Managed Funds How enept is this?

As part of my analysis of funds I went to the major fund managers and downloaded their distribution information and unit prices for the last few years. CFS, Vanguard, Navra, Platinum all either had the information readily available on their website or emailed in within a few days. Excellent, just what you’d expect from a professional fund manager looking for investors.

That was until I tried to source data from Australian Unity. There was nothing available on their website so I emailed and asked specifically for unit price history and distribution history for a specified period. This was on the 18th January. I tried ringing several times but the wait on their phone system was just ridiculous so I just gave up. Finally on the 9th February (3 weeks later) I got an email from one of their people with a PDS. When I explained again that what I requested was their history of unit prices I got what could only be described as a snotty reply saying quote “you did not specify what you needed in your email. Please be more specific next time”. To which I promptly sent back a copy of my original email with a “how more specific do you want!” reply.

I was so incensed by this ineptness that I wrote a letter of complain that day. Two weeks later I got a letter saying they had received my complaint and were working on it. Today I got a phone call asking if they could email me the information I requested. That is almost 7 weeks later! Begs the question that if that is how they handle there investor relations before you invest, how bad are they going to be after you invest.

Their property fund might be a good performer but I think I’ll give it a miss!

 

Hi Islandgirl,

That is extremely poor service. It's not only bad business, but just plain rude. I can understand you wanting to give them a wide berth.

I bet you feel better getting that off your chest!

Cheers,

Steve P

 

Sure makes you think twice about investing with them...

 

a little off topic...

but what fund details were you chasing???

i want to get a copy of the aust shared growth for the last few weeks, hopefully i wont have to wait 6 weeks....

 

I've got some money in the Property Securities Growth fund, I add money monthly. They will not send a statement to me monthly (telling me the unit price etc for my most recent investment) nor can I see the information for myself online (I'd be happy with either).

They were charging me entry fees at the start although I go through a discount broker, I rang up and they said they would look into it. Nothing happened, a month later I e-mailed my discount broker who had all the charges reversed and put into extra units within 3 days.

Now they don't even send statements at all, I had to e-mail and request them.

 

Why don't you just create a "watchlist" in investsmart.com or directaccess.com - it costs nothing, and the figures are updated at least daily. I track several funds just as a hypothetical via this method, but if the money was real, the results would be the same except I would probably be happier

Andrew.

 

I've got one, but for me to add the units into it I need the unit prices, there is no online data to tell me what price my units were purchased for.

 

I guess it just shows what happens when their core business isn't investment products. I think they specialise in more insurance than anything.

 

When you go to your watchlist, if you click on the actual fund itself it expands to provide a heap of data. There, they list the entry and exit unit prices. I am not sure how up to date these are, but I am guessing these are daily, as my profit/loss sheet alters daily.... try this.

Andrew.

 

I recently purchased some units in their property securities growth fund (it did worse than my units in Colonial Property Securities over the recent market dip).
I agree that their investor services leave a bit to be desired (unit prices update sporadically on their website, no online login facility - although they said they were hoping to have one online later this year).
However as far as working out what you purchased the units for just ring them up and ask them to email you a statement - I did this and got my statement emailed immediately.

 

I also have some Australian Unity funds and was seeking unit price history. They were not able to provide historical data without me sending an email requesting it. The person I was speaking to suggested Commsec. I had no luck finding anything useful on there, but etrade has the ability to look up that data.

Hope this helps.

https://invest.etrade.com.au/QuotesAndResearch/ManagedFunds/Default.aspx?dynpnl=01

 

While not directly relevant - Vanguard's website and customer service are nothing short of excellent. No hold times and very helpful. I would have no problem dealing with them again. (I sold out to buy land!)

 

I agreed. Vanguard was prompt and polite and their site is easy to read and navigate. Platinum and CFS are the same.