[Thomas M]

Hello

as my title says, what questions do you ask yourself when selecting funds?
While age and money position per individual matters,
there must be universal questions you ask yourself.
What are they?

 

[MrMatt]

Hello

as my title says, what questions do you ask yourself when selecting funds?
While age and money position per individual matters,
there must be universal questions you ask yourself.
What are they?

Does it fit into the categorical target?
MER

If you're looking for a S&P fund, does the fund you're looking at track the S&P.
If you're looking for a hedged fund, does it track that.
Is the MER low.

The questions before that matter more like "how am I going to split up my capital/investments"

 

[Eclectic12]

Why do I need a fund that has an annual cost versus a stock that does not?
Are there funds that cover the same areas with lower costs?
How long has the fund been running?
Who is the manager and what is their track record?
What is the trading volume?
What sort of market share does the fund have?
What restrictions set what is invested in?
What are the top holdings? If anything looks strange, dig into more specifics using the reports.
Are there activities not covered by the investment goals in the fine print? For example, lending securities or option selling.
If forced to hold this in a non-registered account, what are the bookkeeping and tax reporting implications?


Cheers

 

[Jimmy]

The above +
1) tax issues and where to hold this fund. ie interest taxed at higher rates so inside RRSP etc. High growth ETFs outside of RRSP to min taxes on withdrawal
2) DRIP - good to have to save reinvesting transaction costs.
3) TER - Transaction expense ratio. You need to read the prospectus as some have high TERs, some higher than the MER which is significant. Many EAFE and foreign funds ex
4) Liquidity. Many PS ETFs for ex are very illiquid which increases price sensitivity.