No doubt, l am an agent.But, l am also an investor, a client, a very ordinary person. Actually, l am just like anyone here. l hope there is no bias against me.
The reason for me to start this thread is not to advertise product, just to have a different view from insurer, agent, investor, public, etc.. have some discussion over here. In fact, l will see that l work for client, but the opportunity to work for client is given by my company. Nevertheless, l hope to add in value for this thread in the end.
So, what is this pulsar?
It is ILP with all your money allocated for investment, of course need to minus all charges (Any insurer market a product with an investment element inside is called ILP regardless how many percent of the money goes into investment, how many goes into protection).
It give different bonus rate for different number of years for investment. What start up bonus 174% mean? It mean one invest in $3000, one will get $5220 bonus which give a total capital $8220 to invest into fund. In order to get 174%, one need to invest over 30 years. However, we can not say it is lock in period as it provide liquidity. Erm...l don't want to emphasize in this part now.
Under this pulsar, there are 77 funds where one can choose from. So let's look at Pictet fund since this can't be find in FSM. Let't go to the details for one of the Pictet Fund, Pictet Generics Fund (let's cal it PGF).
In order to invest in a fund, we must know what is the fund investing.
PGF invest 95% in pharmaceutical, 5% in money market. It invest shares of pharmaceutical company across different country such as US, India, Ireland, China, South Africa, Japan, Brazil, Canada, etc. So, as an investor, we must know the industry as well. What is the generic mean? Generic drug means a drug that is exactly the same as the brand-name drug, but can only be produced after the brand-name drug's patent has expired. Generic manufacturer usually can sell the generic drug cheaper with same quality because they not need to repeat the costly clinical trials.
Then, we looked at the largest holding of PGF. As updated 28/2/2015, Actavis made up of 8.17% of the fund. Actavis is a global pharmaceutical company focused on developing, manufacturing, and commercializing branded pharmaceuticals, generic, otc medicine and biologic products. Actavis outperformed S&P 500 and Dow Jones US pharmaceuticals from 2009. The same $100 invested in 31/12/09 grow to $649 (Actavis); $205 (S&P); $224 (Dow Jones Pharmaceutical). Of course, there are risks for Actavis: the major revenue is from North America. Its major industry competitor are Mylan, Teva and Sandoz. Do note that Mylan and Teva are the top 10 holdings of PGF too.
Actavis is listed in NYSE, the current price is $279.05. The minimum trading lot is 1. So why invested through fund? Can't one invest by himself? Sure can
. Just one need to be able to screen the potential share, do your own portfolio and risk management. If buy through fund, fund manager will help you to screen and manage.
So definitely have its pros and cons to buy directly though shares or buy through fund. Buying though fund indeed works on diversification and dollar cost averaging,but one can not choose which shares to buy in.
So, in fact AXA pulsar is just like unit trust.
Let's compare between unit trust and Pulsar in a neutral way.
1) Bonus
Pulsar have start up bonus whereas unit trust no. This can help in compounding effect.
2) Protection
Pulsar have 101% of protection for death benefit or 101% of account value. Some will say 100% from one's own money,haha..ok is true.. but view in different way...let's say the portfolio value shrinks to 70% of original money invested due to economy crisis, the death benefit one will get is still 101%. So, for unit trust, there is no protection, the portfolio shrink if one leaves the word, whatever money left in portfolio is whatever your family will get.
3) Sales charge
There is no sales charges for Pulsar whereas unit trust charge up to 5%. However, do note that pulsar has other charges
a)4% for 18 month money invested
b)1.5% of account value
c)admin fee $120/yr
(the 0.5% l did not include as it will be refunded in the end)
4) Switching fee
There is no switching fee for pulsar, one can do unlimited switching. For unit trust, typically about 1% of the investment.
5) Discipline investment
Pulsar provide discipline investment where one invest regularly either monthly or yearly.Some people view it as advantage, some people view it as disadvantage. Again, different people have different needs and views.
For unit trust,one can invest at any time.
6) Liquidity
Both provide liquidity.
Pulsar can withdraw any amount after 18 months, but the value inside must not less than initial 18 months money invested.
Unit trust can withdraw anytime.
In the end, different people have different needs. For example, for limited time bank promotion give interest up to 3% but there are people still buy into endowment plan. This is mainly because they want a "force" saving. Similarly, l will see pulsar as "force" investment as well. So, people who know how to save may not interested in endowment plan. Similarly, people who know how to invest, may not interested in Pulsar. Ultimately, is all about needs.
After all, when one wants buy into pulsar, unit trust, shares, future or forex, any investment tools, one may still need to do the homework.Of course, most of the people here are expert...If one really don't know how to do homework, can ask your respective agent or financial planner or broker agent do on your behalf. Hence, a good, helpful and knowledgeable agent are very important.
Before an insurer market a product, there is no doubt that, actuary calculated all the cost and risk. So similarly...for client, before buying a product or even after buying a product, client must also be calculative. Agent can come to help for this part as it can get quite complex sometimes. For the above pulsar example, l only view one of the company over 28 companies under Pictet Generic Fund which is only one of the 77 funds in Pulsar sub-fund.
Lastly, l hope that no one attack me for talking about this ILP.
No doubt, it has pros and cons.
l really share it sincerely...
Cheers
The reason for me to start this thread is not to advertise product, just to have a different view from insurer, agent, investor, public, etc.. have some discussion over here. In fact, l will see that l work for client, but the opportunity to work for client is given by my company. Nevertheless, l hope to add in value for this thread in the end.
So, what is this pulsar?
It is ILP with all your money allocated for investment, of course need to minus all charges (Any insurer market a product with an investment element inside is called ILP regardless how many percent of the money goes into investment, how many goes into protection).
It give different bonus rate for different number of years for investment. What start up bonus 174% mean? It mean one invest in $3000, one will get $5220 bonus which give a total capital $8220 to invest into fund. In order to get 174%, one need to invest over 30 years. However, we can not say it is lock in period as it provide liquidity. Erm...l don't want to emphasize in this part now.
Under this pulsar, there are 77 funds where one can choose from. So let's look at Pictet fund since this can't be find in FSM. Let't go to the details for one of the Pictet Fund, Pictet Generics Fund (let's cal it PGF).
In order to invest in a fund, we must know what is the fund investing.
PGF invest 95% in pharmaceutical, 5% in money market. It invest shares of pharmaceutical company across different country such as US, India, Ireland, China, South Africa, Japan, Brazil, Canada, etc. So, as an investor, we must know the industry as well. What is the generic mean? Generic drug means a drug that is exactly the same as the brand-name drug, but can only be produced after the brand-name drug's patent has expired. Generic manufacturer usually can sell the generic drug cheaper with same quality because they not need to repeat the costly clinical trials.
Then, we looked at the largest holding of PGF. As updated 28/2/2015, Actavis made up of 8.17% of the fund. Actavis is a global pharmaceutical company focused on developing, manufacturing, and commercializing branded pharmaceuticals, generic, otc medicine and biologic products. Actavis outperformed S&P 500 and Dow Jones US pharmaceuticals from 2009. The same $100 invested in 31/12/09 grow to $649 (Actavis); $205 (S&P); $224 (Dow Jones Pharmaceutical). Of course, there are risks for Actavis: the major revenue is from North America. Its major industry competitor are Mylan, Teva and Sandoz. Do note that Mylan and Teva are the top 10 holdings of PGF too.
Actavis is listed in NYSE, the current price is $279.05. The minimum trading lot is 1. So why invested through fund? Can't one invest by himself? Sure can
. Just one need to be able to screen the potential share, do your own portfolio and risk management. If buy through fund, fund manager will help you to screen and manage.So definitely have its pros and cons to buy directly though shares or buy through fund. Buying though fund indeed works on diversification and dollar cost averaging,but one can not choose which shares to buy in.
So, in fact AXA pulsar is just like unit trust.
Let's compare between unit trust and Pulsar in a neutral way.
1) Bonus
Pulsar have start up bonus whereas unit trust no. This can help in compounding effect.
2) Protection
Pulsar have 101% of protection for death benefit or 101% of account value. Some will say 100% from one's own money,haha..ok is true.. but view in different way...let's say the portfolio value shrinks to 70% of original money invested due to economy crisis, the death benefit one will get is still 101%. So, for unit trust, there is no protection, the portfolio shrink if one leaves the word, whatever money left in portfolio is whatever your family will get.
3) Sales charge
There is no sales charges for Pulsar whereas unit trust charge up to 5%. However, do note that pulsar has other charges
a)4% for 18 month money invested
b)1.5% of account value
c)admin fee $120/yr
(the 0.5% l did not include as it will be refunded in the end)
4) Switching fee
There is no switching fee for pulsar, one can do unlimited switching. For unit trust, typically about 1% of the investment.
5) Discipline investment
Pulsar provide discipline investment where one invest regularly either monthly or yearly.Some people view it as advantage, some people view it as disadvantage. Again, different people have different needs and views.
For unit trust,one can invest at any time.
6) Liquidity
Both provide liquidity.
Pulsar can withdraw any amount after 18 months, but the value inside must not less than initial 18 months money invested.
Unit trust can withdraw anytime.
In the end, different people have different needs. For example, for limited time bank promotion give interest up to 3% but there are people still buy into endowment plan. This is mainly because they want a "force" saving. Similarly, l will see pulsar as "force" investment as well. So, people who know how to save may not interested in endowment plan. Similarly, people who know how to invest, may not interested in Pulsar. Ultimately, is all about needs.
After all, when one wants buy into pulsar, unit trust, shares, future or forex, any investment tools, one may still need to do the homework.Of course, most of the people here are expert
...If one really don't know how to do homework, can ask your respective agent or financial planner or broker agent do on your behalf. Hence, a good, helpful and knowledgeable agent are very important. Before an insurer market a product, there is no doubt that, actuary calculated all the cost and risk. So similarly...for client, before buying a product or even after buying a product, client must also be calculative. Agent can come to help for this part as it can get quite complex sometimes. For the above pulsar example, l only view one of the company over 28 companies under Pictet Generic Fund which is only one of the 77 funds in Pulsar sub-fund.
Lastly, l hope that no one attack me for talking about this ILP.
No doubt, it has pros and cons.
l really share it sincerely...
Cheers
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