north shore news BUSINESS Mutual fund best bets shared lan Noble News Reporter jan@nsnews.com IN recent years, the number of funds and fund companies has taken off. Facing a glut of choices, average investors have reasen io teel the whole subject is over their head Bur financial authors Riley Movnes and Michael Nairne think they have come up with a way to help consumers see through their dilemma. Nairne and Moynes, who spoke in North Vancouv § have released Top Funds — A Winning Approach to Building Your Mutual Fund Portfolio 98. The book highlights and details what Nairne and Moynes believe are the best finds of the 1,400 available in Canada. With RRSP season approaching and consumers’ confusion set to reach dizzy heights, Moynes said his book can save investors time. - Moynes added the book can help people winnow away more than 1,000 mutual finds that he says aren’t worth talk- ing about and focus on 100 that “make sense.” Says Moynes of many of today" 's funds: “Frankly a lot of them are, dogs and people shouldn't be wasting time with them.” There are also a lot of mutual fund books our there. The strength of Top Fras is its focus on what the authors cons ers the best fund: provides easy: information on “how often the fund outperformed RRSPs, lost money and has been in the top 50% of performers in its category to help readers deter- mine a fund's risk. The 296-page book also provides information on management expense ratios and what Moynes and Nairne call complementary funds and similar funds. Complementary finds help offset the risk of the highlighted fund, said Movnes. “ft would be a ttind that would realiy be quite different,” he said. “ht would be the Yin and the Yang if} can pur it that wav. Things thar would fit together and that would protect on the downside.” Top Funds also pro- vides the obligatory introduction to mutual funds that includes what they are, the choices available and the sales charges and other fees incurred when buying funds. There’s even a small sec- tion on top fund managers. Summarized Moynes: “We're look- ing for consistency of performance. ng for downside risk —~ we want it to lose a ton if we can avoid it — and we're looking for long- term management.” The book also provides point-form information on all the funds, but other books cover that area better. If vou want information on funds you have that don’t make the Jop Funds, this book is not the place to took. When speaking in North Vancouver, Movnes focused on a number of well- worn topics that money managers say have stood the test of time. He talked about the importance of a balanced, diversified porttalio. He also discussed tax reduction. “Canadians complain about how much tax we pay and yet when it comes to the simplest and the most straight forward things like the RRSP, we haven’t near! eneributed as much as we Cou He said most people don’t have enough equity (stocks) in their portfo- fio to get them where they want to be, Interest rates have fallen and are likely to stay fairly low, he added. “People really need to be looking at and including some good solid Canadian companies and international companies in their portfolios,” Moynes said. Family support builds SUPPORT for a Cranwill fami fundraiser to be held at Lynn Valley’s Jazzy’s Consignment store is~- continuing to build with at least two food retailers on board. Save-On-Foods and IGA have both donated food items for a barbecue to be held at 1501 Lynn Valley Rd. on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. Proceeds from the barbccuc as well as the store's sales will be donated to the Cranwills, who have encountered severe Rnancial hardship as the result of a medical malpractice suit (Jan. 14 News story). Call Jazzy’s owner Leanne Ferguson at the store at 904-0688. ~~ Robert Galster Act now on RRSP to beat deadline rush ARE you ready to RRSP? The regis- tered retirement savings plan season is upon us once again. And more than 17 million Canadian taxpayers are entitled to contribute $203 bil- lion (yes, billion) to their RRSPs. That’s up 14% from a year carlicr. Deadline for contributing to an RRSP for the 1997 tax year will be March 2, because the usual March 1 deadline falls on a Sunday. But you should start thinking about an RRSP now, while financial advisers have more time to help you. You deduct your RRSP contribution so you will pay less tax for 1997, and the moncy in your plan can grow tax-free. You won't find many other investment programs that give you such a good deal. Contribure to a spousal RRSP if the spouse will be in a lower tax bracket when the money comes out, contributor gets the tax break now, spouse payss less tax than the contribu- tor in the future. Will GICs and perhaps strip bonds (arrange staggered matu- rity dates) produce enough moncy for you in the future? If not, learn hew to choose, manage and tolerate the risks of mortgages, mutual funds, individual stocks and other securities — including tho: with an international “flavor” — which have the potential to do better than fixed-income instru- ments. If you need time to decide or want to sce The all new ‘98 ISU2U Rodeo|| ‘'98 Rodeo S$ 5 speed, V6. 205 HP air conditioning, roof rack & much more. “bused on $2500 down, 3 mio.. TP $15,064, plus taxes & security deposit _ ywiw'noreyautogroup.com * . what lies ahead for both interest rates and the stock market, leave vour RRSP contibution ina high-rate savings account: or perhaps a money market fund untl you make up your mind. But, you say, you have no money for an RRSP, especially if you have a large catchup contri- bation carried forward from the last few years. Then consider borrowing enough so your contribution will drop your taxable income just below $30,000 (into the lowest tax bracket) — provided you will be able :o repay the loan within a year. Try to make your maximum contribution. You never know when Orrawa will change the rules — perhaps cutting back the unused Haekee Benches Wall: e uphe ar fs Beds “Desks “Ty and. Stereo: Units : can carry forward, or changing the amount you ction to a credit waich could cut present ded tax savinus. Ask the retirement income specialist at your financial instirution to run a computer projec- tion to show how much income you can expect to retire on (ideally in today’s dollars), based on what you have saved so and plan to save en now and retireme consider 2 self-directed RRSP to make it easier (and cheaper) to switch from one RRSP investment to another. Mike Grenby is a coluninist and independent financial adviser who works with individuals; he'll answer questions in: this column as space allows bus cannot reply personally - contact him at 2444 Haywood Avenur, West Vanconver, B.C. V7V IYI; email Marenby@aol.com