A.I.M. Users Bulletin Board

[ls7550]

Tom RE Memory Lane

http://web.archive.org/web/20060114090034/http://www.aim-users.com/etfunds.htm

Randomly selected from http://web.archive.org/web/20060415000000*/http://aim-users.com

IIRC your figures excluded cash interest/dividends? And often cash earns more than dividends (your AIM charts differ to mine in that my cash values show progressively upward slopes whilst yours are generally flat-lines).

I still hold CHY to this day by your lead. I know you moved out of that due to its return of capital and high fees - but the rewards have continued to be good enough to more than compensate.

An extract from that web page is most informative/instructive IMO :

As the core of the Individual Retirement Account (IRA) I purchased a long term bond fund. While technically an Exchange Traded Fund it is further distinguished to be a "Closed End Fund." I've used this same bond fund for years as an income producer and feel it is a solid foundation to the IRA. I allocated 40% of total available assets to this part of the account. It was further divided into its AIM Equity and Cash Reserve portions.

I then chose as business sectors Biotechnology (IBB), Consumer Cyclical (IYC), U.S. Energy (IYE), U.S. Financial Service (IYG), U.S. Health Care (IYH), and finally U.S. Technology (IYW). Each of these components received 10% of the grand total available. Again, the amounts were further subdivided into AIM's Equity and Cash Reserve components.

I used my I-Wave to determine what amount should be allocated to the equity and cash sides for all the ETFs. At the starting date the IW was suggesting just 23% Cash Reserve, so 77% was invested. Please check the current I-Wave before starting your own ETF accounts.

By having each sector follow its own lead, AIM then can be proactive with each. If Energy is UP, AIM can sell some of it. If Consumer Cyclicals are DOWN, AIM can be purchasing some of it. This is the strength of a portfolio made up of various AIM Sector funds. In a diversified mutual fund, AIM gets conflicting information. If Energy is UP and Cyclicals are DOWN, AIM might say to do nothing. By separating out these components of a diversified mutual fund AIM can act on your behalf with each.