From the frying pan to the fire - Unit Trust to ETF

For those of you who have actual investing experience with unit trusts, and I mean 5 to 10 or more years worth of personal track record, there are 2 main reasons why you lost money.

See if you can identify with them.

1.  You were sold to...

When listening to people who complained about their bad experiences with unit trusts, its like listening to how they were sold "bad" insurance policies...

They most probably also bought these unit trusts from a tight skirt with chiffon blouse sitting pretty in a bank; and paying the max 5% sales load! 

Of course you have no clue they could have bought the same exact unit trust from an online unit trust distributor for 2% sales load or less.

In English, snake-oils call such customers "blue-eyed Swedes"; and in Singlish, we say "bei kambings" (little white lambs).

We spin our sales talk, customer swallow hook, line, and sinker. No challenge, no objections, no verifications, no nothing!!!

You make a good, better, best customer! We love you!

2.  You wished you had sold...

Be honest now.

Unless you were so unlucky the first day you bought your unit trust until now you have always been under water, the reality is that at some time or another, your unit trust got make money right?

Remember BRIC? Brazil, Russia, India, China?

How about that time when the India stock exchange was on a bull run and almost every other bank were recommending India focused unit trusts?

Commodity and gold unit trusts were also quite popular during 2009 to 2011... We almost had a commodity guy running our sovereign wealth fund remember?

Got made paper profits right?

And that's despite the 5% sales load and the annual management fees of 2% or more!

I don't recall hearing you complain about "costs" then...

Doing the same thing; expecting a different result...

Now that low cost ETFs are "fashionable", you are now switching out from your unit trusts to ETFs.

Question:

1.  Other people buy you buy. How is it any different from being sold to?

Again you never do your own homework...

2.  Have you ever thought of when to sell your ETFs? 

Want to bet history will repeat itself?

3.  If you had based your thesis on statistics - majority of active fund managers underperform their benchmark indices - why didn't you follow the CPIS statistics that majority of retail investors can't even beat the CPF 2.5% hurdle rate?

CPF not charging us any annual fees. No fees versus low cost... Some more no capital loss. Zilch! You still not biting?

See? You are being selective in your usage of statistics! That's not passive... Wink!

And we know what they say about statistics....