The process of finding a fund, unit trust or ETF to invest in is complicated due to the number of things a person has to consider. However, one thing that most people look at is the performance of a fund over time. It's really important to note that historical performance is absolutely not an indication of future performance but it certainly gives us an idea of how things have been going. I cannot stress this enough, just because a fund has done really well certainly doesn't mean it will continue to - don't fall for this, please.
Let me paint a scenario for you:
I want to find 10 different funds to look into to assist me with making a decision. I Google them, find their webpages, download their fact sheets, open them up and look at performance, I look at the fees and so the list goes on. That's a great deal of work, imagine you wanted to find a few funds per sector to investigate, you're looking at hours of work.
All of this time could be used for other things and should be in my opinion. That's why I set out to create a tool of sorts that would assist with this. IFIII (If I Invested In) was my solution to being able to get some facts about fund performance really quickly. It took a long time to build but it's been incredibly useful and has saved me a huge amount of time. Let's dive into it a bit:
IFIII allows you to quickly and easily see how your money would have performed had you have invested in a fund 1, 3 or 5 years ago. You enter your numbers, choose the fund and click a button, that's it. You'll be given the answer within seconds.
Let's have a quick look:
Here's an example:
Once you've entered all the required information, you can click the big blue calculate button and the app will show you how much you would have made had you made an initial deposit of R1,000 and then put R500 per month into the Satrix S&P 500 fund for 5 years without a financial advisor and having increased your R500 monthly deposit by 6% each year:
As you can see, you'd have R39,052.59 in total and of that, R4,230.03 would have been your profit. Please note that the profit is subject to capital gains tax should you sell the ETF and realise those profits in your bank account.
Another cool feature is that you may also use the Compare feature, which allows you to now compare this fund to another one, here's an example below of two Top 40 funds:
And upon comparing them, the results are as follows:
As you can see, if you made this investment with Satrix, you would have earned more than if you invested with Sygnia.
All in all, this app will save you a great deal of time and jumpstart your process of research. Quickly grab the historical data, compare some funds and get an idea of what's what. From there, the app allows you to click through to the various funds where you can download factsheets and the likes to make your final decision.
We keep the app updated with the latest 1, 3 and 5 year performance metrics as well as the fees that the various brokers charge. We add new funds on a regular basis, if you have a fund you want to be added, please reach out and request it, we'll happily add it.
DISCLAIMER
This website is not endorsed by any financial institution and is designed to provide a useful tool to help you compare the historical performance of the listed funds. It is not intended to replace any financial advice from a qualified professional, nor is it intended to replace or change your financial strategy. This tool assists you in quickly looking at funds or making comparisons but please double-check everything before making a decision. Please exercise caution when using the results and always consult a financial advisor before making any financial decision. Please note that these returns are for the past period and are not any indication of how any fund could or will perform in the future.