http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/915802/000091580216000164/stickerstonebridgeliquidatio.htm
497 1 stickerstonebridgeliquidatio.htm
FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST
STONEBRIDGE SMALL-CAP GROWTH FUND
Supplement dated June 8, 2016
to the
Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, each dated August 31, 2015,
for the Stonebridge Small-Cap Growth Fund,
a series of Financial Investors Trust (the “Trust”)
The Board of Trustees (the “Board”) of the Trust, based upon the resignation of Stonebridge Capital Management, Inc. (the “Adviser”), the investment adviser to the Stonebridge Small-Cap Growth Fund (the “Fund”), a series of the Trust, has determined to close and liquidate the Fund. The Board concluded that it would be in the best interests of the Fund and its shareholders that the Fund be closed and liquidated as series of the Trust effective as of the close of business on June 27, 2016.
The Board approved a Plan of Termination, Dissolution and Liquidation (the “Plan”) that determines the manner in which the Fund will be liquidated. Pursuant to the Plan and in anticipation of the Fund’s liquidation, the Fund will be closed to new purchases effective as of the close of business on June 8, 2016. However, any distributions declared to shareholders of the Fund after June 8, 2016, and until the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange on June 27, 2016 will be automatically reinvested in additional shares of the Fund unless a shareholder specifically requests that such distributions be paid in cash. Although the Fund will be closed to new purchases as of June 8, 2016, you may continue to redeem your shares of the Fund after June 8, 2016, as provided in the Prospectus. Please note, however, that the Fund will be liquidating its assets as of the close of business on June 27, 2016.
Pursuant to the Plan, if the Fund has not received your redemption request or other instruction prior to the close of business on June 27, 2016, the effective time of the liquidation, your shares will be redeemed, and you will receive proceeds representing your proportionate interest in the net assets of the Fund as of June 27, 2016, subject to any required withholdings. As is the case with any redemption of fund shares, these liquidation proceeds will generally be subject to federal and, as applicable, state and local income taxes if the redeemed shares are held in a taxable account and the liquidation proceeds exceed your adjusted basis in the shares redeemed. If the redeemed shares are held in a qualified retirement account such as an IRA, the liquidation proceeds may not be subject to current income taxation under certain conditions. You should consult with your tax adviser for further information regarding the federal, state and/or local income tax consequences of this liquidation that are relevant to your specific situation.
All expenses incurred in connection with the liquidation contemplated by the Plan will be paid by the Fund, and are estimated to be approximately $13,000.
Please retain this supplement with your Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information.

Vanguard pitched Financial Engines for my Vanguard 401K. I wondered why a low cost fund family would want me to pay 0.4% extra in fees. It seems that Financial Engines was one of the first robo advisors.

FYI: (Scroll down to read Bill Gross's Investment Outlook for June)
In his latest monthly missive, Bill Gross shares some thoughts on financial market returns from the past four decades.
Regards,
Ted
http://awealthofcommonsense.com/2016/06/bill-gross-the-40-year-black-swan/

FYI: My basic thrust in this Outlook will be to observe that all forms of “carry” in financial markets are compressed, resulting in artificially high asset prices and a distortion of future risk relative to potential return that an investor must confront.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.janus.com/bill-gross-investment-outlook

Hi Guys,
Comparing women’s skills and contributions against men’s skills and contributions in any competitive industry is always entering controversial and dangerous waters.
Simple explanations are easy, but are often wrong. Complex explanations likely improve the odds of a meaningful answer. On the top of that decision pyramid, informed simple solutions are most likely to provide the best odds and the why insights. Here is my attempt at an informed simple explanation.
Women are an underrepresented population in the financial advisory industry because of 3 interactive reasons: (1) they lacked motivation and opportunity in the past, (2) they lacked the requisite education, and (3) industry adjustment time lags.
This is an informed simple explanation based on a single set of curves that summarized women’s education participation and levels over the last 5 decades. Here is the Link to the data sets that I referenced:
http://www.russellsage.org/blog/rise-women-seven-charts-showing-womens-rapid-gains-educational-achievement
These data sets are quite revealing. Young women have historically done better in High School than young men. Yet, those with advanced degrees, that would make them attractive to the finance advisory industries, have only arrived in sufficient numbers in the last several decades.
The financial industries are tradition bound. They make tons of money with little capital investment, and are reluctant to change this profitable equation. But it is changing slowly, ever so slowly, as more and more women are entering the business, are demonstrating their dedication and skill sets, and are moving up the corporate ladders. Inertia is a powerful drag. It just takes time.
Today, women only compose roughly 10% of the financial wizards in the USA; in some European countries, that percentage approaches 20%. In 2 decades, I predict those percentages will increase to 50% worldwide. I don’t fear long range predictions because nobody worries, nobody cares, and nobody remembers anyway.
As an aside, I was not surprised that girls outscore boys at the High School level. That’s been a truism forever. But I was surprised by the increase in overall grades over the last 50 years. Are we getting smarter? My answer to that question is a sharp “No”. The timeframe is too short. My answer is that the grading system has become softer. That’s not an especially good motivator; a more demanding score keeper will provide stronger incentives.
What do you think? Your comments are encouraged.
Best Wishes.

FYI: Claim alleges Fidelity 'wanted a piece of the action' when Financial Engines was hired to provide plan advice.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20160531/FREE/160539996?template=printart

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/915802/000091580216000161/fitseafareroverseasvaluefund.htm
497 1 fitseafareroverseasvaluefund.htm
FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST
Seafarer Overseas Value Fund
(the “Value Fund”)
SUPPLEMENT DATED MAY 31, 2016 TO THE VALUE FUND’S PROSPECTUS AND STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION DATED APRIL 15, 2016
As of the date of this Supplement, shares of the Value Fund are now being offered for sale.
PLEASE RETAIN THIS SUPPLEMENT FOR FUTURE REFERENCE.
13931427.1 (9/8/2015 9:21 AM)

FYI: (Click On Article At Top Of Google Search)
Does evolutionary biology offer better insight into today’s markets than the immutable laws of physics? Andrew Lo, director of the Laboratory for Financial Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, thinks so.
Lo, also a finance professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, has spent decades in academia melding economics with behavioral finance and neuroscience. His research has made him a respected voice on hedge funds and risk management. As chairman of AlphaSimplex Group, part of Natixis Asset Management, Lo oversees $7 billion in five mutual funds that use hedge fund strategies.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.google.com/#q=Alternatives+Monthly:+Andrew+Lo’s+Strategy+wsj
M* Snapshot AMFAX:
http://www.morningstar.com/funds/xnas/amfax/quote.html
Lipper Snapshot AMFAX:
http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/Fund/AMFAX
AMFAX Is Unranked In The (MF) Fund Category By U. S. News & World Report:
http://money.usnews.com/funds/mutual-funds/managed-futures/natixis-asg-managed-futures-strategy-fund/amfax
M* Snapshot GAFAX:
http://www.morningstar.com/funds/xnas/gafax/quote.html
Lipper Snapshot GAFAX:
http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/Fund/GAFAX
GAFAX Is Unranked In The (MA) Fund Category By U.S. News & World Report:
http://money.usnews.com/funds/mutual-funds/multialternative/natixis-funds-trust-ii-asg-global-alternatives-fund/gafax

BSBSX might be another one to consider.
@ep1 Here's a "play sheet". Have fun with the compare and contrast, as you click on the tabs for various investment intervals:
https://www.fidelity.com/fund-screener/compare.shtml#!&fIds=BSBSX,PRWBX,DLSNX,VFSTX
We have revisited this topic about every 6 months for the past 2 years, and nothing much in our collective assessment has moved, as far as I can tell. If safety is your #1 priority, then @hank has suggested a good one that hasn't come up much in prior discussions, viz. PRWBX. Rock-solid during the financial crisis. With respect to DLSNX, I think msf has it measured correctly; if dvd yield is your goal, you really have to ask yourself if the additional credit risk Baruch is taking on to get you a very slight increase in yield is worth it. Probably not. However, if you are planning to use DLSNX as a "holding pen" for money you eventually intend to shuttle to other DoubleLine funds (which is how I've looked at it, as a possible investment), at a more optimal time, then perhaps it isn't too shabby an option.
On the other hand, just because things don't appear to have moved much does not mean things under the covers are not moving. If you're disappointed with current distribution yields (who isn't?), look critically at current allocations. Many ST bond funds have been holding their payouts steady while at the same time increasing their cash holdings, suggesting they are sensing a turning point ahead. If this proves to be correct, then you might benefit more in the near future by being in a fund that has an elevated cash position but may now be yielding slightly less than others.
But I can't help thinking, every time this topic comes up for review, what a sorry state of affairs we're in, when we are reduced to scrutinizing how best to polish our pennies, as a significant mental exercise. :)

FYI: One of the problems with the typical “trust me, we got this” attitude that you often see with financial professionals is the fact that most of the time their unwitting clients don’t really even understand what’s going on in their own portfolios. There are really no independent parties overseeing the overseers so a lot of the time it’s the clients who are left to judge the fund managers, advisors and consultants who are managing their money. Most investors aren’t qualified to be able to judge the performance of those investing or making decisions on their behalf, so it’s basically a whatever-they-say goes arrangement. It’s hard for many clients to even know that they have subpar results because the “experts” they’re listening to set the expectations and benchmarks.
Regards,
Ted
http://awealthofcommonsense.com/2016/05/how-the-finance-industry-tricks-you/

This is a fascinating battle, as internal treasury officials in concert with outside financial players have conspired to undermine F&F in order to drive their function to the banks....the same guys which created the recent disaster in the first place.
This is now in the courts, with the government attempting to shield incriminating documents under executive privilege claims. The judges are getting tired of being lied to, and this may become much more interesting very quickly as this scheme is being uncovered.
Gretchen Morgenson from the NYTs is sniffing around the story here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/22/business/how-freddie-and-fannie-are-held-captive.html?_r=0
The ex-CFO of FNMA has as interesting ongoing blog on this as well, focused on the legal actions.
https://timhoward717.com/

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1047712/000119312516598592/d191660d497.htm
Revised filing as of 5/23/16:
497 1 d191660d497.htm UNDISCOVERED MANAGERS FUNDS
UNDISCOVERED MANAGERS FUNDS
Undiscovered Managers Behavioral Value Fund
(All Shares Classes)
Supplement dated May 23, 2016
to the Prospectuses dated December 29, 2015, as supplemented
Effective as of the close of business on June 17, 2016, the limited offering provisions for the Undiscovered Managers Behavioral Value Fund will be revised. As of the Revised Closing Date, the current limited offering provisions in the section titled “How to Do Business with the Funds — Purchasing Fund Shares — What does it mean that the Behavioral Value Fund is publicly offered on a limited basis?” will be removed and replaced with the following disclosure:
Effective as of the close of business on June 17, 2016, (the “Revised Closing Date”) the Behavioral Value Fund will be offered on a limited basis and investors are not eligible to purchase shares of the Behavioral Value Fund, except as described below. In addition, both before and after the Revised Closing Date, the Behavioral Value Fund may from time to time, in its sole discretion based on the Behavioral Value Fund’s net asset levels and other factors, limit new purchases into the Behavioral Value Fund or otherwise modify the closure policy at any time on a case-by-case basis.
The following groups will be permitted to continue to purchase Behavioral Value Fund shares. Except as otherwise described below, shareholders of record are permitted to continue to purchase shares; if the shareholder of record is an omnibus account, beneficial owners in that account as of the applicable closing date are permitted to continue to purchase:
•Shareholders of the Behavioral Value Fund as of the Revised Closing Date are able to continue to purchase additional shares in their existing Behavioral Value Fund accounts either through J.P. Morgan Funds Services or a Financial Intermediary and may continue to reinvest dividends or capital gains distributions from shares owned in the Behavioral Value Fund;
•Shareholders of the Behavioral Value Fund as of the Revised Closing Date are able to add to their existing Behavioral Value Fund accounts through exchanges from other J.P. Morgan Funds;
•Approved fully discretionary fee-based advisory programs, where investment discretion (fund and investment allocations) solely reside with the firm’s home office and where the firm’s home office has full authority to make investment changes without approval from the shareholder, may continue to utilize the Behavioral Value Fund for new and existing program accounts. These programs must be accepted for continued investment by the Behavioral Value Fund and its distributor by the Revised Closing Date. Additionally, after the Revised Closing Date, new fully discretionary fee-based advisory programs may utilize the Behavioral Value Fund for program accounts only with the approval by the Behavioral Value Fund and its distributor;
•Other fee-based advisory programs (including Rep as Advisor and Portfolio Manager programs) may continue to utilize the Behavioral Value Fund for existing program accounts, but will not be able to open new program accounts after the Revised Closing Date;
•Group employer benefit plans, including 401(k), 403(b) and 457 plans and health savings account programs (and their successor plans), utilizing the Behavioral Value Fund on or before the Revised Closing Date can continue to invest in the Behavioral Value Fund. Additionally, after the Revised Closing Date, new group employer benefit plans may utilize the Behavioral Value Fund for their accounts only with the approval of the Behavioral Value Fund and its distributor; and
• Current and future J.P. Morgan Funds which are permitted to invest in other J.P. Morgan Funds may purchase shares of the Behavioral Value Fund;
If all shares of the Fund in an existing shareholder’s account are voluntarily redeemed or involuntarily redeemed (due to instances when a shareholder does not meet aggregate account balance minimums or when participants in Systematic Investment Plans do not meet minimum investment requirements), then the shareholder’s account will be closed. Such former Fund shareholders will not be able to buy additional Fund shares or reopen their accounts in the Fund unless a former shareholder makes his or her repurchase within 90 days of the redemption. Repurchases during this 90 day period will not be subject to any applicable sales charges if such sales charges are normally waived for repurchases within 90 days of the redemption as described in the “Waiver of the Class A Sales Charge” or “Waiver Applicable Only to Class C Shares” sections below. These repurchase restrictions, however, do not apply to participants in groups listed above as eligible to continue to purchase even if the plan, program or fund would liquidate its entire position. If shares are purchased through a Financial Intermediary, contact your investment representative for their requirements and procedures.
If the Behavioral Value Fund receives a purchase order directly from an investor who is not eligible to purchase shares of the Fund, J.P. Morgan Funds Services will attempt to contact the investor to determine whether he or she would like to purchase shares of another J.P. Morgan Fund or would prefer that the investment be refunded. If J.P. Morgan Funds Services cannot contact the investor within 30 days, the entire investment will be refunded.
The Behavioral Value Fund reserves the right to change these policies at any time.
INVESTORS SHOULD RETAIN THIS SUPPLEMENT
WITH THE PROSPECTUSES FOR FUTURE REFERENCE

You got me poking around on the topic of average...
"In 1971, Batterymarch Financial Management of Boston independently decided to pursue the idea of index investing. The developers were Jeremy Grantham and Dean LeBaron, two of the founders of the firm. Grantham described the idea at a Harvard Business School seminar in 1971, but found no takers until 1973. For its efforts, Batterymarch won the prize for the "Dubious Achievement Award" from Pensions & Investments magazine in 1972.** It was two years later, in December 1974, when the firm finally attracted its first client.
By the time American National Bank in Chicago created a common trust fund modeled on the S&P 500 Index in 1974 (requiring a minimum investment of $100,000), the idea had begun to spread from academia—and these three firms that were the first professional believers—to a public forum."
The Indexing Story:
vanguard.com/bogle_site/lib/sp19970401.html
NAESX seems to be the oldest Mutual fund Index offered by Vanguard. Here's what 42 years of indexing (average returns looks like):

Can't find any source where Icahn used the word "crash". Also, the market doesn't have to "crash" in order for him to make money on his position; it merely has to decline. And he has seemed to have chosen a reasonable point in the market's history at which to initiate such a position ( multiple years of gains and recent new highs, rich valuations by some measures, interest rate tightening cycle, etc. ) He just needs the economic growth data to slow a little more.
Icahn can basically say " you can invent all of the narrative ( the mainstream financial media ) that you want about my investment moves, I got the money ! "

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1047712/000119312516597275/d196409d497.htm
497 1 d196409d497.htm UNDISCOVERED MANAGERS FUNDS
UNDISCOVERED MANAGERS FUNDS
Undiscovered Managers Behavioral Value Fund
(All Shares Classes)
Supplement dated May 20, 2016
to the Prospectuses dated December 29, 2015, as supplemented
Effective as of the close of business on June 17, 2016, the limited offering provisions for the Undiscovered Managers Behavioral Value Fund will be revised. As of the Revised Closing Date, the current limited offering provisions in the section titled “How to Do Business with the Funds — Purchasing Fund Shares — What does it mean that the Behavioral Value Fund is publicly offered on a limited basis?” will be removed and replaced with the following disclosure:
Effective as of the close of business on June 17, 2016, (the “Revised Closing Date”) the Behavioral Value Fund will be offered on a limited basis and investors are not eligible to purchase shares of the Behavioral Value Fund, except as described below. In addition, both before and after the Revised Closing Date, the Behavioral Value Fund may from time to time, in its sole discretion based on the Behavioral Value Fund’s net asset levels and other factors, limit new purchases into the Behavioral Value Fund or otherwise modify the closure policy at any time on a case-by-case basis.
The following groups will be permitted to continue to purchase Behavioral Value Fund shares. Except as otherwise described below, shareholders of record are permitted to continue to purchase shares; if the shareholder of record is an omnibus account, beneficial owners in that account as of the applicable closing date are permitted to continue to purchase:
• Shareholders of the Behavioral Value Fund as of December 31, 2015 are able to continue to purchase additional shares in their existing Behavioral Value Fund accounts either through J.P. Morgan Funds Services or a Financial Intermediary and may continue to reinvest dividends or capital gains distributions from shares owned in the Behavioral Value Fund;
•Shareholders of the Behavioral Value Fund as of December 31, 2015 are able to add to their existing Behavioral Value Fund accounts through exchanges from other J.P. Morgan Funds;
• Approved fully discretionary fee-based advisory programs, where investment discretion (fund and investment allocations) solely reside with the firm’s home office and where the firm’s home office has full authority to make investment changes without approval from the shareholder, may continue to utilize the Behavioral Value Fund for new and existing program accounts. These programs must be accepted for continued investment by the Behavioral Value Fund and its distributor by the Revised Closing Date. Additionally, after the Revised Closing Date, new fully discretionary fee-based advisory programs may utilize the Behavioral Value Fund for program accounts only with the approval by the Behavioral Value Fund and its distributor;
•Other fee-based advisory programs (including Rep as Advisor and Portfolio Manager programs) may continue to utilize the Behavioral Value Fund for existing program accounts, but will not be able to open new program accounts after the Revised Closing Date;
• Group employer benefit plans, including 401(k), 403(b) and 457 plans and health savings account programs (and their successor plans), utilizing the Behavioral Value Fund on or before the Revised Closing Date can continue to invest in the Behavioral Value Fund. Additionally, after the Revised Closing Date, new group employer benefit plans may utilize the Behavioral Value Fund for their accounts only with the approval of the Behavioral Value Fund and its distributor; and
•Current and future J.P. Morgan Funds which are permitted to invest in other J.P. Morgan Funds may purchase shares of the Behavioral Value Fund;
If all shares of the Fund in an existing shareholder’s account are voluntarily redeemed or involuntarily redeemed (due to instances when a shareholder does not meet aggregate account balance minimums or when participants in Systematic Investment Plans do not meet minimum investment requirements), then the shareholder’s account will be closed. Such former Fund shareholders will not be able to buy additional Fund shares or reopen their accounts in the Fund unless a former shareholder makes his or her repurchase within 90 days of the redemption. Repurchases during this 90 day period will not be subject to any applicable sales charges if such sales charges are normally waived for repurchases within 90 days of the redemption as described in the “Waiver of the Class A Sales Charge” or “Waiver Applicable Only to Class C Shares” sections below. These repurchase restrictions, however, do not apply to participants in groups listed above as eligible to continue to purchase even if the plan, program or fund would liquidate its entire position. If shares are purchased through a Financial Intermediary, contact your investment representative for their requirements and procedures.
If the Behavioral Value Fund receives a purchase order directly from an investor who is not eligible to purchase shares of the Fund, J.P. Morgan Funds Services will attempt to contact the investor to determine whether he or she would like to purchase shares of another J.P. Morgan Fund or would prefer that the investment be refunded. If J.P. Morgan Funds Services cannot contact the investor within 30 days, the entire investment will be refunded.
The Behavioral Value Fund reserves the right to change these policies at any time.
INVESTORS SHOULD RETAIN THIS SUPPLEMENT
WITH THE PROSPECTUSES FOR FUTURE REFERENCE

Good Day to You,
When I was seventeen, it was a very good year.....or so the lyric goes.
Well, 17 was a long time ago for this one. Now to begin to leave one of my active lovers.
If one is of the mind, passion and spirit for investing; the rewards, satisfaction and a form of love may leave a smile upon the face. While 50 ways (reasons) are not needed to leave an investing lover, one will likely determine a few key personal points.
Needless to say, the group here are not one's normal invest monies in a 401k, 403b, 457 or some form of IRA just to build a retirement account. We here tend to "fiddle" with whatever is available to our accounts.
Understanding/knowing the difference between being a passive or active investor is of value; as long as one also understands that he/she is likely active in managing choices which fall into a passive investment vehicle.
The exceptions that come to mind are when one uses an advisor, be it human or robo. But, one has still made an active choice about this, too.
So........the plan for this house for a total portfolio:
---75% VWINX , 65% IG bonds, 35% U.S. stocks, active managed
---15% FSPHX , healthcare, active managed; also included, DPLO (Diplomat Pharma stock)
---10% FRIFX , a different real estate active managed fund with a history of 50/50 stocks/bonds
We have a percentage of all of these now, but will sell other holdings to accommodate the above numbers.
For those interested, the below links present more information (click on the other tabs at the top, aside from these composition links:
--- VWINX , composition
This fund has superior returns for many years. Yes, it is subject to the markets not unlike any other fund.
--- FSPHX , composition
We still remain tilted towards the health sector and the many sectors within health related. Although this sector has been getting the whack during the past 6 or so months; our holdings average total return for the past several years remain most decent.
--- FRIFX , composition
You won't find an easy method for ranking in a category list for real estate, as this fund doesn't fit the normal holdings positions for this category, being about 50% bonds. As normal, we look for total return over a time frame; versus which fund is having the most fun, say, within a 1 or 2 year period.
--- DPLO , A specialty pharmacy. This company IPO'd in October of 2014. We purchased near the IPO price, having been very familiar with the quality of the organization during its 25 years of being private. We continue to hold this stock.
https://eresearch.fidelity.com/eresearch/goto/evaluate/snapshot.jhtml?symbols=DPLO&type=o-NavBar
As we investors are always subject (or should be subject to change) to change, the following holdings will be liquidated; market conditions allowing (no black swans, etc. allowed), from some accounts outside of Fidelity.
---BRUIX , DPRRX , BAGIX , DGCIX , OPBYX , VIIIX , GPROX , PRHSX , HEDJ , FHLC , ITOT
NOTE: all monies are tax sheltered accounts without current tax implications
We'll arrive at a conservative/moderate balanced account holding. As with all individual investors, such mixes are subject to "the eyes of the beholder" function as to how the balance suits their needs and views. The investment mix is mostly biased towards U.S. markets and companies, although at this time; about 20% of the holdings relate to other than U.S. One would also expect these holdings to generate greater than 20% of earnings/yields from sources outside of the U.S. going forward and providing some international exposure by this method.
Lastly, a large core holding in VWINX may be reasonably argued to possibly cause harm to an overall portfolio going forward due to its large percentage holdings in IG bonds. The main argument being that IG bonds have had one heck of a run for much too long. One may suppose that the "odds" factor such an argument. I will note again the phrase "that this time is different" since the market melt of 2008. Of course it is, eh? We live in a most dynamic investing world. At the very least, central banks and related polices operate upon the egos of the members. Who in these groups would want to look bad in the eyes of financial history? I suspect the central banks will continue to surprise many making decisions based upon every available form of data mining to obtain desired outcomes. Our house is still "betting" upon the investment grade bonds. This is no less as scary as the equity markets discovering flaws in the system, not yet known. With VWINX as the example, an investor will reap 35% of the up or down of the given equity holdings and 65% of the up or down of the investment grade bond holdings for a "total" result.
Remain or become fully flexible and adaptable, not just to your perception of the investing marketplace; but more importantly, to and for yourself and those important in your life.
This "personal overview" is likely incomplete; but will suffice for the time being.
Comments welcomed.
Regards,
Catch

MJG said:
"It’s easy for me since it’s within my emotional and intellectual wheelhouse of action minimization style."-
MJG, That's the name of the game. You've been known to castigate (indirectly of course) those you think are shifting significant invested funds around often. I'd be willing to bet that most of those, including myself, are invested in a core of securities or mutual funds that are within their wheelhouse and that they make very few changes of consequence.
(There are a few here with particular skills and experience who don't fit that mold - but I could count those posters on the fingers of one hand. Kudos to that small group. They possess skills and temperament most of us lack.)
What you do observe from time to time MJG are people playing around the edges, tilting slightly towards a particular undervalued sector, adding a modicum of equity risk after big market sell-offs or reducing their portfolio's risk profile a trifle after achieving outsides gains or for other reasons. I recall that back in January you posted that you had reduced your equity exposure somewhat, citing advancing age as the chief reason. I had a feeling at the time that you had also turned a bit less optimistic regarding equities?
I've shared my approach before and don't wish to regurgitate. But in a nutshell, 80% entails a broadly diversified buy-and-hold strategy. Hell, I don't even rebalance within that area unless a component substantially exceeds/falls below a broad pre-set range. The remaining 20% is also mostly static, split between equities and fixed, but does allow for slight changes in emphasis based largely on perceptions of market valuation (which may be right or wrong) and also allows for the exceedingly rare short-term speculative investment where I might perceive opportunity.
Half-way through retirement I believe that retaining a small capacity to add or subtract market exposure reduces overall risk and better allows me to stay the course for the long run. I genuinely love reading and following the financial markets, so am comfortable with this type of playing around the edges. Others may not be so inclined. All of this is not to say that there aren't irrational posters who appear to buy and sell everything based on emotion, moon cycles or their predictive prowess. But they're rare here and deserve no attention.
Regards

Hi Guys,
“But a good portfolio can prosper for decades with minimal intervention. A basket of stocks is not a board game with turns and rounds. It's something that should be mostly hands-off. After a proper allocation is set up, one of the biggest strengths of individual investors is what they don't do. They don't trade. They don't fiddle. They don't require daily monitoring.”
This quote is surprising because of its author. It came from The Motley Fool’s cofounder Dave Gardner as reported by the reliable financial writer Morgan Housel.
Housel summarized Gardner’s unexpected conclusion with “But his point is that the game of investing is often won by the investor whose strategy is to "play" as little as possible….”.
Here is the Link to the article:
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/05/13/two-short-stories-to-put-successful-investing-into.aspx
I didn’t expect Gardner’s statement; I see him as a stock-picker. This is yet another instance of how hard it is to characterize anyone with a simple summary. We’re complex by any standard.
I practice what Dave Gardner preaches. It has served me well. It’s easy for me since it’s within my emotional and intellectual wheelhouse of action minimization style. That investment philosophy is not suitable for everyone. That’s good since the frequent traders help to keep the markets fluid and nearly efficient.
Best Regards.

Hi msf,
Thank you for your post. It is always a benefit to hear the case for a divergent opinion. In investing, like in most everything else, the rule rather than the exception is “Different Strokes for Different Folks”. To use another mundane and popular idiom, “We March to a Different Drummer”.
It would be an unlikely and a unique set of circumstances if we all agreed on investment decisions and financial advice. That’s not the way of a free and informed marketplace.
I am an amateur investor without any specific formal financial education except for college-level economics course work. When I started investing over 60 years ago, I knew next to nothing. The few things that I thought I knew were more wrong than right.
During my very early learning years, private financial advisers and powerhouse mutual fund heavy organizations like Fidelity introduced me to the ins-and-outs of the investment game in a fair and balanced way.
Sure the folks I was exposed to were aggressive, but they were also honest. Perhaps I was lucky; I suspect not. There are far more honest and trustworthy folks than frauds and cheaters. That’s true in all professional disciplines like engineering, construction work, doctoring, lawyering, and in the financial communities.
Yes, some bad apples exist and prosper for awhile, but not for very long. Justice happens; scoundrels go to jail. Today, the Information Age exposes them rapidly, and the charlatans and short-changers don’t survive.
I don’t want to seem especially Pollyanna in the investment arena. Some hucksters are always present and offering deals that are too good to be true. Caution and prudence must be exercised in all instances. A healthy skepticism and some fundamental research is a workable preventive cure with just a little effort.
I suspect that you and I agree on some of the points made by Jason Zweig in this article and on most of his viewpoints in his general writings. He does document his work with great care. By the way, I was aware of the advisor code’s existence, but am not familiar with its details.
Thanks again for agreeably presenting the other side of the equation to balance this discussion.
Best Wishes.

Over the years on M F O,these ideas and others have been mentioned in the ag/farm thesis,many by @scott
NASDAQ:CRESY
NASDAQ:LMNR
OTCMKTS:BWEL
NASDAQ:ALCO
Income issue ideas.
CHSCO
NASDAQ:CHSCP
Also fertilizer companies and seed genetics although with more volatility.
I own and reinvest dividends in LAND, FPACX, OTCRX
Millennials spending is accelerating, new demands for healthier foods and using e-commerce
Calavo Growers (CVGW) MasterCard (MA)
http://www.ottercreekfunds.com/media/pdfs/OCL_Call_Presentation_1Q20161.pdf
LAND a real estate investment trust, or R E I T LAND
The geographic regions where our farms are located continues to experience steady appreciation
We currently own 23,456 acres on 47 farms in seven states in the United States. We also own some cooling facilities, packing houses, and processing facilities as well; there is several other structures on the farms. These are part of the farming operation on our farms.
We have a couple of different lease structures that we use for our tenants and we have been extremely successful in our leasing strategy. We've been able to average an average annual increase of over 16% on lease renewals over the past three years.
There are no new farms being developed in most of these areas because all of the arable land is currently being farmed or it has already been converted to other uses, such as housing, schools, or factories.
The trend that we are seeing is a steady decrease in a number of farms in our growing regions have been sold or converted to suburban uses. So California alone has been losing about 100,000 acres of farms per year. This has caused the farms that we own to be highly sought after and they have been rented for decades without ever being vacant.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/edited-transcript-land-earnings-conference-174914965.html
Farmland Partners Inc:FPI
Farmland Partners Inc. is an internally managed real estate company that owns and seeks to acquire high-quality North American farmland and makes loans to farmers secured by farm real estate
http://ir.farmlandpartners.com/file.aspx?iid=4426904&fid=33287632
FPACX owns 0.31% of assets here.Very small position in a $17 bil fund.
U.S. FARMING REALTY TRUST I, 0.07%
35,000,000 U.S. FARMING REALTY TRUST II, 0.24%
TOTAL LIMITED PARTNERSHIPS: 53,567,775.00 0.31%
The sponsor of those trusts offered another opportunity last year.Maybe they"ll put together another in the future . Save your money for the minimum! Probably only available to "accredited Investors"
Issuer
U.S. Farming
Realty Trust III,
LP
/s/ Charlie
McNairy
Charlie McNairy
Manager, International
Farming Corporation
GP3, LLC
2015-07-17
11. Minimum Investment
Minimum investment accepted from any outside investor
$ 1,300,000
http://b4utrade.brand.edgar-online.com/efxapi/EFX_dll/EDGARpro.dll?FetchFilingCONVPDF1?SessionID=CzTMe5a8UvZMR8Y&ID=10812508
With a glass of wine. American Farmland Company.AFCO
http://www.americanfarmlandcompany.com/portfolio.html
NY Times Business Day from 07/22/14
Cash Crops With Dividends
How a few sophisticated investors found a way to transform
strawberries into securities. Copyright © 2014 by The New York Times Comp
http://investors.americanfarmlandcompany.com/Cache/1001205369.PDF?O=PDF&T=&Y=&D=&FID=1001205369&iid=4589976
Not Always Wine and Roses
American Farmland Announces Review of Strategic Alternatives
Company Release - 4/14/2016 4:01 PM ET
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- American Farmland Company (NYSE MKT:AFCO) (the “Company”), a specialized real estate investment trust focused on the ownership, acquisition, development and management of a portfolio of diversified, high-quality U.S. farmland, today announced that its Board of Directors has authorized the Company to commence a review of strategic alternatives to enhance shareholder value.
Since the Company’s October 19, 2015 initial public offering, its shares have consistently traded at a substantial discount to net asset value which, as of December 31, 2015, was estimated to be $10.05 per share. The Company’s net asset value is based upon independent third-party appraisals of its farms which were performed as of December 31, 2015. The Company has retained Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Raymond James & Associates, Inc. as its financial advisors and Goodwin Procter LLP as legal counsel to assist in a comprehensive analysis of all potential strategic alternatives. Alternatives to be explored may include, among others, joint venture arrangements, a merger of the Company, or a sale of all or part of the Company and/or its assets
http://investors.americanfarmlandcompany.com/file/Index?KeyFile=33849746