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Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
  • Starting A New ETF? Consider the Pros & Cons of Previously Used Symbols
    Just checked again, and the good news is that ETF.com and ETFDb.com now both recognize the DIVS symbol as the ETF that converted from the GAINX mutual fund.
    However, some of the ETFDb.com commentary and peer-comparisons still refer to a prior small cap fund.
  • Starting A New ETF? Consider the Pros & Cons of Previously Used Symbols
    FWIW, as of today, 05-19-21, neither ETF.com nor ETFDb.com properly recognizes DIVS.
    https://www.etf.com/DIVS
    https://etfdb.com/etf/DIVS/
    However, ETFRC does recognize DIVS.
    https://www.etfrc.com/DIVS
    DIVS' homepage - on the sponsor's website - is here:
    https://www.smartetfs.com/divs/
    Finally, Morningstar recognizes DIVS, but sort of (you have to look at it, see link below) includes the performance of the predecessor mutual fund [GAINX] in the performance history for DIVS:
    https://www.morningstar.com/etfs/arcx/divs/performance
    More importantly - perhaps - given the ETF's "mixed" (i.e., mutual fund + ETF) history, Morningstar did not produce a 'Star' rating for the prior performance.
  • DIVS article
    Oh okay, got it. M* may get the message when some of the big boys start flipping OEFs to ETFs. Who knows, they may not have a policy at all on it, and deleting GAINX could have been a snap decision by someone way down the food chain.
  • DIVS article
    Yahoo historical prices still has GAINX history.
  • DIVS article
    "In addition, while DIVS is GAINX, Morningstar has struck all historical data for the fund (and is currently treating DIVS as if it first saw the light of day last week)." - David.
    If true, this could be a problem if trend persists.....I'm surprised it is being handled this way.
    I would think it would be a high concern for a PM to extinguish a good track record over many years by rating services.
  • Guinness Atkinson Asia Pacific Dividend Builder and Dividend Builder Funds converted to ETFs
    https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/919160/000139834421007074/fp0063825_497.htm
    497 1 fp0063825_497.htm
    GUINNESS ATKINSON FUNDS
    Guinness Atkinson Asia Pacific Dividend Builder Fund (GAADX)
    Guinness Atkinson Dividend Builder Fund (GAINX)
    SUPPLEMENT DATED MARCH 26, 2021
    This Supplement provides new information beyond that contained in the currently effective Summary Prospectus dated May 5, 2020, Prospectus, and Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) each dated May 1, 2020, as supplemented, for each of the Funds identified above.
    Effective March 29, 2021, each of the Guinness Atkinson Asia Pacific Dividend Builder Fund (GAADX) and the Guinness Atkinson Dividend Builder Fund (GAINX) are no longer available for purchase. The funds were converted into exchange traded funds (“ETFs”) on March 26, 2021. The names of the successor ETFs are SmartETFs Asia Pacific Dividend Builder ETF (ADIV) and SmartETFs Dividend Builder ETF (DIVS), and each ETF is listed for trading on the NYSE Arca stock exchange.
    For further information, you may contact the funds at 1-800-915-6566 or visit the funds website at www.gafunds.com. You can also call the SmartETFs customer service line at 866-307-5990 or visit the SmartETFs website at www.SmartETFs.com.
    For each Fund, this Supplement, the existing Prospectus and SAI provide relevant information for all shareholders and should be retained for future reference. Each Fund’s Prospectus and the SAI have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, are incorporated by reference, and can be obtained without charge by calling the Fund toll-free:
    Guinness Atkinson Funds (800) 915-6566
  • the slow direct conversion of mutual funds into active ETFs
    https://www.gafunds.com/our-funds/dividend-builder-fund/
    As of today - Jan 5 2021 - GAINX is still a mutual fund. Any update on ETF conversion? Thanks.
  • the slow direct conversion of mutual funds into active ETFs
    Just a head's up. We wrote about a potentially game-changing development early in the summer: the SEC had agreed, in principle, to allow an operating mutual fund to be repackaged whole as an ETF. A number of firms have launched ETF clones of still-operating funds, but the Guinness Atkinson decision was to move two of their funds intact into an ETF format. That move would allow them to substantially reduce expenses and marginally increase tax efficiency.
    I talked with the head of Guinness Atkinson early this week, and he says they're close.
    Today they launched SmartETFs Sustainable Energy II ETF (SULR) which is a clone of Guinness Atkinson Alternative Energy (GAAEX) which Morningstar puts in the "international small-mid value" box ... a fine assignment give-or-take the fund's special mandate, 33% US equity stake and growth orientation. In any case, the plan is to launch this ETF now, finish the conversion of the mutual fund into SmartETFs Sustainable Energy I early in 2021 then immediately merge the two.
    By mid-December, they anticipate converting Guinness Atkinson Dividend Builder (GAINX) into an active ETF. The hang up has been "a thousand thoughtful questions and comments" from the SEC. They're at the point that the SEC is asking them to put specific dates (one of which is December 12) into the prospectus on file. They take that as a good sign.
    And, before year's end, they anticipate launching SmartETFs Advertising Technology ETF.
    GAINX deserves more attention, so this is a good thing for the firm and for investors. Similarly, this might offer a lifeline to other small mutual funds whose managers are capable but whose expense structure - much of which is dictated by the fact that it's classified as a mutual fund under the '40 Act - makes them virtually unmarketable.
    For what interest that holds,
    David
  • Guinness Atkinson Asia Pacific Dividend Builder and Dividend Builder Funds reorganized
    https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/919160/000139834420011445/fp0054046_497.htm
    497 1 fp0054046_497.htm
    Guinness Atkinson Funds
    Guinness Atkinson Asia Pacific Dividend Builder Fund (GAADX)
    Guinness Atkinson Dividend Builder Fund (GAINX)
    Supplement dated May 22, 2020 to the Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information dated May 1, 2020 and Summary Prospectus dated May 5, 2020
    This supplement provides new and additional information beyond that contained in the Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) and should be retained and read in conjunction with the Prospectus and SAI.
    * * *
    On May 14, 2020, the Board of Trustees of the Guinness Atkinson Funds (the “Trust”) approved the reorganizations of Guinness Atkinson Asia Pacific Dividend Builder Fund into SmartETFs Asia Pacific Dividend Builder ETF, and Guinness Atkinson Dividend Builder Fund into SmartETFs Dividend Builder ETF. There will be no change in investment objective, strategies or portfolio management.
    A Prospectus/Information Statement with respect to the reorganizations will be mailed before the consummation of the reorganization to holders of each fund’s shares as of the record date.
  • Opinion: 9 secrets of dividend investing, from a couple of stock pros who beat the market
    https://www.marketwatch.com/story/9-secrets-of-dividend-investing-from-a-couple-of-stock-pros-who-beat-the-market-2020-02-19
    Opinion: 9 secrets of dividend investing, from a couple of stock pros who beat the market
    Many income-focused investors dwell on dividend yield and buy largely on that basis. More income is better, right?
    Not so, say the two dividend-minded mutual-fund managers who run the outperforming Guinness Atkinson Dividend Builder Fund GAINX, +0.47% . Matthew Page and Ian Mortimer use a much more nuanced approach to get high-achieving results. Over the past three years, they have beaten both their Morningstar World Large-Stock category and the MSCI ACWI Index by 1.9 and 1.4 percentage points, respectively, on an annualized basis.
  • Where to put proceeds from sale of home for dividends/interest?
    I might look over seas GAINX, MAINX, MACSX, or SFGIX
    Food for thought
    B
  • IWIRX: Disappointment
    It has not had good one year performance but has had solid performance otherwise. I'm not thrilled with GAINX right now from same managers.
  • 1st Quarter MFO Ratings Update
    All Search Tools have now been updated with performance data through March.
    The MFO Fund Dashboard contains all funds profiled through April commentary.
    Some notable funds on the Three Alarm list, which examines only absolute return within category, include:
    Greenspring (GRSPX)
    American Century One Choice 2025 A (ARWAX)
    American Century One Choice 2035 A (ARYAX)
    Third Avenue International Value Instl (TAVIX)
    The Cook & Bynum Fund (COBYX)
    Muhlenkamp (MUHLX)
    Fairholme (FAIRX)
    Valley Forge (VAFGX)
    Hussman Strategic Growth (HSGFX)
    Hussman Strategic International (HSIEX)
    AMG Managers Brandywine Advs Mid Cap Gr (BWAFX)
    Royce Partners Svc (RPTRX)
    Royce Premier Invmt (RYPRX)
    Delafield Fund (DEFIX)
    FpA Capital (FPPTX)
    Paradigm Value (PVFAX)
    Royce Low Priced Stock Svc (RYLPX)
    Royce Micro-Cap Invmt (RYOTX)
    Royce Select I Invmt (RYSFX)
    Royce 100 Svc (RYOHX)
    Royce Heritage Svc (RGFAX)
    Royce Pennsylvania Mutual Invmt (PENNX)
    Artisan Small Cap Value Investor (ARTVX)
    Ave Maria Opportunity (AVESX)
    Royce Global Value Svc (RIVFX)
    Royce Select II Invmt (RSFDX)
    Wintergreen Investor (WGRNX)
    Of Royce's 27 funds, nine are Three Alarm.
    Pacific Advisors has five Three Alarm Funds...they only offer six. From its website:
    We are a family of six focused mutual funds, each designed to meet a different need and to complement each other when building a diversified investment plan. Whether you are just starting out in your career, or enjoying retirement today, we deliver top quality service and a wide range of investments to meet your changing needs.
    Here is a snapshot (from MFO Premium beta site) of their lifetime performance:
    image
    Really horrible family of funds, seems to me. Why would anyone buy them?
    Vanguard offers 150 funds. How many are on the Three Alarm list? None. I find that remarkable. How many are on the Honor Roll? 32. I find that remarkable too.
    A look at just-turned-three Great Owls, finds:
    Guinness Atkinson Dividend Builder (GAINX)
    Rainier International Discovery Instl (RAIIX)
    DFA World Core Equity Institutional (DREIX)
    Seafarer Overseas Gr and Income Instl (SIGIX)
    Wasatch Frontier Emerg Sm Countrs Inv (WAFMX)
    PIMCO Total Return Active EtF (BOND)
    AQR TM Large Cap Momentum Style I (ATMOX)
    Vanguard Target Retirement 2060 Inv (VTTSX)
    2060?!
    A total of 8159 funds (oldest share class only, at least one year old) are included in this quarter's update.
    We also updated the look a bit to support new site theme...here's example of Risk Profile output:
    image
    Enjoy.
    c
  • Guinness Atkinson call highlights
    It came up in a late question. Roughly, "forever."
    Two keys: (1) GAINX was the guys' initiative in response to their CIO's challenge to design a winning strategy, so they're personally committed to it and (2) there's $120 million in the European version of the strategy, so it's financially viable. Both the US and European versions are run by the same adviser, so the US assets in the growth strategy keep the smaller European growth fund going and vice versa.
    Hope that helps,
    David
  • Guinness Atkinson call highlights
    there wasn't much time to discuss GAINX on the call or may be i missed it, but how long are they sticking with the US offering? they've been subsidizing the ER since inception.
  • Guinness Atkinson call highlights
    Is the percentage of US/Foreign stocks fixed, or does it change according what the management sees fit in GAINX? Hedged or unhedged?
    Looking at the SAI, so far as I can tell they're entirely flexible both ways. No limitations on the % of American stocks and they'll hedge when they think it's prudent.
  • Guinness Atkinson call highlights
    Is the percentage of US/Foreign stocks fixed, or does it change according what the management sees fit in GAINX? Hedged or unhedged?
  • Guinness Atkinson call highlights
    Dear friends,
    Rather more than 50 folks dialed in and participated on our call with Matthew and Ian today. I'm suffering from some combination of a major head cold, the side effects of the OTC meds I'm taking for it and the gallon or so of green tea with honey and lemon that I've chugged this morning, so I'm only guessing when I nominate these as highlights of the call.
    The guys run two strategies for US investors. The older one, Global Innovators, is a growth strategy that Guinness has been pursuing for 15 years. The newer one, Dividend Builder, is a value strategy that the managers propounded on their own in response to a challenge from founder Tim Guinness. These strategies are manifested in "mirror funds" open to European investors. Curiously, American investors seem taken by the growth strategy ($180M in the US, $30M in the Euro version) while European investors are prone to value ($6M in the US, $120M in the Euro). Both managers have an ownership stake in Guinness Atkinson and hope to work there for 30 years, neither is legally permitted to invest in the US version of the strategy, both intend - following some paperwork - to invest their pensions in the Dublin-based version. The paperwork hang up seems to affect, primarily, the newer Dividend Builder (in Europe, "Global Equity Income") strategy and I failed to ask directly about personal investment in the older strategy.
    The growth strategy, Global Innovators IWIRX, starts by looking for firms "doing something smarter than the average company in their industry. Being smarter translates, over time, to higher return on capital, which is the key to all we do." They then buy those companies when they're underpriced. The fund hold 30 equally-weighted positions.
    Innovators come in two flavors: disruptors - early stage growth companies, perhaps with recent IPOs, that have everyone excited and continuous improvers - firms with a long history of using innovation to maintain consistently high ROC. In general, the guys prefer the latter because the former tend to be wildly overpriced and haven't proven their ability to translate excitement into growth.
    The example they pointed to was the IPO market. Last year they looked at 180 IPOs. Only 60 of those were profitable firms and only 6 or 7 of the stocks were reasonably priced (p/e under 20). Of those six, exactly one had a good ROC profile but its debt/equity ration was greater than 300%. So none of them ended up in the portfolio. Matthew observes that their portfolio is "not pure disruptors. Though those can make you look extremely clever when they go right, they also make you look extremely stupid when they go wrong. We would prefer to avoid that outcome."
    This also means that they are not looking for a portfolio of "the most innovative companies in the world." A commitment to innovation provides a prism or lens through which to identify excellent growth companies. That's illustrated in the separate paths into the portfolio taken by disruptors and continuous improvers. With early stage disruptors, the managers begin by looking for evidence that a firm is truly innovative (for example, by looking at industry coverage in Fast Company or MIT's Technology Review) and then look at the prospect that innovation will produce consistent, affordable growth. For the established firms, the team starts with their quantitative screen that finds firms with top 25% return on capital scores in every one of the past ten years, then they pursue a "very subjective qualitative assessment of whether they're innovative, how they might be and how those innovations drive growth."
    In both cases, they have a "watch list" of about 200-250 companies but their discipline tends to keep many of the disruptors out because of concerns about sustainability and price. Currently there might be one early stage firm in the portfolio and lots of Boeing, Intel, and Cisco.
    They sell when price appreciates (they sold Shire pharmaceuticals after eight months because of an 80% share-price rise), fundamentals deteriorate (fairly rare - of the firms that pass the 10 year ROC screen, 80% will continue passing the screen for each of the subsequent five years) or the firm seems to have lost its way (shifting, for example, from organic growth to growth-through-acquisition).
    The value strategy, Dividend Builder GAINX is a permutation of the growth strategy's approach to well-established firms. The value strategy looks only at dividend-paying companies that have provided an inflation-adjusted cash flow return on investment of at least 10% in each of the last 10 years. The secondary screens require at least a moderate dividend yield, a history of rising dividends, low levels of debt and a low payout ratio. In general, they found a high dividend strategy to be a loser and a dividend growth one to be a winner.
    In general, the guys are "keen to avoid getting sucked into exciting stories or areas of great media interest. We’re physicists, and we quite like numbers rather than stories." They believe that's a competitive advantage, in part because listening to the numbers rather than the stories and maintaining a compact, equal-weight portfolio both tends to distance them from the herd. The growth strategy's active share, for instance, is 94. That's extraordinarily high for a strategy with a de facto large cap emphasis.
    For those interested but unable to join us, here's a link to the mp3.
    I'd be delighted to hear others' reactions to the call.
    David