In reply to Voigtstr - What do you mean by "wiped out" - On this forum I have seen people post about gearing into - a geared fund, or using LOE to fund shares then margin loan - all Im saying is its quite easy to lose your entire captial - with a 10-15% market drop - thats magnified.
Yes you can make money long term - but there will be huge volatility
Many wouldnt be able to stomach a 40% drop - and end up selling - Yes its not logical but the longer you invest the more you realise about emotions and how it affects your investing.

The comment was not directed at CFS specifically, just that internal gearing magnifies risk and people should not be just looking at 36% return or whatever it was - as the market did 28% (or whatever it was) and if you geared you would have achieved the same or better result

Id rather a diversified portfolio conservatively geared with less volatility - to achieve the same result - or actually a better result once you take into account emotional factors - someone selling as it drops - hoping it will drop lower so that they can pick it up at an even lower price

Again it depends on your risk tolerence - i thought Id be able to hang on long term, and ride things out - but my track record has said no.