listings
living By Paul McLardie
PERSONAL FINANCE The name’s Bond, Bond Fund Last week, a client of mine asked me to breakdown into plain English what he had investments in through his original investment manager. He had just let the manager invest on his behalf, but he really didn’t understand what his portfolio was and how it worked. After having a proportion sitting in cash (always a good idea), the rest was split between different types of mutual funds. There are basically two different types of fund, but how these are used and funded differ immensely, and the client needed to understand this. A fund is a type of investment that allows multiple people to join their money together to purchase into different securities such as equities, commodities, bonds or property. Each fund has a different aim and usage, whether it’s for growth or for income. They can also be categorised by where in the world the underlying stocks or bonds are from. These can again be split into two areas of actively managed and passively managed. Actively managed funds will have either an individual or a team picking and choosing what to buy to be placed in the basket of the fund. Passively buys into an index or commodity, providing that investor with the same returns as the underlying market. The client didn’t understand the bond provision as he said he didn’t want to have any
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borrowing in his portfolio. I had to explain that he was not actually borrowing money to feed his investments; it was the other way around. Again, his bond holdings were in a fund, meaning he had exposure to a number of bonds. Bonds are at heart an ‘IOU’. Bond issuers can be either governments or companies and it is a way for them to raise money without having to borrow against a bank or offering a share release. You lend the issuer money and they say they will pay you back on a set date with regular interest paid throughout the term. The more chance of the bond not paying back, the higher the interest will be. These again can be bought and sold by an investor, and for easy access for private investors, they are bundled into funds. These can be classified at the lower end of the risk scale if picked properly and should be part of the client’s portfolio, as he is not using borrowed money (leveraged) to fund his plans. If you are at the lower end of the risk spectrum, please have a look at bond mutual funds for a proportion of your investments. Not all of it, just a proportion to keep it balanced. Paul McLardie is a partner at Total Wealth Management. Contact him at Paul.mclardie@t-wm.com.
BUSINESS GROUPS
AmCham New World Hotel, 76 Le Lai, D1 Business Centre, Room 323 Tel: 3824 3562 www.amchamvietnam.com AusCham TV Building, Suite 1A, 31A Nguyen Dinh Chieu, D1 Tel: 3911 0272 / 73 / 74 www.auschamvn.org British Business Group of Vietnam 25 Le Duan, D1 Tel: 3829 8430 info@bbgv.org / www.bbgv.org CanCham New World Hotel, 76 Le Lai, D1 Business Centre, Room 305 Tel: 3824 3754 www.canchamvietnam.org Citi Bank 115 Nguyen Hue St, D1 Tel: 3824 2118 Citibank Vietnam offers a wide range of banking services to both consumer and corpo-rate. Services include Corporate and Investment Banking, Global Transaction Services, and Consumer Banking. In Vietnam for 15 years, Citibank has a presence in both HCMC and Hanoi. Eurocham 257 Hoang Van Thu, Tan Binh Tel: 3845 5528 www.eurochamvn.org German Business Group 21-23 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, D1 www.gba-vietnam.org Singapore Business Group Unit 1B2, 21-23 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, D1 Tel: 3823 3046 www.sbghcmc.org Swiss Business Association 42 Giang Van Minh, Anh Phu, D2 Tel: 3744 6996 Fax: 3744 6990 Email: sba@hcm.vnn.vn www.swissvietnam.com Hong Kong Business Association New World Hotel, 76 Le Lai, D1 Business Centre, Room 322 Tel: 3824 3757 / 3822 8888 www.hkbav.com NordCham Bitexco Building, 19-25 Nguyen Hue, D1 Tel: 3821 5423 www.nordcham.com
CAMERAS
Hung Hai 75 Huynh Thuc Khang, D1 A good place to purchase hard-to-find gear and some rare equipment, mainly auto focus lenses.
Shop 46 46 Nguyen Hue, D1 Small shop run by photographer and collector. The owner’s more collectible pieces are pricey, but entry-level manual focus SLRs from the 70s and 80s are affordable.
COMPUTERS
Computer Street Luong Huu Khanh, D1 between Nguyen Thi Minh Khai and Nguyen Trai This stretch of District 1 is literally wall to wall with small shops selling computers, printers, monitors and everything computer related, more so toward the NTMK end of the drag. iCenter 142A Vo Thi Sau, D3 Tel: 3820 3918 Professional, polished Apple retailer and repair centre with an attractive showroom featuring some of the latest in accessories and audio. English-speakers on staff. Honours Apple service plans. Future World 240 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, D3 Authorized reseller of Apple computers and products, as well as some off-brand items like headphones. Excellent service and English-speaking staff. Accepts credit cards. Phong Vu Computer 264C Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, D1 Tel: 3933 0762 www.vitinhphongvu.com The biggest and busiest of the PC stores in town. Known for good, efficient service, in-house maintenance and aftersales repair on the second floor. SYS Vi Tinh Saigon 96C Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, D1 www.vtsaigon.com A superb place with an excellent reputation for after-sales service with competent English speaking staff and a wide range of products and services. Freeware and shareware also available on the store website.
CONSULTING
Concetti 33 Dinh Tien Hoang, D1 Tel: 3911 1480 www.concetti-vn.com Consulting and research company for technology transfer and investment. Embers Asia Ltd. 4th floor, 04 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, D1 Tel: 3822 4728 www.embers-asia.com As the first team building provider established in Vietnam, Embers specializes in making teams better in globally competitive markets. Embers’ HR performance management services include: team building excursions, strategic planning retreats, conference facilitations and training workshops. Ernst & Young Saigon Riverside Office Center, 2A-4A Ton Duc Thang, D1 Tel: 3824 5252 www.ey.com Professional service firm specializing in advisory, assurance, tax, transactions and strategic growth markets.
Le Duc 5B Huynh Tinh Cua, D3 A shop for all your professional accessory needs. From lighting equipment to tripods and reflectors, the shop offers the best equipment and service in HCM City.
Grant Thornton Saigon Trade Centre, 37 Ton Duc Thang, D1 Tel: 3910 9100 www.gt.com.vn International business advisors specializing in auditing, management consulting, corporate finance, risk management and information technology.
Pham The 11 Le Cong Kieu, D1 An authorized service centre for Nikon camera that also specializes in repairing all camera makes. Measurement equipment and spare parts also available.
IF Consulting IBC Building, 3rd Floor 1A Me Linh Square, D1 4th Floor, 5 Ba Trieu Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi