$50 ING Orange Key

Just a quick reminder that if you open any ING Direct account before December 31st 2012 with the Orange Key promo 40014077S1, you get $50.

From January 1st 2012 and going forward, the bonus reverts to the standard $25.

You get this bonus when you open any of these accounts:

• THRiVE chequing
• Investment Savings Account (this currently pays 1.35%, so it's a nice earner)
• RSP Investment Savings Account (again paying 1.35%)
• TFSA (currently paying 1.4%)
• Any business accounts
• Any Streetwise Mutual Fund (which I currently invest in)

I've banked with ING Canada for some time now. Their telephone CSRs are always polite, helpful and cheery.

So go to http://www.ingdirect.ca/referafriend/ to open your account, and enter the Orange Key 40014077S1 when required!

Streetwise Mutual Funds 2012 - Yearly Review

It's about time for my yearly review of ING Direct's Streetwise mutual funds. So after the stock market turbulence of 2007 to 2009, the last three years has seen fairly steady gains. The ING Streetwise funds suffered in 2008 with large falls, but their recent performance is a source of hope.

Here's the most recent 2012 performance figures for the Streetwise Balanced Income, Balanced Portfolio and Balanced Growth Portfolio (taken direct from ING Direct Canda's website).

All funds have seen healthy gains over the year to date, with the Balanced Growth Portfolio clocking in at just over 12%.

Of course, the Streetwise funds were launched during the market turbulence of 2008, so the growth since launch has been rather anemic, to say the least. However, since I dollar-cost average into the Balanced Growth fund every month since launch, I managed to buy some initial units at a cheap price, so I'm looking at a larger gain.

Here are one-year performance benchmarks for the Streetwise Funds.

The Sharpe Ratio for the Streetwise Balanced Income fund over the last year is a healthy 2.33 (respectable in anyone's eyes). The Sharpe Ratios for the other two funds are lower at just over one (still not bad). However, the modestly good Sharpe Ratios masks rather poor mean annual returns for all three funds.

The alpha for all three funds are negative, indicating that they have under-performed their benchmark. The beta for the three funds are around 0.9 - 1. This indicates that their volatility matches that of their benchmark, or is slightly lower.

I'm not overly impressed by the performance figures. But I'm a buy-and-hold kind of guy. I'll maintain my monthly investment plan inside a TFSA in the Streetwise Balanced Growth fund.

ING Direct Canada still have a referral reward system. If you use the Orange Key 40014077S1 when you open any account (with an initial $100 deposit by cheque), you'll get a $25 bonus (or $50 before the end of 2012).

You'll also get your own Orange Key so you can get your own referrals! Magic!

ING Orange Key: 40014077S1

Here's a fresh ING Orange Key, hot off the presses: 40014077S1

From now until the 31st December 2012, any savvy savers who open any ING Direct Canada account with this code (with an initial deposit of $100) will be rewarded with a $50 bonus.

The bonus falls to $25 in January 2013, so you'd better open your account now.

Musings on the Streetwise Mutual Funds

Well, I haven't updated this blog in a long time, so I thought it was time I made an effort.  Many, many people have submitted their ING Orange Keys so they can get referrals; I encourage all new ING Savers to do the same.

The ING Orange Key program is still going strong, with many new savers earning their two thousand dollars in referral fees.

I've previously given my thumbs up to the Streetwise mutual funds. I think, now, I have to adjust my previous enthusiasm.  The Streetwise funds have really not performed well since their inception.  Consider this performance chart for the Streetwise Mutual Funds, complete to December 2011

Since launch, the Balanced Income fund has gained around seven percent in value.  The Balanced and Balanced Growth funds, however, have lost value

Of course, we've had a great deal of financial turmoil in the world's stock markets so I'm sure ING aren't totally to blame.

I've invested in the Balanced fund. I would have got a better return had I invested in the TFSA Savings Account instead.  These are, of course, still eligible for the ING Orange Key referral scheme.

Remember to post your Orange Key in the comments!