ING Direct Streetwise Balanced Income Fund

I thought I'd blog about the Balanced Income Mutual Fund today. I've always veered away from bond-based funds myself, possibly for no good reason. I've always thought that you could get the same risk diversification simply by investing in savings accounts and lower-risk mutual funds. However, given recent financial events, I've been looking at them in a more favorible light. Given that I'm a satisfed ING Direct customer, I took a closer look at their bond-based mutual fund.

The Balanced Income Fund has grown by 4.75% in the 12 months ending September 30th 2010.  Not a bad return given the 1.5% I'm getting in my BMO savings account. It's a fine fund if you're risk averse, but want greater growth than the dismal returns from bank savings accounts

These are the top 25 holdings of the Streetwise Balance Income Fund.   It's largley invested in Canadian Bonds (70%) but the rest is largely equities.

Holding	Percent of Portfolio
Government of Canada	3.70%
Government of Canada	3.00%
Canada Housing Trust	2.70%
Government of Canada	2.60%
Government of Canada	2.40%
Canada Housing Trust	2.30%
Government of Canada	2.10%
Province of Ontario	1.50%
Province of Ontario	1.40%
Province of Ontario	1.30%
Cash and Cash Equivalents	1.30%
Government of Canada	1.30%
Government of Canada	1.20%
Government of Canada	1.00%
Government of Canada	1.00%
Canadian Credit Card Trust	1.00%
Government of Canada	1.00%
Canada Housing Trust	0.90%
Canada Housing Trust	0.90%
Province of Quebec	0.80%
iShares S&P 500 Index Fund	0.80%
Government of Canada	0.80%
Government of Canada	0.80%
Canada Housing Trust	0.80%
Province of Newfoundland	0.80%
TOTAL	37.40%

Geographically, the fund is invested 80% in Canada. Accordingly, you're not in danger of considerable currency fluctuation.

If you're new to ING Direct, use any of these reader-submitted Orange Keys to open an account (just enter the key at the appropriate point on the online application form). You'll get $25 (so will the owner of the Orange Key).

35372105S1

32994525S1

35386449S1

You'll also get your own Orange Key so you can get your own referalls (simply visit this site again, post it in a comment, and I'll feature it in a blog post)

ING Direct Streetwise Fund Performance 2010

It's rapidly approaching the end of 2010, so I thought I'd update my previous post on the performance of the ING Direct Streetwise mutual funds.

This chart shows the price performance of the Income, Balanced and Growth funds.

 

Along with the rest of the stock market, the funds have risen gradually during the latter part of the year.

This chart shows the fractional month-on-month change of each of the funds.

 

 

The performance isn't stellar, but I haven't lost money.  I've been buying units every month this year, and the price has gradually since July.

Since I started investing in the Streetwise Balanced fund in February, my total investment of  $4183.3 ($100 in February plus $408.33 every month after that) is now worth $4390.22. That's an increase of 4.9% - a bit better than a savings account.

By the way, if you're considering opening your first account with ING Direct, then use this reader-posted Orange Key

3068497S1 

You'll get a $25 bonus when you make an initial deposit of $100.  You'll also get your own Orange Key, so you can make your own referrals.  Every time someone opens an account with your Orange Key, both you and the account opener get $25.  

There are bonuses for every 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 people you register, and you could make as much as $2000.  

When you get your Orange Key, post it in a blog comment and I'll feature it in a new post.

Working ING Direct Orange Keys for October 2010

More ING Direct Orange Keys for Canadians who want to make money!

17465528S1
22443372S1
17289125S1 

If you want your Orange Key posted, simply enter it into comments box and I'll feature it in a blog post!

More ING Direct Orange Keys for October 2010

 Use any of these Orange Keys to get your free $25 from ING Direct Canada.

35292765S1

35305534S1

You'll also get your own Orange Key so you can get your own referrals. When you do, come back here and post it in a comments box - I'll feature it in a new blog post. 

If you've just browsed here, looking for a place to post your Orange Key, leave it in a comment, and I'll publish it. Happy Thanksgiving!

Fresh ING Direct Orange Keys for 2010

Two readers have given me their Orange Keys

35328883S1

17355816S1

Use either to get your $25 bonus, and your own Orange Key! Once you have your own Orange Key, leave it in a comment, and I will put them in a new blog post.

Go ahead and make $2000!

Post your ING Direct Orange Key here and gain referrals!

I started this blog earlier this year hoping to gain referalls for my ING Direct Canada Orange Key.  Well, I succesfully gained my 50 referrals, and made $2000 in the processes.

I still have people using my Orange Key to open their ING TFSA's, savings accounts, RSPs and mutual fund accounts and get their $25 bonus.  As of today, over 160 people have used my Orange Key to gain their $25 bonus, but because of the limits ING have placed, I personally don't get any more bonuses.

This site gets over 40 hits a day from people looking for a Orange Key.  That's over forty people keen to find a working ING Direct Orange Key, so they can open accounts and get their bonus of $25 (and in turn get their own ING Direct Orange Key).

I now want to hand this site over to the community. Post your ING DIRECT ORANGE KEY in the comments box in this post. Every couple of days, I will create a new post featuring the Orange Keys posted most recently. Those Orange Keys will get the referral bonuses that I am no longer eligible for.

So post your ING Direct Orange Key in the comments box, and start getting those referrals! If you do get a bonus from an Orange Key you've found on this website, then encourage your friends to visit, and perhaps even post a link on your blog.