Baca versi Bahasa Melayu di sini: 3 Tindakan Pelabur Unit Amanah Bila Pelaburan Negatif
Your unit trust investments turn negative – what must you do? | Most investors panic when they here that their investment is in the negative. “Why at loss? What’s the problem? What went wrong?” It is hard to answer these questions because these are not accurate question. The more accurate question is: “What should I do now?”
Before deiciding on the actions needed to be taken to maximize your investment returns, you mut understad first what is really happening when your investment is in the red:
1. Your investment is new
Every cent you invested in unit trust fund will be charged service charge. The highest service charge for unit trust fund in Malaysia is 5.5%. This means that an investment worth RM1,000 will be deducted RM55, thus leaving the amount invested RM945.
2. Fund price has dropped
Fund price drops because of low market condition, generally. Unit trust fund value is calculated based on unit price, thus investment will turn negative because all your money was turned into units when you bought into the fund.
For example, if you buy a fund at unit price RM0.38:
RM1000 / RM0.38 = 2631.58 unit
Say, today, the fund is at RM0.32 per unit, the fund value becomes:
2631.58 x RM0.32 = RM842.11
Your fund value decreased, thus the negative value. This loss is called ‘paper loss’ as long as you don’t sell your investment. As you stay invested, your unit amount will remain at 2631.58 units and your RM will continue to be invested by your unit trust fund managers. It will continue to move in parallel with the fund unit price.
Selling your investment at negative means you realize the ‘paper loss’. Selling your fund at this moment is the worst decision ever!
If I don’t sell it, what should I do?
1. Top up your investment
When market drops, fund is in negative and unit price is cheap. Many people view this as “fund at loss” only. However, smart investors see “cheap fund price”. Bad market condition is actually the best opportunity to buy funds at low price.
Both investors invested RM10,000 when unit price was RM0.25 making their total units 40,000 units. When market drops, their fund price drops until RM0.15 leab=ving them with 40% loss. Imagine your RM10,000 invested became RM6000!
Both investors are smart. They remain invested even though market is bad. Panic investors that sell their investment during this moment are the saddest and the worst affected.
Blue investor did not take any action during this price drop, remains at the same amount after market was healthy.
Meanwhile, red investor topped up RM4000 into his existing amount because he understand the concept ‘averaging down’. He grabbed this chance to buy more units at low price. With RM4000. at unit price RM0.15, he got 26,666 units. His total investment now then was RM14,000, including the initial RM10,000 invested. After market rebounded, with 66,666 units, his investment value is RM16,666!
Blue investor remains where he started. Red investor made profit.
What is averaging down?
Averaging down is buying units during price drops to lower your investment’s average cost per unit. Let’s go back to red investor to understand this concept.
At RM0.25 per unit, he invested RM10,000, he gets 40,000 units.
RM10,000 / RM0.25 = 40,000 unit.
At low price RM0.15 per unit, he invested RM4000 more to get 26,666 unit.
RM4000 / RM0.15 = 26,666 unit.
(Observe that buying at low price gets you more units compared to high price, just like buying things on sale)
Average cost per unit
= (40,000 unit x RM0.25) + (26,000 unit x RM0.15)
40,000 + 26,000 unit
= RM0.21
By adding to the investment when unit price was RM0.15, red investor dropped his ‘average cost per unit’ from the initial RM0.25 to RM0.21. If he keeps doing ‘average down’ and further lower and lower his ‘average cost per unit’, this fund will be protected from market drop in the future. This is the main goal of ‘averaging down’.
2. Portfolio rebalancing
A good investment portfolio is balanced based on investor’s age, needs and goals. Ideally, a 30-year-old investor, for example, has an investment portfolio consisting of 70% equity and 30% bond / sukuk. Equity fund is more aggressive and riskier than bond / sukuk fund, thus more affected by market movement. Bond / sukuk fund is more resilient in market downturn.
Example above shows a portfolio of 70% equity and 30% bond / sukuk. After economic downturn, the portfolio was affected, making the equity 40% and bond / sukuk 60%. Therefore, this investor makes ‘switching’ from bond / sukuk fund into equity fud so that he maintains his 70:30 ratio.
After market rebounded, equity funds return to normal price, but the whole equity funds would grow because of the fund injection during ‘switching’. This is how investors can take opportunity to re-balance portfolio during market downturn.
3. Continue making regular investment
The most relax investors regardless of market situation are those who invest regularly. Among unit trust investors, they are those who invest every 3 months via Members Investment Scheme or deducting monthly from their savings account into their investment funds.
During economic downturn, their investment funds will automatically average down. When dividend is paid out, they will also average down. When market is good, they continue investing towards their long term financial goals. They just have to review their investment portfolio every one or two years and make changes when necessary.
Relaxingly, the can win the money game.
Take action!
Market will not be better in the near future. Don’t make panic decisions as investor. Be a smart investor. Contact your consultant to understand what is going on in the current market situation. Improvise, adapt, overcome.
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