Re: invest $5000 sum

Paul wrote:

> What would be best way to invest a $5000 sum.  It appears that most
> managed funds will whip you with some extra fees if you are less than
> $10K.  Should it just be a standard term deposit with a major bank? 

If your concern is just fees in a managed fund, you could buy listed 
managed investments (these are like managed funds listed on the stock 
market).  Typically these have lower fees than unlisted managed funds and 
the only entry and exit fees are the brokers fees for the purchase and
sale 
(online brokers like commsec.com.au will only charge about $20 for a $5000

transaction).

Unlisted managed funds at the retail level (i.e. for small amounts like
you 
mention) often have entry fees of up to 4%.  They also typically have 
ongoing fees of around 1% or more.  Entry fees can be avoided by using 
discount brokers that offer managed fund entry fee rebates e.g. 
commsec.com.au

You haven't identified what you want out of an investment and what your 
time frame is.

However since you're only talking about $5k, it probably doesn't matter 
much, provided you realise that a term deposit is a wildly different type 
of investment than most managed funds and that you can lose money in 
managed funds and listed managed investments.

For info on listed managed investments, have a look at 
http://www.asx.com.au/investor/lmi/index.htm

I suggest you look particularly at Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) like SFY
or 
STW and Listed Investment Companies (LICs) like Argo Investments.

Also have a look at http://travismorien.com/invest_FAQ/