Starting to Invest... (advice)

Ok, i posted something here in October last year giving an introduction and such and this is my second post, 6 months on...

Now i am 23 years old (24 in October) and from my post in October last year, nothing has changed (due to the economy and me being scared) but now i really want to get in there and have had a look at different strategies i could take.

I just moved into my new home with my wife so there were a lot of expenses there (first home so needed loads of furniture etc) which means i don't think i have enough to buy a property, especially in these times with banks needing larger deposits.

I was thinking of using the Mentor Portfolio Services (Mentor Superannuation and Investment Solutions - Guiding your Financial Future) as a platform and investing through there.

The investments i am thinking of choosing are:

• Ventura High Growth 100 | 70%

• AllStar IAM Australian Shares | 15%

• Colonial Wholesale Firststate Propery Securities | 10%

• Walter Scott Global Equities Fund | 5%

I am looking at investing $1000 with a $600/mth regular investment plan at the moment. This will be a long term sort of thing until i can save enough to maybe purchase some property (hopefully one day commercial!)

What other strategies would anyone suggest that would fit my "HIGH GROWTH" risk profile?

I have organised a pretty strict budget that i am sticking to but i have around $600 a month that i am happy to disperse aggressively but i could probably raise that to maybe $1200 if i wanted to be even more "aggressive".

Any thoughts on the strategy for the moment? Any changes YOU would make?

Hi AdelaideInvestor,

You should compare fees with a range of different investment platforms to ensure that they meet your individual needs.

Cheers,

Dan

PS This is general information. Before making an investment decision speak to your FPA registered Financial Planner.

Of the four funds mentioned, I only know the CFS Property one.

I would be a bit careful getting into listed property right now. Yes, you can buy in relatively cheap compared to 2 years ago - but there is a reason they are cheap, and I suspect there are quite a few skeletons still in the closets of some of the listed property sector (namely: overstated asset valuations still being "corrected").

Have a look at some charts - this fund is down over 75% from its highs ... and these are supposed to be conservative investments. They may sound cheap, but I'm not sure they are accurately valued - much more research required.

Performance Chart: Colonial First State Wholesale Property Securities (FSF0004AU)

I'm sure there are some good LPTs out there - I'm just not convinced that the majority of them won't struggle to show any decent return over the next few years as they unwind their mistakes of the past 5 years ... and we struggle through a deep recession.

I'm all for property being a part of a well balanced portfolio - but I think more careful research is required than just selecting a property securities fund.