Would this be considered an aggressive portfolio

[Red]

I unexpectedly received some money about 7 years ago and have had it invested with a planner. I have no complaints against my planner but I am looking for some opinions on what I have. There are no specific plans for the investment and I would be looking at a time horizon of 10+ years. These funds are specifically excluded from any of my retirement planning.

I consider my risk tolerance to be somewhat higher than moderate but certainly not at the aggessive level.

Here's what I have
25% in Harbour Growth & Income
25% in Dynamic Blue Chip
20% in MacKenzie Cundill Value Fd
10% in Sprott Cdn Equity
20% in Templeton Global Smaller Cap

[Spidey]

I would consider it somewhat aggressive considering you almost entirely in equities with no fixed income. Also this is a fairly high cost portfolio with an average MER of over 2.5%.

But IMO, not bad choices as far as mutual funds go. However, you could come up with a reasonable facsimile, with much lower costs by using ETFs.

[doctrine]

Have you made any money in 7 years? If not it might be time to move on. The TSX averaged 10,000 in 2005 so you would have made 15-20% in capital gains and 15% in dividends if you owned a TSX index fund.

[larry81]

Seem you are diversified in... mutual fund companies !

[Red]

It has been a rollercoaster ride. Highs & then lows, 2008 was a deep pit to dig out of.

doctine - made not much more than if I had left in a GIA

larry81 - the planner I use likes to use mutual finds, I know that they get paid commissions & fees from the funds. I have no problem with them getting paid but I would also like to be profitting as well.

[andrewf]

That sounds like a deworseified portfolio. High fee, low diversification in underlying assets.

[indexxx]

larry81 - the planner I use likes to use mutual finds, I know that they get paid commissions & fees from the funds. I have no problem with them getting paid but I would also like to be profitting as well.

You might be interested in just how much those seemingly small fees will kill your returns in the long term. 2-3% may not seem like much, but check this out:

http://dividendgrowth.ca/pages/old_s..._dec98.htm.htm

and this calculator- first run a set of numbers at say, $40,000 invested at 8% return for 30 years, then do it for 5.75% assuming 2.25% MER fees:

http://www.moneychimp.com/calculator...calculator.htm

shocking...

[larry81]

Nothing speak better than graph:

[Financial Cents]

Nice work Larry81. The graphs are great, I mean, scary

[Red]

Larry81 - I agree scary graphs but great snapshot of the effect of time on different MER or any other rate differnece.

The funds I am in are actively traded funds(?) and I am not sure if that gives good value for the cost. Is index ETF the only way to get close to MER of 0.17% and can you even find such a low MER in Canada?

I have TDW account, is the ETF screener an effective way to search for available products once you have decided on your asset allocation?