Ah Here… a.k.a. closet trackers (about to be) exposed

There appears to be a lot of expressions that are unique to the Irish (or maybe it’s the same with every race and I am suffering from Familiarity Bias). If you want to read more about the biases to which we are all prone please click here .
I am referring to phrases such as Awful good.

My online dictionary defines awful as very… unpleasant, disgusting, nasty, terrible, dreadful, ghastly, horrid, horrible, vile, foul, abominable, appalling, atrocious, horrendous, hideous, offensive, objectionable, obnoxious, frightful, loathsome, revolting, repulsive, repellent, repugnant, odious, sickening, nauseating, nauseous

All negative to say the least; yet, in Ireland awful can mean very as in “the weather was awful good”. It makes no literal sense but we all get it.

Another such expression might be I will yeah when you have no intention of doing what you just “agreed” to do.

Every so often a younger member of the extended family asks me to explain a saying or expression that I know very well or one that I use every so often. A surprising number of times, I struggle to articulate a meaning that I know very well… I’m not sure if Ah Here fits into this category but hopefully you “get it” as a response.

Some examples may help:

• When the Tipperary goal by Jake Morris was disallowed in the Wexford game, the mild response of the many options available to us Tipp fans was Ah Here.

• Later that evening we got a definite Ah Here moment, when a member of the Sunday Game panel blamed ‘last remnants of British culture‘ for critics not accepting game of hurling has moved on. If you haven’t seen it, or don’t believe me, it even made the papers and here’s the link

• At a recent wedding where I was lucky enough to sit at the top table, we all knew what the Best Man meant when he muttered a very audible “Ah Here” as the enthusiastic groom moved onto page 7 of a 45-minute speech. It was a great day so I’m not naming and shaming!

My financial Ah Here moment of the summer (so far) came about with the probe by the Irish Regulator into closet tracker funds.

Closet trackers refer to high-fee funds that are marketed as actively managed but which actually closely follow underlying (passive) benchmarks.

Of course, our evidence-based conviction is that you are better off selecting a passive fund from the outset for reasons of long-term performance and control of fees. That said, we also believe that people who are paying extra fees to get an actively managed fund should get one, not a fund that merely hugs benchmarks and is effectively a passive fund.

These points are technical but can have a massive impact on your returns – and your life – over time. You can read more on the topic by clicking through to this Financial Times article

An antidote to this Financial Ah Here event.

As converts to our life centred financial planning approach will know, it is far better to start with your needs, goals, dreams, desires and so on well before you think about picking investments.

The Metis Life Plan will help you to test scenarios and establish the return you need from your portfolio – be it property, investment or pension – to live the life you want to live in the short medium and long-term.

We then build a passive portfolio to give you the best chance possible of getting that return. Really simple and proven principles to ensure your success – I’m thinking of calling it the Shur it’ll be grand approach… any thoughts?

Disclaimer

Metis Ireland Financial Planning Ltd t/a Metis Ireland is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

All content provided in these blog posts is intended for information purposes only and should not be interpreted as financial advice. You should always engage the services of a fully qualified independent financial adviser before entering any financial contract. Metis Ireland Financial Planning Ltd t/a Metis Ireland will not be held responsible for any actions taken as a result of reading these blog posts.