Online tracking

I have a number of units in an Eagle Star Pension Performance Fund. Is there anywhere I can follow the progress of this fund online?

Mr C.B., e-mail

As the Internet comes more into its own, with people increasingly using it to plan and track their personal finances, questions like yours are going to become more common.

At the moment, to the best of my knowledge, there is nowhere on the Internet that provides a comprehensive tracking service of Irish unit trusts and similar financial products.

There is one, called www.finfacts.ie, which provides quarterly updates on the various funds using material it sources from Moneymate.

The good news is that improvements are on the way. Software Vineyard, which produces the Moneymate product, is testing a Web version. It hopes to have the project in operation by the end of September although it may do so in two tranches. Given the sensitivity of the information, Software Vineyard is understandably keen to ensure the programme is glitch free before letting it lose on the Web. When it does get there, it will be found at www.moneymate.com. You may find project progress updates on Software Vineyard's current website at www.softvine.ie

When it arrives, the Moneymate site will offer two services - one free and the other paid for. The free service, which is likely to be online earlier in any phased introduction, will provide weekly updates on fund performance. I am told you will be able to select funds by company or category. There will also be some investment commentary and ability to build a portfolio online and track it, carry out fund profiles and link to company web sites where appropriate.

The subscription site will have daily price updates, a more extensive investment commentary and access to historical data. This will allow investors to carry out more detailed fund research and analysis online.

Until then, you are stuck with the more basic quarterly data online, as Eagle Star Ireland does not yet have its own website, although the European branch of the group does.

From your web address, I gather you are in Britain. It might be worth checking with your newsagent on a Friday as that day's paper carries a weekly list of all Irish funds in Business This Week 2 using the Moneymate information.

Discount brokers

I am an Irish citizen who has lived in New York City for 15 years. I am a trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. I have been wondering for some time whether there is such a thing as a deep discount broker firm in Dublin or anywhere else in the Republic for that matter? The only reason I ask is that I never see any advertisements when I visit home twice a year and would have thought such a service would be heavily marketed.

Mr C.O'K., e-mail

On this issue, I think your experience in the US has put you ahead of the posse in the Republic. Not only could I not find a broker of the type you describe; I couldn't find someone who had heard of the term - even among Irish Stock Exchange staff.

I am not familiar with the intricacies of the US markets, but, in general, they are more sophisticated than their Irish peers.

This is hardly surprising given the far greater interest in equity investment in the US than in the Republic, notwithstanding the current influx of first-time buyers into the market on the coat tails of Telecom Eireann. In addition, of course, the US markets are far larger.

I can only assume, you are talking about cut-price brokers, who offer a no-frills execution-only service to customers who feel able to make their investment decisions without the benefit of expert advice. If that is so, the answer to your question is no.

I am aware that there are a growing number of such operators in the US and that they have increased the competition for existing brokers - including forcing Merrill Lynch to introduce a cut-price service within a year of saying its business would never be affected by the upstart discount brokers because of the importance attached by equity investors to the advice to which the commissions entitled them.

However, the Irish market is small with fewer than a dozen member-firms on the Irish Stock Exchange and a far lower level of competition, although it still pays to shop around when giving brokers business.

There is a growing interest in dealing on the Internet, a subject we shall be returning to in coming weeks, but I gather none of these brokers operates in the Irish market.

Of course, it is certainly an option for those investing abroad, particularly in the US, but also in Britain.

There is one other exception to the rule and that is in the area of public flotations such as the current one involving Telecom Eireann and previous ones on the arrival of Irish Permanent, Norwich Union and First Active (formerly First National Building Society) to the market.

At such times, brokers often offer a service to investors looking to sell shares they have received - free or purchased - at the time of flotation. Being a cut-price deal, such a service comes with a reduced level of service.

Generally, it is a postal execution only operation - that is to say the broker will sell the shares for the best price possible when they receive your share certificate.

They will not enter into discussion or provide advice, they will not allow the seller dictate a price below which they do not wish to sell and they keep administration to a minimum.

Please send your queries to Dominic Coyle, Q&A, The Irish Times, 10-15 D'Olier Street, Dublin 2, or e-mail to dcoyle@irish-times.ie. This column is a reader service and is not intended to replace professional advice. Due to the volume of mail, there may be a delay in answering queries. All suitable queries will be answered through the columns of the newspaper. No personal correspondence will be entered into.