Gordon Pape and Franklin Templeton!

In the Insurance and  Investment Journal  (Sept 2010) that is provided to advisors Gordon Pape  comments on  the 10 year Franklin Templeton mutual fund record.  His comments are on the mark but I find them to be too little and perhaps too late.  Also too mild.

He points out that ” The Templeton Growth Fund has a  10 year annual loss of  1.5%.    The Templeton International Fund has a losing record for both  5 and 10 years.  Investors’ patience may be wearing thin.”     I would add that some  investors  have, in fact,  no patience and much less capital.

That is a 10 year period.  Those two  are their marquee  funds.  There are other Templeton funds that also have poor long-term records.  And 10 years by any definition is  long-term.  It may not be long enough but it certainly was considered long-term.  There was a time when Templeton made the assertion that you could look at any of their funds and for any 5 year period there were always positive gains.  Not any more.   And not for a long time.

How would you like to be sitting in front of your advisor and your advisor says ” I would be happy to invest your $100,000  and for the next 10 year period you will or might have less than $100,000.  Would you like to get started?”   What would you do? 

From Templeton I have not heard any of the reasons why they have had such a poor performance.  They cannot  camouflage it  with their usual upbeat annual meeting where  a number of their  managers on the Roy Thompson Hall stage talk about the opportunities for the future knowing and or forgetting  that many of their investors have less capital to invest.  Either with Templeton or any other company.

Pay Your Travel Agent

I commented on this earlier and said that I would have more to say later on.  It is a lot later and I will  make just a few points.

If you want to take hours and hours to make your own travel arrangements and  you think you are saving money then go ahead and continue.  I am not here to change your mind.  If you are not getting service from your existing travel agent or one that you might have a tenuous relationship with then fire the agent.

Can you do the following for yourself?

• Spend hours making connections between airlines and cities  and thinking you got the best possible price?
• And if you got what you think is the best possible price is it the best VALUE?   If you go cheap you get cheap –  and the consequences that come with it.
• On your travel arrangements if you miss a connection for whatever reason and have to  pay up for a new fare are you going to be able to be reimbursed for your initial fare?  It may be your fault or it may be the carriers fault.  In any event it is a hassle to get your money back.
• Get the right kind of medical and travel insurance?   If you are inconvenienced by a volcanic eruption or become sick in another country and communication breaks down who are you going to turn to for further assistance?
• Get upgrades on flights and accommodation?
• Have an agent back home with the full support of their agency provide you with assistance to resolve your travel  problems?
• Protect yourself  in the event of an agency bankruptcy?
• Have an agent that you can call and email both at their office and at their home?
• Know the limitations on baggage weights and fees?
• Know what you need to or should know about any cancellation fees?

If you find comfort in having someone else do this for you have you thought about  what is it worth to you?

I know a travel agent that spent 30 hours arranging travel for a couple and made $150 maximum for the work. 

Would you do that in your line of work?

Black: American Apocalypse – What Happens to Canada?

Conrad Black is  looking with dismay and amazement at what has happened to the Presidency of the U.S and it is now clear that what he sees marks the end of a golden age of the U.S presidency.  In a column in the National Post August 28th  2010 titled AMERICAN APOCALYPSE  he makes the following points.

• They are in a shockingly deteriorated condition
• They are debt ridden
• Their education system is uncompetitive
• Their immigration policy is a shambles
• They have unsupportable health care costs
• The presidency has almost no credibility
• Foreign policy has foundered
• Economic policy is a failure
• There are grievous failures in honesty of government
• There are failures in the integrity of the justice system
• The nation is a white-collar fool’s paradise, where lawyers bill $1 trillion a year
• Manufacturing has departed
• Too few people are actually doing anything useful
• There is no savings, little investment and instant gratification on borrowed money.

What effect will this have on Canada?