# Saving to buy Mawer Balanced MAW104 in RRSP



## DividendNiche (Mar 11, 2016)

Hi all,

I've been browsing the forum for a few days now with great interest. I'm new to the forum and though I would get some of your opinions on how best to realize one of my goals for my RRSP.

I'm a young 30s professional and have been investing since 2007. I used the Home buyer's plan to withdraw money from my RRSP and put it towards a home in 2013 and completely wiped out my RRSP. I'm now slowly building it back up again and I would really welcome some advice on the following plan.

I intend to purchase $5000 of Mawer Balanced MAW104 in my RRSP as a core holding. This fund appeals to me for a variety of reasons: I think it is very well diversified in terms of its equity holdings by country and sector, it has performed very well, it covers the major asset classes without too much exposure to the Canadian equities market and I agree with the Mawer investment philosophy. 

I'm now saving small amounts monthly in order to eventually purchase the minimum $5000 initial buy of MAW104. As the time horizon for this purchase is likely between 1-2 years from now, where should I be parking my monthly savings in order to accumulate the $5000? Does it make sense to invest that money in an index MF (such as RBF557 - US equity) in order to build up the savings, or would that be too risky given the relatively short time horizon?

I currently hold several equity funds (CIB520, RBF557, MMF4506) a bond fund (MDM010) and several Canadian and US dividend stocks in my RRSP.

Please let me know what you would do to save up the $5000 required.


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## Spudd (Oct 11, 2011)

I would find a balanced index fund similar to Mawer without a minimum purchase required. Save up in there, and once you have 5k, you can transfer it to Mawer. It doesn't matter if the value goes down in the meantime, because as long as the fund you take is similar in composition to Mawer, you would have lost similar money in Mawer. You can just transfer and all will be as if you'd done Mawer from the start.


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

ummn, do you suppose one might inquire how you are living in russia while actively managing a canada-based RRSP ... the answer is sure to be an exotic story ...

but a critique here. I believe the RRSP is a bit cluttered with holdings. You've mentioned you wiped it out in 2013 to buy a house, you've mentioned it takes you 1-2 years to save $5000 as an RRSP contribution. Therefore one assumes that this account is currently still fairly small. Not above the 5-figure range.

some of those funds must hold overlapping securities? "several equity funds" plus "a bond fun" - would it not be duplication to add Mawer balanced to the brew?

what i'm getting at is that Mawer balanced could possibly replace one of those equity funds along with the bond fund. How have they all performed, has Mawer done as well or possibly better over the past 5 years?

if you could see your way to replacing some of your present holdings, the funds freed up from those sales plus a smallish new contribution would give you the minimum Mawer $5000 in no time flat.

your holdings are in a registered account so disposal should not bring on tax consequences. It would be a good idea to check first for rear-end load fees on any fund whose sale you might be contemplating.


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## dubmac (Jan 9, 2011)

humble_pie said:


> what i'm getting at is that Mawer balanced could possibly replace one of those equity funds along with the bond fund. How have they all performed, has Mawer done as well or possibly better over the past 5 years?
> 
> if you could see your way to replacing some of your present holdings, the funds freed up from those sales plus a smallish new contribution would give you the minimum Mawer $5000 in no time flat.
> 
> your holdings are in a registered account so disposal should not bring on tax consequences. It would be a good idea to check first for rear-end load fees on any fund whose sale you might be contemplating.



I did a similar move 7 years ago in one of my RRSP accounts. I sold all of the various equity funds, and consolidated to three funds - with the bulk in MAW104 given it's composition, it has supplied some of the req'd US and Int'l sources.
No sense in having the duplication. I wanted a little more fixed income exposure, so I included a small amount of MD Bond to shore up the difference to a 38-40% bond fund component. Same with Cdn Equity - I added a small amount there too.
The result is 55% MAW104, with 25% MAW106 and 20% MDM010. so far so good. Any more contributions go to MAW104.


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## DividendNiche (Mar 11, 2016)

Spudd said:


> I would find a balanced index fund similar to Mawer without a minimum purchase required. Save up in there, and once you have 5k, you can transfer it to Mawer. It doesn't matter if the value goes down in the meantime, because as long as the fund you take is similar in composition to Mawer, you would have lost similar money in Mawer. You can just transfer and all will be as if you'd done Mawer from the start.


Hi Spudd, thank you for your reply. I looked around for a similar fund, but I'm having trouble finding something that I like. There are quite a few global neutral balanced funds out there, but many have a minimum $500 purchase and have far too much Canadian equity. I will keep looking! Cheers


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## DividendNiche (Mar 11, 2016)

humble_pie said:


> ummn, do you suppose one might inquire how you are living in russia while actively managing a canada-based RRSP ... the answer is sure to be an exotic story ...
> 
> but a critique here. I believe the RRSP is a bit cluttered with holdings. You've mentioned you wiped it out in 2013 to buy a house, you've mentioned it takes you 1-2 years to save $5000 as an RRSP contribution. Therefore one assumes that this account is currently still fairly small. Not above the 5-figure range.
> 
> ...


Hey humble_pie, thanks for your message. I am only temporarily living abroad, moving back to Canada soon!

You're correct about the holdings being very small and cluttered at the moment. My intention is to replace my current funds with the MAW104. There would certainly be no need to hold another bond fund, nor the current equity funds. 

I agree after I consolidate the funds it will be no time at all before I have enough to sell all and buy the mawer. Cheers


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## DividendNiche (Mar 11, 2016)

dubmac said:


> I did a similar move 7 years ago in one of my RRSP accounts. I sold all of the various equity funds, and consolidated to three funds - with the bulk in MAW104 given it's composition, it has supplied some of the req'd US and Int'l sources.
> No sense in having the duplication. I wanted a little more fixed income exposure, so I included a small amount of MD Bond to shore up the difference to a 38-40% bond fund component. Same with Cdn Equity - I added a small amount there too.
> The result is 55% MAW104, with 25% MAW106 and 20% MDM010. so far so good. Any more contributions go to MAW104.


Hi Dubmac, I'm really glad to hear it has worked well! After I get MAW104, I would like to look into adding exposure to US/Intl equity or even global small cap. Cheers


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

DividendNiche said:


> Hey humble_pie, thanks for your message. I am only temporarily living abroad, moving back to Canada soon!
> 
> You're correct about the holdings being very small and cluttered at the moment. My intention is to replace my current funds with the MAW104. There would certainly be no need to hold another bond fund, nor the current equity funds.
> 
> I agree after I consolidate the funds it will be no time at all before I have enough to sell all and buy the mawer. Cheers




glad to hear that canada hasn't lost a favourite son or daughter & you will be returning!

of course, after you get back, you are to give us the full monty on kremlin/putin geopolitics from your hands-on perspective .each: that's the deal, ok?

returning to your contemplated transition into Mawer, i believe that dubmac described his own move to perfection upthread. Eliminate some duplicating clutter. Acquire Mawer balanced. Top up the portf with bespoke add-ons such as extra US equity or whatever you wish. After that, you should be good to go for many more years.




dubmac said:


> I did a similar move 7 years ago in one of my RRSP accounts. I sold all of the various equity funds, and consolidated to three funds - with the bulk in MAW104 given it's composition, it has supplied some of the req'd US and Int'l sources.
> No sense in having the duplication. I wanted a little more fixed income exposure, so I included a small amount of MD Bond to shore up the difference to a 38-40% bond fund component. Same with Cdn Equity - I added a small amount there too.
> The result is 55% MAW104, with 25% MAW106 and 20% MDM010. so far so good. Any more contributions go to MAW104.


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## Johnny199r (May 20, 2014)

I own 70% MAW104 and 30% VXC etc. Early 30s in age, too.


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