One time High-Flier Going Nowhere

Advantages: Rock solid company managing the fund.
Disadvantages: Abysmal growth record. Fund too large.

...I bought into M&G Recovery in 1988. It was my first ever Unit Trust. Boy was I impressed with the past performance. £1000 would have grown to £69000 in the previous 25 years. I was so impressed that I started a unit trust savings scheme and kept it going for 12 years. The fund performed well in the early years but the growth was nearer to linear than exponential. This meant that each years growth was a smaller percentage than the previous year. In 1998 it suffered serious losses when world markets crashed due to the problems in the far east. It took over a year to recover its original price (much longer than the vast majority of funds) and has gone nowhere since. I sold out in January this year, just after it recovered its 1998 value. Having held it for 12 years, I didn't do too badly, but its performance over the last five...

petehall 20.09.2000 · Read review
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Review of M&G Recovery Fund

A fund for the long term.

Advantages: tracks ftse uk index,low charges, spread risk , can be ISA'd
Disadvantages: covers all sectors, can miss out on sector over performance

...If you have read the weekend business sections of the papers you maybe forgiven for thinking every fund manager is after your hard earned cash. Your right, although ISA investment inflows have increased this year with the boyant markets, they are still well down on previous years, and with 4 (well nearly 3) days to go until the 2005/06 tax year end , they want your money. There is a vast and somewhat confusing array of funds available, each perporting to be the best investment choice. But take a closer look when choosing the fund for you. One very important thing to check is how much are they charging for investing your money? If you are not careful you could end up paying anything up 7 or 8% what with initial charges, management fees, bid/offer spread. So your fund would have to make 10% to make any investment worthwhile. So...

getscenic 02.04.2006 · Read review
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Review of Fidelity Moneybuilder Index Fund

Dermalogica MultiVitamin Power Recovery Masque

Advantages: Easy to use, leaves skin soft, supple and revitilised
Disadvantages: Hard to remove, expensive

...~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Why I brought the product ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My skin has recently been really suffering from the cold weather, harsh environment and central heating and I felt like nothing was really helping it. It was looking dull, tired and just overloaded. I had heard many good things about Dermalogica's Multivitamin Power Recovery Mask, especially in magazines - it was the product all the writers and celebrities raved about, I had always been curious. When I was talking to another Beauty Therapist who currently works with Dermalogica products at the salon she works at, I asked her about this product and she said although she wasn't too keen on other Dermalogica products as she didn't find them strong enough she used this one as her 'hangover cure' and loved it, it is one Dermalogica product she said she couldn't live...

lilyellowfish 04.01.2008 · Read review
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Review of Dermalogica MultiVitamin Power Recovery Masque

A real dog fund

Advantages: May recover in the long term
Disadvantages: Perpetual has been taken over by Invesco

...I must admit I had never heard of Perpetual 5 years ago. It was my independent financial adviser who brainwashed me in thinking Perpetual was the best thing since sliced bread. The literature from Perpetual is quite mind-blowing. An entire page devoted to the awards and prizes received by the company in the preceding 5 years. The rest of the literature was marketed superbly. You got the feeling that if you did not purchase a Perpetual fund you were missing out on something big. Anyway I put £500 in the Perpetual Asian Smaller Markets fund. I had read an article in the Financial Times that the Tiger economies in Southeast Asia were ready to take off and investors should not miss out. Well two months later the Tiger economies had a massive market crash. Soon my £500 was worth £256. It was great timing on my part. Instead of selling...

mrpaella 08.12.2000 (17.01.2001) · Read review
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Review of Perpetual Asian Smaller Markets Fund

Fund Manager on the Move?

Advantages: Superb historic performance.
Disadvantages: Potential change of manager. Volatile sector.

...I have recently heard that the manager of this fund, Tim Woolley, is leaving to set up his own fund management company. I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information but I am aware that when something of this nature happens, it can have serious repercussions on performance. The Henderson Global Technology fund has enjoyed amazing success over an extended period, and much of this has to be down to the fund manager. The fund has achieved 530% growth in the last five years alone, without undue volatility (until this year). The fund stands at one-and-a-quarter billion pounds, which is smaller than Aberdeen Technology, which could explain why they've out-performed Aberdeen over that period. A change of fund manager is always worrying, so if you haven't invested in this fund yet but were thinking of doing, it may be worth waiting...

petehall 28.09.2000 · Read review
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Review of Henderson Global Technology Fund

A large fund investing in high yield securities

Advantages: The fund tends to outperform in flat and falling markets, high dividend yield of around 3%, good long term performance and good manager
Disadvantages: Large £2.6 billion in size makes fund less flexible, 5% initial charge, underperforms when growth stocks are fashionable

...I invested in this fund in september 1998 for my final PEP allowance before PEP's were abolished by the New Labour government. I had been tracking this fund before investing in it. At the time of investing the financial markets were in turmoil caused by the Asian financial crisis, the collapse of the large hedge fund Long Term Capital Management and currency devaluations in emerging markets. I think interest rates in the UK were also on the rise at the time. My strategy in buying this fund was to try and make a purchase close to the bottom of the UK market and get a good price. I didn't quite manage to make a purchase at the absolute bottom of the market but was close making a purchase at around 138p per unit. The fund pays a dividend yield that aims to be in excess of the yield on the FTSE All Share index. The objective of the fund...

gorvifal3 27.06.2001 · Read review
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Review of Perpetual High Income Fund

A Fund With A Prosperous Future

Advantages: Young, small and flexible. Superb but brief historic performance.
Disadvantages: Little movement in price for several months.

...Jupiter European Special Situations fund was set up less than two years ago and has already seen growth of 140%. Virtually all of that growth was made in the first year but what sets this fund apart from many others, is that it has held on to those gains through what has been one of the most volatile years for shares around the world. Even though the Euro has slipped in value by 30% or so, over the last year, the fund has maintained its value in Sterling terms. When the Euro recovers, as we are led to believe it will, this will be translated into a 30% gain. I bought into this one in January of this year and have no qualms whatsoever about holding. The fund size currently stands at about £140 million, which is miniscule for a European fund. This means it is flexible and can react much more quickly to changes in trends as there is...

petehall 29.11.2000 · Read review
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Review of Jupiter European Special Situations Fund

Miraculous Recovery

Advantages: Only takes 5 minutes to revive very dry skin.
Disadvantages: None that I've discovered so far!

...I've discovered something recently - stress doesn't just give you high blood pressure, it really messes up your skin, too! I've been in a fairly stressful situation lately and my skin has really suffered. I have (had) a tendency towards oily skin usually, but during the last few weeks my skin has become dry and flaky and decidedly unattractive. Up until last week, that is... During a trip to Boots I came across their Botanics Vitamin Recovery Mask. Seeing that it wasn't too expensive (£3.75-ish, I think) I threw a tube into my basket, thinking I'd give it a go but not holding my breath for any great results. Oh ye of little faith! I was truly amazed. I followed the instructions (apply to cleansed face, leave on for 5 minutes then wash off with warm water) and after the required 5 minutes my skin was smooth, supple and, more...

Victoria_R 30.01.2001 · Read review
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Review of Boots Botanics Vitamin Recovery Mask

Universities and Funding

Advantages: Tricky one
Disadvantages: only the well off can go

...A students cost at University at present.is around £7000, this would just about cover most things, and that is without buying clothes and things that youngsters buy. This is a really hard one to write as it is very topical and everyone as different view on it and after writing about it for 2 hours realised I had gone off at an tangent. Now in todays environment universities depend on student funding and also government funding but it is not working and many courses are underfunded. I think that Universities should be run as small businesses. There are a few things that could help:- 1) Universities be more productive and bring in a bit of money for themselves, which some do at the moment. Universities could have a branch that would promote their students and earn a fee rather like Temping Agencies. By placing a student in a job in...

BUBBLES171 12.01.2004 · Read review
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Review of How should university education be funded?

Botanics Vitamin Recovery Mask

Advantages: Smooth, soft skin
Disadvantages: Heats up and feels a little uncomfortable

...Now that I have finished work and am home pretty much all the time, I have been paying a little more attention to my poor skin. Since arriving in the UK the condition of my skin has deteriorated considerably. Whereas in Aus I had textbook oily-tzone acne-prone skin, here I have developed an excema-like reation to the hardness of the water. So my cheeks and under my chin is flaky, dry and sore, while my t-zone is still oily and occasionally spotty. Plus, when my pimples do heal up they now tend to leave a patch of dry skin. Sigh. So I have started experimenting with the Botanics range. I am slowly trying out some of the range, and so far I like what I have tried (see other reviews). Other reviewers on here have reccomended the Vitamin Recovery Mask, saying it worked well on their combo skin, so I thought I would give it a try...

leebee81 07.02.2004 · Read review
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Review of Boots Botanics Vitamin Recovery Mask