Responses to Individual Comments in the Subscribers' Survey

Comment 1: Well done, I am delighted to have discovered the website. I wish you the best in the future. Many thanks for the feedback.

Comment 2: Service is very good, it would be very interesting to know how the clubs following the system have performed over the last 5 years. Measuring the Investrcentre.com is best done, in my view, by looking at how the direct stock picking approaches have performed since launch in 2005. All have outperformed their respective index since then with the exception of the US TTD approach. All of the direct stock picking approaches and their track records can be found in 'investment Solutions' at the top left of the Home Page. In addition, I would highlight the call made by this website on 5th May 2009 when we unequivocally called a 'Turn in markets'

Comment 3: I find that even though I read the 'weekly investment bulletin' I have yet to invest in any funds. I think I would be more comfortable if I had a word of advice before I invested. I have invested over the past 3 to 5 years and I am sure all lost money so i feel a little personal encouragement might assist me. I believe you should email or call me in person for one-to-one investment advice. There may be a few issues blocking your route to a decision. That is entirely normal. Markets scare us into indecision at times. You can contact me at: r.gillen@investrcentre.com or 0878307100.

Comment 4: I normally read the site but if it is important to me I print it. Good stuff and I print it out myself before I push the send button so that I can erase the typos... But a few always get through. I hope all subscribers realise that the weekly bulletin can be printed out and read at your leisure by using the 'PRINT' icon at the top right of the Home Page.

Comment 5: Where you ask subscribers to download charts before using them as they are not protected - this is very dangerous - how do you know if they have been tampered with? When you mention any stock please give symbol as well as name. excellent website! Do regular surveys - by EMAIL. Fair point on the technical indicator spreadsheets. But I have not found any other way of providing the data to subscribers. Charts on their own are OK but the critical data lies beneath the charts.

Comment 6: Look forward every weekend to get a summary of market over past week and see what new ideas/strategies can be developed. Like its concise & clear views. Keep up the good work! We appreciate the feedback.

Comment 7: I really think GillenMarkets is way ahead of what was on offer from invest like the best -  market or target new customers & you will see a lot more usage. Yes, with regulation I can provide advice and that changed the game in terms of service levels. It was the reason I left Merrion, so that I could get independent regulatory approval.

Comment 9: Initial consultation fee (whilst not unreasonable) is perhaps a little off putting. Suggestion - a no charge portfolios to view for new clients. This would encourage clients and drum up some new business for GillenMarkets. Thank you for the feedback. I can't tell from what you write whether you availed of the service previously or are observing from the outside. An initial consultation with myself covers a two-hour stretch and in the majority of cases I have needed the two hours. I then follow up with a formal report and that takes me a further two hours at a minimum. The UK market has banned upfront commission payments to IFAs from 2012 onwards. The UK IFA industry estimates that an IFA will charge £1,000 for an in-depth investment review for an individual at that stage. In that context, my initial consultation fee of €399 represents good value. Free portfolio review ? I have to disagree. Is there any other area of advice be it from accountants, solicitors or medical consultants that would entertain this ?

Comment 10: I am building an investment plan at the moment with the view of using GillenMarkets as one of my sources of advice. Thank you for the feedback and a trusted source can only be an 'Independent' source.

Comment 11: A fund is a good idea. I would enjoy running a fund but it costs circa €300-400k to establish one and a minimum of €25 million would needed to cover initial costs. Not many realise that. Nonetheless, a huge percentage of subscribers commented that they would like to see such an offering and I will investigate it further. I ran a fund while in Merrion so it is not a new area for me but I closed it after two years when I realised that the Merrion private client department would not promote it because they could not earn enough commission out of it !

Comment 12: The service provided is high quality and informative. The major attraction is that it is independent and not aligned to any major institution. Many thanks for the positive feedback.

Comment 13: Fund advice please. Advice on setting up online trading please. Not sure what you mean by 'Fund advice but perhaps email me separately and I can clear up any uncertainty. Regarding online trading, Susan Hayes offers training one-on-one in the area of online trading. Please email us at info@investrcentre.com and it can be arranged. Susan charges €125 for up to two hours and she will travel to where you are, anywhere around the country.

Comment 14: We would access more often if there was more hours in the week i.e. still is great but time is too short. But referring to such now. Thanks. Also is there an easy guide to lending out your equities to short sellers. Thank you for the feedback, and we are all challenged with priorities that eat up out time. Lending out to short sellers is something the stockbroker does with client holdings or an institution does with its own holdings. But I'm not aware that private clients can benefit from it... But I could be wrong.

Comment 15: I always print off the weekly comments but cannot print off tables/charts with it. I do this so I can highlight key points that I want to return to at a later date. I'm not sure about the fund idea. It is verging on the territory of most brokers who do not necessarily give such objective advice. it would depend on the nature/fees for that fund. If you copy and paste the 'Weekly Investment Bulletin' into Microsoft Word, the text and charts will be copied and you can rearrange things there as the charts do go out of place.

Comment 16: Just more of the same please plus a routine critical look at Irish investment offerings. Many thanks. On the Irish offering, I simply do not have the time. In general stay away from Guaranteed products which serve the banks and intermediaries only. Absolute return funds are starting to proliferate as if they were the answer to everyone's poor returns this past decade. They are not. Absolute return funds have their place in a decently diversified portfolio and no more than that.

Comment 17: Sensible/interesting/searching. Thank you for the feedback.

Comment 18: Reconfigure the 1 day training/seminar. Reduce slides from 298 - 50. Done. I have already been in discussions with this gentlemen and have implemented his changed which made a lot of sense and I thank him for taking the time to provide us with the benefit of his experience.

Comment 19: I only use Investr Centre for general investment advice, I do not follow your approaches as too messy to be buying so many stocks. I am unlikely to renew membership @ €149 as too high for what I get. If you had a fund then would be easier to buy & less charges also. Not sure if you have seen the extensive coverage of quoted funds on the website which allow any subscriber to manage a portfolio at very low cost and across all the asset classes. Perhaps call or email Ardle for a run through the website at 01 2871400 or info@investrcentre.com

Comment 20: Fund site very informative. Many thanks

Comment 21: More reviews of ETF's. focus on needs of those (like me!) retired, former self - employed with lump seems looking for secure good income/dividend, to fund retirement. Many high yielding funds have been covered - could I suggest you contact Ardle for a refresher as to where this coverage is located. Contact him at 01 2871400 or info@investrcentre.com. I will be increasing coverage of ETFs in general over the coming weeks.

Comment 22: Keep up the good work! Appreciate the feedback.

Comment 23: How about a comparison of interest rates (deposit) both being a short term in Europe and anywhere else that may be of interest. I provide a comparison of long term interest rates by way of the 10-year bond yields. Short term interest rates could be done but it would be a case of which ones - the official overnight rates dictated by central banks or the market rates ? But I will consider it - my main concern is that it would unduly lengthen the 'Weekly Performance Table' in the weekly bulletin.

Comment 24: A for sale or wanted items on services by members & possibly a holiday swap section for members that might not be able to sell or demo their investment  properties or could be bored going to the same place e.g. I have a property in Bulgaria I would love to swap for canaries or portugal for holiday or for permanent. Your suggestion is interesting and I would be surprised it that website service is not already out their. For GillenMarkets, we must keep our focus, we can't be all things to all people if you know what I mean.

Comment 25: The website is very good and way ahead of the generic rubbish on most stockbrockers websites. It would be great to see some analysis of funds although I fully understand that you can only cover a sample of these. Feedback much appreciated. That said, I'm not sure I follow your point fully re 'analysis of funds' and you might email me separately on this to r.gillen@investrcentre.com

Comment 26: I am very satisfied the weekly commentary on the market and on special tips, provided by Rory each week. I use the site regularly before deciding which stocks to invest in. Thank you for the positive feedback.

Comment 27: Excellent service and site. Would strongly recommend . Find the weekly commentaries very useful and insightful. Brilliant value even @ €149. Feedback much appreciated.

Comment 28: Some information on one-to-one service would be welcome. Objective views are what I want! Please see the icon on the middle left on the Home Page for a description of the one-to-one investment advice service. Alternatively, just email or call me direct and I'll explain exactly what is involved at r.gillen@investrcentre.com or 0878307100.

Comment 29: Small to mid-cap growth investment service. I realise that I did provide coverage of UK Small & Mid stocks on the old ILTB site. But I feel I would again be spreading myself and subscribers too thinly. I have five direct stock picking approaches and now provide comprehensive coverage of ETFs and investment companies.

Comment 30: Overall service good but you can be too detailed. More information on costs of share purchase & investment funds would be welcome and bank charges for investments. Rabobank investment funds have never been mentioned. Thank you for the feedback. First off, Rabobank funds are not quoted on stockmarkets. They are unquoted funds. I cover funds across every asset class that can be bought and sold cheaply via a stockbroking account. The costs can be kept as low as you yourself decide - if you deal with an online broker the cost is minimal (£13 a trade with ODL), but higher with traditional brokers and you need to enquire with your own broker regarding costs. Rabobank may have a fund platform offering but they provide no fund analysis and no asset allocation advice and no market commentary - so I don't believe they offer a service remotely similar to GillenMarkets. But their platform of funds choice is decent. Hope that helps clarify it.

Comment 31: 'Weekly 'Value' Stocks - whilst I understand this is a formula driven approach which has worked well in up and down markets, where address information is known it should be commented on in addition to the value ( low pe / divided / good cashflow) information. Example 1: ntaledia- if fitted the value approach but this time last year or Easter it was destined to go down much more before it was likely to come up. Example 2: CRH - a brilliant company over many years - it had a right issue in the last year or two - it has done nothing with the cash - international investors have concerns that the cunent GCE this top management jean may not be as effective as their predecessors. CRH as losing its 'glamour' status. Much appreciate your feedback and comments. Unfortunately, I cannot follow your first point - in passing I would say the UK Value-based approaches are indeed formula driven which means you do not interfere with them. It does not mean you or I will get all the stocks right, far from it, rather the approaches outperform the market on a 3-5 year view. Not many investors can achieve that. On CRH, you are stating what is known, and you are correct. But value investing recognises that it is the value on offer that drives the subsequent return, not your view on CRH. Buying quality stocks where they are out of favour is difficult for that exact reason, most disagree with the case for purchase. Of course, that is not to say I will be right on CRH, the market humbles us all. But it is the right way to approach value investing - ensure you understand the business risk, financial risk and valuation risk. On your first point could I ask you to reword it and pop it into the 'Questions & Comment' blog section at the very bottom of the home page and I'll try again in case I have misinterpreted your question.

Comment 32: Lectures eg ETF too general. Unsatisfactory explanation of tax position. No indication of favoured ETF. No info on sources of info on individual ETF. Obscure explanation on pros & cons of ETF's. All feedback welcome positive, negative and constructive. On the tax side, yes I agree I could have been clearer and I will try again. I spoke with KPMG in the past on this area and KPMG informed me that the treatment of ETFs is still a largely undefined area with the revenue, and particularly when bought & sold via CFD and spreadbetting accounts. Fundamental ETFs are my favorite - I have said so several times in the weekly bulletin. I analysed eight global equity ETFs (which can be found under 'Funds Analysed') a while back (see link) and I gave my favorite two in that note. We will have to just disagree on the pros & cons, these are facts and not my views and it is hard to misinterpret them or say them any other way.

Comment 33: If fund is fully protected .. Yes! Like the regular 'regular investor' slot. Appreciate the feedback. The fund is only a seed of an idea but the feedback from subscribers has been very strong and reason enough to explore it some further. Costs are the big issue. I'd like the 'Regular Investor' more myself if I was doing better!

Comment 34: Website navigation could be improved. More coverage on commodities. Again, thank you for taking the time to give feedback. We have been making incremental improvements to navigation as we have learned, and more can and will be made, particularly in the area of 'Investment Solutions'. I'll see what I can do on the commodities side to lift coverage a bit, the reality is that it is not an area I feel I can add much value. My knowledge levels are low in this area and I don't intend to bluff. That said, I believe I have some of the best coverage of the 'Gold' theme. I hope you agree.

Comment 35: Well done on the excellent service, very happy customer. Much appreciated

Comment 36: Excellent service with first class practical advice. Keep it coming! Again, much appreciated

Comment 37: One-to-one investment advice and continuous contact. Prompts in relation to market timing for the investment approaches. As I hope you know, all subscribers can avail of the one-to-one investment service I offer. It costs, clearly, but for some it can provide the action plan and a sounding board. I hope you will agree that I have given an unequivocal 'Timing' call on markets last weekend. I gave a strong call when needed on 5th May 2009 (click link to review) and an even harder one now. What subscribers must realise is that a 'Timing' call is about probability. That is all we can hope for, a higher probability of being right.

Comment 38: So far very good commentary even at times a little too long. Also more direct comments or opinions on some of the ISEQ stocks would be welcome as I'm sure many of your customers would have money tied up there. Thank you for the feedback. In terms of length, yes I agree and I may shorten it. Of course, the weekly bulletin is designed so that you can scroll down to the topic of interest. But your point is noted. To date, I have provided subjective coverage of four ISEQ stocks - CRH, Kerry, Abbey & TVC. For those subscribers who have significant positions in ISEQ stocks, historical positions perhaps, I feel the best approaches are the ISEQ Value approach as outlined on this website and/or Gartmore's Irish Growth fund. Subjective analysis of individual stocks is not the route to good performance, as all the stockbrokers would have you believe. For that reason, and because I want to show subscribers how to invest globally, it is most unlikely that I will increase coverage of individual Irish stocks. But there would be nothing wrong with you asking my view on particular shares from time to time via the 'Questions & Comments' blog section at the very bottom of the Home Page when logged in.

Comment 39: Very helpful, I am learning and gaining familiarity all the time. That's exactly what I would hope for. Investing is a learning experience, it can be a hobby if you have the interest and time. The key is to learn to walk before you run, take small steps and only do (invest) what you are comfortable doing.

Comment 40: I found a book called 'How to give your children a million ($) euro'. It uses the approach of investing 1 euro a day in ETFs, listed investment companies and eventually ordinary shares. This is my aim for long term growth if there is a section on long term growth (investments reinvesting all dividends back is to the fund). Basically cutting to the chase the best bet for long term. Apologies, but I have not been able to properly transcribe your text from the questionnaire and am unsure of the point you wish to make - could I ask you to either send me a personal email on it to r.gillen@investrcentre.com or to pop your comment/question into the 'Questions & Comment' blog section at the bottom of the Home Page when logged in. Thanks.

Comment 41: I would like to see some recommendations on the Dax Index (German Market). Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback. I may be able to provide coverage of global markets and most asset classes but not German stocks. I do not have a database that allows me select stocks in Europe or Germany the way I can in the UK, US & Ireland. Nor do I believe such a database, at any reasonable price, exists.

Comment 42: If you mean another specific fund, it would depend on finances i.e. minimum level of entry. Thank you for the feedback, and as I said to an earlier point it is just a seed of an idea but the feedback has been encouraging.

Comment 43: Excellent service. Many thanks and we will continue to try and keep the standards high.

Comment 44: Only a recent subscriber so too new for comments. Having the survey is a good idea. Nonetheless, thank you for completing the survey.

Comment 45: A useful service at a reasonable cost. Feedback appreciated

Comment 46: Video/audio/webinar are they way to go. Www.ft.com/moneyshow = benchmark. Yes, I intend to introduce audio/videos for review alongside the 'Weekly Investment Bulletin' on a Saturday.

Comment 47: Front page of website needs to be a lot simpler & easier to use. A fund or funds would change the expense of the site from the advice to retail sales. Could I ask you to contact Ardle at ardle@investrcentre.com regarding 'Front Page Usage' with some concrete examples of difficulties you are having. When you design navigation, you think it is obvious but it has to be seen from another's perspective to realise that there may be better ways. Point on the fund understood.

Comment 48: Don’t always get a chance to study the website in detail. We all have priorities in life and I don't expect every subscriber to be a DIY enthusiast. But it is the first website of its kind in Ireland that allows an investor to get independent high level investment advice at a reasonable price. If you feel you can't get enough time to make use of it, then perhaps consider availing of the one-to-one investment advice where I set out the investment plan for you.

Comment 49: Very informative service. I have recommended it to others and am very happy with it. Many thanks for the feedback and for completing the survey.

Comment 50: I would like to see more analysis of Irish and UK shares and in particular Rory's view on them. Many thanks for doing the survey and for taking the time to comment. Similar to 'Comment 38' above, I feel I would add no value covering individual Irish and UK stocks. I was Head of Equity Research in Merrion for three years and I understand that subjective commentary on individual stocks is much sought after but in my experience it is of little use to the retail investor. Far more powerful is a stock picking system that has been tested in time and I would encourgae all subscribers who hold individual stocks to think again why they hold them. My strong view would be that subscribers who wish to hold individual shares (as opposed to equity funds) should adopt one of the value-based direct stock picking approaches on the website. My coverage of the US global consumer franchise stocks was an exception to my rule and I covered the eight franchise stocks (i) because they have unique business attributes that make their earnings highly predictable which leaves only financial and valuation risk to be assessed (which are much easier to assess than business risk) and (ii) in aggregate they are better value now than they have been for a long time. I believe it is the right theme and an easy one for me to do. As Warren Buffett says - he picks small hurdles to jump over!

Comment 51: Overall I am very happy with GillenMarkets service. However, there are a few things that could be improved upon. The website search should allow for free text searching. The forum area could be improved by the addition of threads/themes. A session on puts, calls & associated strategies e.g. straddles etc. Thank you for your feedback. Yes, I agree, the search side could be more flexible. It may be that due to the way we publish the weekly bulletin that we can't provide a search facility by text but I will ask Wandsoft, out IT partner. On your point regarding 'threads/themes' are you referring to a 'Message Board' facility ? If I have read you wrong, you might email me separately on r.gillen@investrcentre.com. If I have read you correctly, then I would say to you that I have considered a 'Message Board' where subscribers can discuss things among themselves but I am reluctant to introduce it as I have seen 'Message Boards' on other sites descend into chaos. Two of the six international websites I subscribe to myself stopped their 'message Boards' for this reason. But I retain an open mind so I have no problem you coming back to me on it on email.

Comment 52: More info on individual financial advice available and lower cost structure. Thank you for the feedback and returning the survey. I'm not sure if you are aware but there is an icon in the middle left of the Home Page titled  'Investment Advice' which provides all the necessary detail on the cost of the one-to-one investment advice with myself. In practical terms, an initial meeting is for up to two hours after which I come back to a client with a considered report and action plan. This costs €399 (€330 plus VAT) irrespective of portfolio size. Follow on meetings cost €242 (€200 plus VAT). I don't follow your point on 'Lower Cost Structure' so feel free to email me separately on it to r.gillen@investrcentre.com.

Comment 53: I feel it is not necessary to send a text reminder telling me I'm getting my weekly GillenMarkets email! Thank you for that point - some do and some don't and I understand your view. If you send an email to info@investrcentre.com saying you are a subscriber and would prefer not to receive a weekly text reminder then we can store your mobile number in a different database cell and you will not receive further texts. The survey is anonymous so I can't tell who you are if you follow me.

Comment 54: New fund must have competition T.E.R. I would welcome a regular feature on ARFs investments for retirees. Thank you for completing the survey and taking the time to provide feedback. Your point on any potential fund is understood. On ARFs - it would be helpful if you could outline what you feel a typical ARF investor would like me to focus on and why. Perhaps email me separately on r.gillen@investrcentre.com . Also, we are holding investment clinics through October & November for subscribers and previous seminar attendees only and you might like to come along to one of these and discuss the issue. The clinics have no set agenda, rather they aim to provide subscribers with an opportunity to get any issue(s) they have addressed by me at the meeting. I am only too happy to have a section dedicated to ARFs but I need to find out in particular what you would like to see addressed.

Comment 55: Regarding investing in fund mentioned above. Concentration- I am a cautious (not v.succesful investor) I would invest - but only small proportion of our assets (initially). Custodianship - given above, the financial standing of custodian is extremely important and would be highly rated. Appreciate the feedback. As I mentioned in reply to earlier feedback, the fund idea is only the seed of an idea at present. Rest assured expense ratio and security of client assets would be dealt with professionally before I would contemplate launching a fund. In any event, these issues are fully covered under current regulations.

Comment 56: Would consider doing the course a 2nd time in order to take it up better, but time is a limiting factor! I highly recommend you doing the seminar a 2nd time and particularly when times are so hard in Ireland. The time to plan and make changes is in bad times. For experience, those repeating the seminar have been unanimous in saying that they made a quantum leap second time around, and we keep the repeat fee at €149 as this covers our costs.

Comment 57: Really informative and probably the best. I struggled with a lot of terms and models over the years. Unfortunately I have missed all the investment seminars and would like an opportunity to attend. Many thanks for your feedback. Yes, I think the 1-day investment seminar brings everything together and hopefully one of the dates in the new year will suit you. We should have those dates posted soon enough. In the meantime, if you have time perhaps call along to one of the 'Investment Clinics', you should have received a letter and/or email on the upcoming clinics. If not email info@investrcentre.com regarding same.

Comment 58: (i) ODL online account seems to be promoted by GillenMarkets but it is a poor website that is difficult to follow and very easy to make a mistake. Subscribers should be made aware of the pitfalls of using online investment trading. A company like ODL e.g. fx of currency before making a trade. Also, if there are any preferential rates/conditions for being a GillenMarkets subscriber for ODL account then these should be highlighted (ii) Clarity on strategies to be adopted by different classes of investors could be better possibly on the website. A lot of people want to protect capital now so there strategies would be different to that of speculative investor. (iii) Website is excellent and analysis of certain highlighted funds, global franchises equity funds, hedge funds etc is outstanding (iv) When 1:1 advice is given it would be nice to feel secure in the knowledge that the same level of analysis + scrutining has gone into those particular investments - maybe it has (I'm sure it has) but this is not obvious and if it were it would be a lot more reassuring. Thank you for the several pieces of feed back and I deal with them individually (i) ODL ticked a lot of boxes for an Irish investor and that is why we first promoted them. I agree and have said it to them before that they need to be clearer on the fx side of transactions but there is a limit to which GillenMarkets can assist. After all, we are not ODL or any other online dealer and one really needs to understand online dealing, ask the questions and get answers. By all means send an email to us at info@investrcentrecentre.com and we can pass on any knowledge we have. In addtion, Susan Hayes is available for mentoring in any area like online dealing - susan@investrcentre.com. Susan charges €125 for a mentoring session on any area you like and will travel to you (ii) the 1-day seminar provides the clarity on strategies. GillenMarkets is for the DIY investor and of course subscribers have varying levels of knowledge and experience. For those who feel they need a guide on what is an appropriate approach for them to follow then there are two choices - either attend the 1-day seminar or come to me for a one-to-one investment advice session (iii) I appreciate the feedback on our fund and stock coverage (iv) I think you can rest assured that the one-to-one advice is as rigorous and professional as I can make it. For example, I am as likely to tell a client that they should not be in markets if I feel it is appropriate. I can do that as I do not sell products unlike the 98% of other investment advisors in this country - how can you feel sure they are on your side if they are not paid by you but by the client ?

Comment 59: Overall, the service is very good but I think you could expand your business with some products. Many thanks for completing the survey and for the feedback. I agree, the next challenge for us is to see how we can grow the business and put it on a commercial footing. I am pleased at the growth in subscribers numbers in such a depressed investment environment but we really need to see what the renewal trends are like in order to judge whether you, the client, values the service. By product I assume you mean 'Fund'. It would be a big step and the costs are considerable, in the order of €300-400k, which many do not realise. I would have to raise capital for that.

Comment 60: Having met you (Rory) a couple of times, it is good to be able to put a face on the person writing the weekly investment bulletin. Your suggested funds ? How would it be traded or priced. Would it be liquid on long term? Thank you for the feedback but also for taking the time to return the survey. At the moment, it is just a thought, a seed of an idea if you like. I ran a fund in Merrion, which I closed in temper when I realised after two years that Merrion had not even one client in the fund (reflected policy throughout the firm at which stage I knew I had to leave - quite simply, the goals of stockbrokers are diametrically opposite to the clients' goals) so would have no problem managing monies again. But the costs are huge and I would have to raise capital to fund it. The only vehicle I would entertain would be a quoted investment company.

Comment 61: Anaylsis of European or Asian markets using similar ratios to the 3 UK ones? Again, thank you for taking the time to provide feedback. The reason I cannot, as yet, select stocks in other markets is that I no of no database at a cost I can afford that provides the data. Simple as that. I have my own database on the Irish market (built and constantly updated from Annual Reports). In the UK, I have Company REFS and in the US, Valueline. But as far as I know, there is nothing in Europe. I think we should all do Asia via funds for the moment. Nonetheless, interesting view and suggestion.

Comment 62: For info: www.surveymonkey.com is very useful for conducting surveys online. I have used it before. I'm not sure how much it costs though. Much appreciated. I am slow on the tech take up myself and thank you for that suggestion which we will most likely use in the future. At the moment, I am dreading having to tackle audios and videos - but I know that once the learning curve has been climbed I'll wonder what the anxiety was about.

Comment 63: With the recommendations it would be useful to have entry ranges as sometimes the prices are out of date for new subscribers. Equally target prices long range would be useful while I appreciated not always easy to calculate. As we are in euro not sure can say french & germany xlight have oppurtunies? Thank you for the feedback. On funds, there is no such thing as a price target - there are expensive markets and times when we should be out unless we are strictly adhering to 'Value Investing', in which case we can ignore markets altogether. On stocks, like the US global consumer franchise stocks I have covered, the theme is a medium term one. Take the red line on the P/E chart which gives you the medium range Price-to-earnings ratio and use it on a 5-year earnings target. That is a simple way of arriving at a medium term price target - but what does it tell you ? I would argue not much. That said, I have done it this weekend on the US Global Consumer Franchise Stocks so you might have a look. If I have misinterpreted your question, which is quite possible, please feel free to email me separately at r.gillen@investrcentre.com .

Comment 64: Had difficulty resubscribing, not sure what problem was. Thank you for that feedback. If we have to stick the hand up on one issue in particular it is around the whole area of subscribing and renewals. Quite simply, we have had to learn by mistakes. Most of the issues that have occurred have been dealt with but not all. Any problems at all in the future, just email us at info@investrcentre.com and we will sort them quickly manually and then fix the code.

Comment 65: Send out in an email the stocks on the various recommended strategies each week. (ie whats been added/dropped). I appreciate the feedback. The tables containing the 'current stock picks' on the Irish, UK & US value-based direct stock picking approaches are updated weekly and are within a touch of a button on the website for subscribers. You can download these tables into an excel spreadsheet for yourself (just highlight the table and copy & paste). You can then sort alphabetically. The following week you can do the same and compare the lists, which will give you the new stocks and those dropping off the list. While it might be nice to keep an eye on entrants and exits, it is not needed for the successful implementation of the approach. I hope that helps but us sending it out by email would serve no useful purpose.

Comment 66: Possibly re the fund e.g. if it was a low TER. You could replace the keyboard drop down with a tag cloud & link it to a search results screen with the subsection from the archive as opposed to the entire posting. The price rise is not unreasonable, however it was not made clear to me when i signed up that the first year was at a reduced rate. Thank you for making those points. As I mentioned above, the fund is only a seed of an idea at present. Your point is well taken on the 'Search' facility. I will investigate whether it is possible to provide this more focused search facility which makes better sense all round - however, the way the weekly bulletin is published may limit how we provide a search facility and why it is how it is at present. But I will be taking it up with Claude in Wandsoft, our IT partner as you are not alone in pointing it out as an issue.

Comment 67: Investment info on fund would require research & verification before commitment. Would like to be able to print off all info. supplied including Q&A - need to read info more than once (67 yrs old  & a slow reader). Feedback very much appreciated. Fund idea still at seed stage. I hope you realise that you can print the weekly bulletin either using the 'PRINT' icon at the top right of the Home Page or by copying & pasting it into word. The Questions & Comment' section is another matter - it is a case of what 'Questions & Comments' as the file keeps building as more and more questions are asked. My suggestion is that you take the questions asked during the week and copy & paste them to word. Hope that helps.

Comment 68: Probably would invest further but would have to study matter further. Annual sub of E149 very high when compared with magazines e.g. Investors Chronicle etc. bulletin-v-full magazine with many contributors. E149 may deter me. Maybe a reduction would be appropiate. Would like to see market buy & sell signals extended. Would like charts of FT100, DAX, CAC, commodities etc included. Also charts of recommended shares,funds etc included (Coppock, 30, 30 & 50). good service but perhaps a 'one man show'. Could you have other contributors on a weekly basis (also during holidays). I enjoy the website!  Thank you for that feedback and clearly you are not short of views. Overall, we cannot be all things to all men. The value-based direct stock picking approaches adopted on this website are not available elsewhere and you will certainly not find winning stock picking approaches in the Investors Chronicle. I like the IC myself but not for a moment would I consider taking a recommendation from it. This website uses Coppock, 30-week averages and 30 & 50-week averages to assist in medium term market timing, and the added value is in the interpretation. I would like to think that our call on 5th May 2009 last that 'Markets Had Turned' was an excellent call (click link to review that call). Additionally, I have made a market timing call last week. I have learned long ago that these signals merely improve the odds of being right and that the market reserves the right to humble us regularly. Subscribers are free to use the 30 & 50-week moving averages on any individual stock - but it is not a strategy I will put forward on this site. It is the nature of a website like ours that it is a 'One man show'. I subscribe to several online investment newsletters abroad myself and most are one-man shows. In fact, one site I subscribe to is written daily by an 85-year old gentleman, and he is still loving it - he is none other than Richard Russell of Dow Theory fame and he has been writing a newsletter for 56 years, the oldest in the business. Quite simply, €99 is not a commercial proposition. It was a launch price which we made very clear last summer but realise that we did not make it as clear to new subscribers post regulatory approval last November - put that down to over work at start-up stage on our part - value is in the eye of the buyer and I'll leave the rest to you.

Comment 69: If you could recommend shares selling at or below net asset value. Thank you for the feedback. While a reasonable suggestion to put forward, it has many complications from my viewpoint. Firstly, screening a database for stocks trading at below net asset value tends to highlight mainly mid-sized and small-cap stocks - which is not an area I want to bring subscribers. I have stuck to the value-based FT 100 approaches as dealing with large-cap stocks helps control risk. Big companies that are undervalued normally have the staying power to recover. Not so in 2008 of course but that was not a typical bear year. With mid & small-cap stocks undervalued on a net asset value basis, the risks are much higher and more work has to be done on financial risk and business risk in such stocks, and that is beyond what this website can deliver. As you have seen, I will cover deeply undervalued stocks like Abbey or TVC holdings but only where I see no financial risk. That is easy in a local market that I am used to but not when I step outside my area of expertise and into the UK and European markets. That said, the database Company REFS facilitates stock screening across the UK market and Valueline does this in the US. An annual subscription costs £750 and $600 respectively if you are interested in pursuing it. Hope that helps.

Comment 70: Excellent service, better than anything else that I have come across, especially interesting is Rory's willingness to take clear definite positions that can be back tested. I would be very interested in a seminar devoted to the principles and procedures of stop losses, limit order etc for online trading. Feedback much appreciated. On stop-losses, I don't teach trading form a number of reasons (i) I don't know how to trade (ii) the website as is must have a clear focus on what it is doing and it offers independent views and strategies on investment, not trading and finally (iii) my long held view is that 95% of all individuals who attempt to trade markets or currencies will lose money - returns accrue to the owner of assets not to traders of those assets. That said, I am happy to point a subscriber in a trusted direction if they keener on trading than investing. So please send me an email I will will be happy to provide you with some trusted sources/courses and websites in this area.

Comment 71: Focus appears to be good - value investing. Costs transparent on the researched / featured investments. Thank you both for completing the survey and the feedback.

Comment 72: We listen to 'the business show' on Sundays 10am - 11am and would appreciate your comments about the shows content/views. Sunday morning entertainment is how I would sum it up but not to be taken seriously when considering investing. Presume you are referring to the Today FM Sunday Business Show - introduction with a stockbroker should be banned by the regulator - the sheer recklessness of the comments and the lack of accountability astounds me. If I was to write on my site what they say on that show I would be rightly sued by subscribers.

Comment 73: All good - an A plus rating. This would help a lot, create an iPod app ? Yes, excellent point - providing a facility to access the website and/or read the weekly bulletin via iPods or other new devices is in the pipeline. Now that you have brought it up, I can harass Claude in Wandsoft, our IT partner, again.

Comment 74: More advice on European + Far East funds. Currency opinions. Thank you for your feedback. There are a few areas I must fill out the coverage of in the short term - more funds in the property, private equity, balanced funds and alternative asset class areas - and yes I am conscious that I need to improve coverage of European & Far East Funds. One Far-east fund you might like to investigate ahead of my covering it soon is the Martin Currie Pacific Trust - see www.martincurriepacific.com - the trust is quoted in London (ticker code: MCP-L), is on an 18% discount to net asset value most likely because it has a 30% weighting in Japan which everyone is fed up with as a market but which is a great value market so risks are low. On European funds, any of the Fundamental well spread European ETFs issued by PowerShares or WisdowmTree are quick and easy to buy and have a value tilt. I'll be covering a batch of them soon.

Comment 75: I like to read Rory's detailed analysis of individual stocks as part of a continuing search for value and growth. Feedback appreciated and thank you for completing the survey.

Comment 76: A weekly update on the progress of recommended/suggested investments would be useful on would a regular ARF investment portfolio. Many thanks for the feedback. I am not sure if you realise it but we run a model portfolio on each of the direct stock picking approaches available on the website and these model portfolios are updated weekly. Click the link which will bring you to the UK High Yield Model Portfolio which has been running since 1st January 2010. , However, you need to have attended a 1-day seminar before adopting one of the direct stock picking approaches. On funds, I'm not sure of the value of tracking these in the same way. After all, there are precious metal funds, equity funds, balanced funds, hedge & absolute return funds etc and there is little correlation between them. But I will be reviewing the progress of each fund from time to time - I believe you will find this invaluable. Hope that helps. On ARFs - similar to 'Comment 54' above - it would be helpful if you could outline what you feel a typical ARF investor would like me to focus on and why. Perhaps email me separately on r.gillen@investrcentre.com . Also, we are holding investment clinics through October & November for subscribers and previous seminar attendees only and you might like to come along to one of these and discuss the issue. The clinics have no set agenda, rather they aim to provide subscribers with an opportunity to get any issue(s) they have addressed by me at the meeting. I am only too happy to have a section dedicated to ARFs but I need to find out in particular what you would like to see addressed.

Comment 77: The service seems to be heavily reliant on Rory Gillen. I appreciate Rory is the founder, however, when Rory is sick on on holiday the weekly emails and services should not be interrupted. The price of the service is similar to other online investment services, such as Investors Chronicle which has no interruptions in service. Other members of GillenMarkets should be able to add info on companies/funds etc and be able to answer subscriber questions. Many thanks for your feedback. It is the nature of investment newsletters (and online ones like ours) that at the outset they are reliant on one person. I subscribe to a service in the US and it has been written by Richard Russell of Dow Theory fame for 56 years without interruption. He is now 85 years old and still going strong. I like the Investors Chronicle but would like to think we are a couple of steps up on an investment magazine - no where can the IC should you how to outperform the FT 100 ? anyway, value is in the eye of the buyer and it is your judgement that counts. I am most reluctant to introduce a message board. Experience from quality sites abroad is that they end in farce, with subscribers who know little but think they know a lot trying to answer questions they should not be, either getting offended or causing offense etc etc. For the moment that is my stance on it. Interruptions for holidays? Nothing I can do about it in the shirt term I'm afraid but your point is reasonable and noted for when I can do something about it.

Comment 78: Interface to the website is very basic. It requires updates which has capabilites like chasting, portfolio management etc. also forum where fund, stock recommended by you can be discussed in greater detail. Overall I like your style of investment and website is rich in information. Thank you for taking the time to return the survey and for providing feedback. I have to admit that I don't follow (understand) your initial point - it may be I have transscribed it incorrectly - could I ask you to email it to me separately at r.gillen@investrcentre.com . See Comment 77 above re my views on message boards.

Comment 79: Excellent website all round and certainly not expensive! Feedback much appreciated

Comment 80: it is difficult to download the summary to excel. They do not copy across in the same manner and here it is difficult to data sort ie high yield, cash, p/e. Thank you for your feedback - for what its is worth, I just copied and pasted the UK FT 100 Low PER 'Current Picks' table into excel as a trial (I have done it many times sucessfully myself) - and it copied & pasted it without a hitch and I could straight away sort the table anyway I wished. Could I ask you to call Ardle on 01 2871400 and he will be happy to demonstrate the procedure just in case there is an issue with how you are doing it. Hope that helps you.

Comment 81: I would suggest more seminars. It's good to have face to face contact. GillenMarkets seminars so far are very good but I would suggest more regular contact with members via seminars. The feedback and time taken to provide it is much appreciated. I enjoy the teaching side of the offering and would do many more if demand was there. Unfortunately, with the severity of the recession, the demand is weak and we have had to pull one or two seminars during the year. But two developments might be of interest to you (i) we are running free investment clinics through October & November aimed at dealing with any of the practical issues subscribers may need assistance with (free of charge save a €10 fee to cover costs of the hotel room) and (ii) we will be offering seminars in all the approaches not covered on the one-day seminar after Christmas including the Irish value Approach, the DOW TTD approach, Investment Companies and covered call options. Hope that helps.

Comment 82: (i) Need more detail on fund (ii) re recommending your website - they would need to have completed your course to benefit (iii) need to proof read bulletin (better now). Thanks for your feedback. (i) fund idea at early (seed) stage but if I was to go ahead with it yes lots of detail would be provided (ii) fair enough on website recommendation

Comment 83: All e-books should be in Youtube type format. Please see www.chrismartenson.com/crushcourse. You could continue to buy hard copy plus access to online version. Every week market comment should be webinar. Clients will have more of a connection with Rory. Good for retention. See ft.com/video. 2-4 minute snippets. Tax on investments advised has been ignored. Generic advice (with a disclaimer from GillenMarkets) should be available. Many thanks for your very helpful feedback and for taking the time to provide it. In summary, I agree with every suggestion and in six months from here, we expect to be delivering as you say. The first job is to deliver the weekly bulletin via audio/video format in addition to text format. We should have that within a few weeks. Suggestion on ebooks is sensible and we have been planning delivering much of the training via webinars. The hurdle for us is time, cost and IT time with Wandsoft, our IT provider. Regarding tax advice, you may not be aware bit I did a piece covering the area in a featured article some months ago. If there are tax issues (and there were other queries raised on the subject in other feedback above) not dealt with in the enclosed article perhaps you would email me to r.gillen@investrcentre.com specifically on it and I'll do my best to get the answers and amend that featured article. The article can be accessed at any stage from the 'Featured Article' icon at the bottom left of the Home Page.

Comment 84: Excellent service, please keep it going! Many thanks for your feedback and for taking the time to respond.

Comment 85: Would like to see a webinar from time to time. Also updates on some of your events, as it is not always possible to attend them all. Love your website 'Question & Answer forum. Many thanks for your feedback and webinars are in the pipeline.

Comment 86: Keep subscription price at €99. Many thanks for taking the time to complete the survey. In response to your feedback, I have been happy to subsidise the service for the first year to assist in building the subscriber base and to give us time to prove that it was a very different service aimed at delivering high quality investment ideas and approaches. But €99 was always a first-year introductory offering and it is not a commercial price. Value, however, is in the eye of the buyer and I would like to think you see the value in what is Ireland's only independent advisory online offering. By way of comparison, €99 equates to two trades via a traditional Dublin-based broker.

Comment 87: I found the recent posting showing an asset distribution for a self managed pension fund very good - more of that will resonate with my needs. Overall the service is excellent! Thank you for your feedback. This is a tricky area for me. I'm am regularly asked to provide an asset allocation model - and my reply has to be - an asset allocation model for whom? Everyone has a different asset allocation need ! I can provide that advice well on a one-to-one basis which is what that service delivers on very well but it is difficult otherwise. That said, if you look at the 'Investment Solutions' page you will see that I have recently added a new feature aimed at doing just this. So give me a few weeks on it and I will have that area populated.

Comment 88: I will renew at £99 but not £149. Con Smith. Email casmith@eircom.net . Thank you for completing the survey and your comment. As I outlined in 'Comment 86' above, value is in the eye of the buyer and it is up to us to prove the value of the website to you and if we cannot do so you reserve the right not to renew your subscription. No one wants to lose a valuable subscriber but quite simply €99 is not a commercial price on our side.

Comment 89: Tread carefully about price increases - I have renewed this year but will have to consider carefully next year. Somewhat confused about regular investor purchases of individual stocks - these do not generally appear on ISEQ, DOW, LISTS, etc. Thank you for taking the time to respond and for your comments. See 'Comment 86' above for my views on the subscription price - as I said in last week's bulletin, I could have done a better job communicating the issue earlier but we are where we are and the €99 is not commercial. The 'Regular Investor' slot could easily have decided to follow one of the direct value-based stock picking approaches but, instead, has adopted a subjective approach to selecting stocks and funds. More than anything, it is an attempt to show subscribers that regular investing must be done in all market conditions and hence I select a stock or fund every month irregardless of market conditions. For subscribers who are, in effect, lump sum investors, the Regular Investor slot might concentrate the mind on what the website considers key picks. But, of course, if one is following any of the direct stock picking approaches, the Regular Investor slot should be ignored. Hope that clarifies it.

Comment 90: To date I have not had the opportunity to make full use of the advice to date but hope do to so in the future. Many thanks for taking the time to respond. If you have time, maybe pop along to one of the investment clinics we are holding during October/November aimed at addressing the practical issues and any questions subscribers have. One to one combat - get those key questions out in front of me and have an enjoyable evening. Cost is €10 which covers the hotel cost - no charge for my time. You should have received a letter and email with dates/times. If not, send an email to info@investrcentre.com

Comment 91: The main reason for the 'no' answer to Q2 is that I am a beginner and time has been short and I have not got into to the full swing and commenced investing/practicing. Thank you for your feedback - the upcoming investment clinics could be an invaluable kick-starter for you - see 'Comment 90' above for more details.

Comment 92: It’s a high quality offering - keep up the god work. Have got out of the routine of looking at the website over the summer months. And there was me slaving away all summer ! Appreciate the feedback and for taking the time to respond.

Comment 93: I find Rory's weekly commentary very important feedback to the actual situation in the market. Keep it up! Now that's is feedback that I like as it strikes at a critical part of the service I try to give - making sense of the noise, ensuring that my subscribers have an independent view on these things, and not a view from brokers and product sellers.

Comment 94: Really enjoying the weekly update. Hopefully markets will turn around soon. Thanks for the feedback and I hope you caught my 'Market Timing' call last week (25th Sept). I believe the weight of technical evidence suggest markets ahve resumed their recovery which started in March 2009. That does not make me right, rather I am alerting subscribers to the fact that the probability has increased significantly that the markets are headed higher.

Comment 95: I rejoined the because of the reduced fee. I wil have to think twice about your proposed 50% increase. Thank you for your feedback. Please see 'Comment 86' above for a better detail of the rational for the €149 price. I would also highlight that the wesite fee from 2005-2008 was €249, I reduced it to €99 on the re-launch in recognition of the depressed state of the investment markets in Ireland.

Comment 96: Model Portfolios with performance tracked. Many thanks for responding to the survey. We are unique in providing Model Portfolios which track on a weekly basis the performance of the five direct stock picking approaches - click the link and then click on any of the direct approaches to review the model approaches - call Ardle on 01 2871400 if you need some guidance. Outside these, it would be a case of a model portfolio for whom ? What asset class should I track ? Equities, hedge funds ? A model portfolio based on asset allocation is fine but who would I be aiming it at ? Asset allocation is an individual issue and I can address that in one-to-one consultations. What I believe you, and other subscribers, will find of great use will be upcoming reviews of the progress of every fund I have analysed to date and starting in 2011. I hope that helps clarify it.

Comment 97: Introduction of Audio commentaries & webinars would be a great addition. I subscribe to the FT & WSJ and use their videos & podcasts more than I read the paper. Feedback much appreciated and Audio/Video for the 'Weekly Bulletin' is a priority for us i.e. they are on the way - development never stops and nor should it.

Comment 98: Excellent website, content & navigation facilities. It serves my purpose with no nonsense, straight-talking commentary delivered professionally. Yours was the last response received and processed (and you will know that yourself) and all the better for it being a wholly positive endorsement of the service. Much appreciated. It is not possible for everyone to be happy but I think it is fair to say we are on the right track.

 

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