years of just £230 - the difference is a staggering £30,805. (Source: Financial Express). The Daily Mail said in an article about Moneyspider.com. 'You could pay a high price for choosing the right investment house but picking the wrong fund.'

How are your funds REALLY doing? 

If you hold ISAs, PEPs or Unit Trusts, it's essential that you know how they're performing. Your fund manager sends you a 6 monthly report and valuation but, crucially, he won't tell you how your fund's performance compares with funds from other investment houses.   

Moneyspider enables you to see at a glance how your funds are performing and how they compare with other funds from different fund managers in the same sector. In essence, Moneyspider.com tells you what your fund manager won't. 

Moneyspider.com has developed a highly sophisticated but easy to understand performance rating system for all 2,000 or so ISAs, PEPs and Unit Trusts available to UK investors. You must already have one or more of these funds to be eligible for the Moneyspider service which will then provide you with a personal online report, updated daily, showing how each of your funds has performed over one, three and five years. It also provides a comparison with other funds in the same sector, a unique rating for each of your funds (A=excellent E=dreadful) and a current valuation. 

Registering with Moneyspider.com could make a difference of many thousands of pounds to you over the next few years. By seeing how your funds are rated and how their performance compares with other funds you will be armed with the up to the minute information you need to make informed decisions. In particular, you will be able to check how well or badly your existing funds are performing before using your tax-free ISA allowance for the 07-08 year, which you must do before 5 April to benefit.  

So while ignorance is certainly not bliss where financial matters are concerned, knowledge is power. Having this knowledge could make, or save, you a small fortune.