I have read Weiner for years, as the newsletter is cheap although he rarely changes anything in the portfolios. However, it would not be my first choice for income, as his income portfolio looses 20% when the market crashes.
Having said that, he is usually correct about individual Vanguard funds in the long run. There are lots of ways to play healthcare, I just don't see any reason to believe Hynes can all of a sudden "get it right".
RYH is an interesting idea. Buffet just bailed on BYM and bought McKesson. Maybe he knows something

Looking for advice, opinions. Any thoughts are appreciated.
Given the expectation of more interest rate increases, messy world events, stock market volatility, inflation, what investment categories would best preserve money. I have enough for retirement but I don't want to lose any more (year to date -15% in dollars, -3% inflation).
Which of these would you choose?
dividend stocks VHYAX
60/40 funds VBIAX
40/60 funds VWINX
intermediate bonds DODIX
short term bonds FNSOX
cds (3%, 3 years?)
Other suggestions?
gold (in what form?)
real estate (in what form?)
Thanks.

“CHICAGO, May 16, 2022 – After more than 30 years of operations in the country, McDonald’s Corporation announced it will exit the Russian market and has initiated a process to sell its Russian business. This follows McDonald’s announcement on March 8, 2022, that it had temporarily closed restaurants in Russia and paused operations in the market. The humanitarian crisis caused by the war in Ukraine, and the precipitating unpredictable operating environment, have led McDonald’s to conclude that continued ownership of the business in Russia is no longer tenable, nor is it consistent with McDonald’s values.”
McDonalds Press Release
On a more practical investment level, the ongoing fracturing of international cooperation / codependence can’t be good for the individual economies. Can it? I’m thinking less innovation, higher production costs, higher inflation, more shortages and bottlenecks and more GDP devoted to various nations’ defense establishments.

I use RYH as a benchmark for the healthcare sector. Its performance and the VG fund are tied for 1 yr, but RYH has outperformed 3 and 5 yrs. The sector has disappointed in recent years, especially in biotech, as noted by @sma3.

The interview is another example of the declining usefulness of Barron's interviews. She doesn't say anything new, really. AI, Big Data, genomic revolution have been predicted to revolutionize health care for at least the last 20 years. No one talks about how the EHR has enabled Docs to just "Copy and paste" most data making it GIGO.
UNH has yet to demonstrate that owning physicians ( whose interests are directly opposed to the bottom line of a health insurance company) is a better business model that will be competitive. For years UNH has been the nastiest, most restrictive and most anti-patient health insurer around.
Every health care fund has MDs and PhDs, I assume who think they can predict which new drug or monoclonal antibody is going to be successful. It is hard to predict biological success in clinical problems before the results of the clinical trials are available.
Biogen is a classic example of pouring piles of money into a new drug that doesn't work, but then being stuck when you have to face the music. Having invested so much they can't let it go and fund "work arounds" and political pressure to get it approved.
I will pass on VGHCX and look for other options.

Hi @Baseball_Fan . There is a lot of risk in the markets, and some of it reminds me of Tulipmania with high valuations. Bitcoin is now down 35% YTD. Rising interest rates, high inflation, supply chain disruptions and the Russian invasion of Ukraine have upended normal investment models. Price to Earnings have begun compressing as they often do during inflationary times with high valuations.
YTD, my baseline fund, the Vanguard Wellesley Fund, has lost 8%, while the Global Wellesley has done slightly better. Safe haven government intermediate bond funds are down 7% YTD while core bond funds are down 10%. As the markets started swooning, I sold the most volatile and added better performers including real return and commodities. I maintain a balanced portfolio, and am down less than the Wellesley fund.
I favor low volatile funds, some of which have a tactical, or "black box" approach. I prefer to leave this to the pros to do the heavy lifting for me. I spread the risk across several of the funds so that any individual failure will not impact me much. I limit overall exposure in case of a swan event. I own multi-strategy (BAMBX, TMSRX), multi-alternative/macro-trading (GPANX, REMIX), systematic trend (PQTAX), real return (PIRMX/PZRMX, FSRRX), Infrastructure (GLFOX), along with utilities and consumer staples, all of which have reduced the volatility in my portfolio. I am also researching CABNX. Each has made more (lost less) than the Vanguard Wellesley. I have also increased cash.
I believe the risk of recession is high for next year. I suspect the markets will calm down in the near term and recover, but expect lower lows over the next two years.
Best wishes.

It is worth knowing that Dan Weiner who has published the Independent Advisor for Vanguard Investors (for decades), long ago felt Hynes was doing such a poor job running VGHCX that he advised his readers to sell it and just use the Vanguard Health Care ETF VHT. He has between 8 and 14% of his portfolios in VHT
He has a "hold" ie Sell on VGHCX but rates VHT a buy still.

Mr. Wiener recommended the Vanguard Health Care Fund for many years.
The fund was subsequently sold in all three active Independent Advisor model portfolios -
Growth, Conservative Growth, and Income.
IIRC, Mr. Wiener pulled the plug on the Health Care Fund after Jean Hynes
became the Wellington Management CEO on June 30, 2021.

I have thought about these BRK problems too for a long time as a shareholder. On the optimistic side I feel:
1. Apple after Steve Jobs didn’t feel like it would be able to carry on. But strong institutions have a way to last and thrive will beyond the first generation.
2. We will get to a Day when the index fund holders will get direct ability to vote on proposals. It might be too much for most people to handle. But the options Are more likely to exist in the future than not. The form and design will be decided by the Congress or the sausage makers.
3. Notwithstanding the above, there will be a class of shareholders that will go along with Warren. Their children might not want the shares either. Being an investor today requires having faith in institutional strength beyond the next few years COMPARED to institutional strength elsewhere.

This sentence that @msf posted from Buffett “because all of my Berkshire shares will be fully distributed to certain philanthropic organizations over the ten years following the closing of my estate.” is the most worrisome to me as a holder of the stock.
It will enable larger institutions and shareholders to exert a lot more influence and control than they are able to today. I think it represents a very big risk to the future of the company post Warren.
When he first joined the Giving Pledge - I was concerned. Now more so. This MW story offers a good summary of my concerns: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/buffetts-estate-plan-to-benefit-charities-could-kill-berkshire-hathaway-as-we-know-it-11652386090

Peter Bernstein suggested a 75/25 portfolio of stocks/cash equivalents
Not much different from Buffett's suggestion to skip bonds (2013 Berkshire Hathaway letter), except that Buffett felt 10% in cash equivalents (short term bonds) was sufficient.

My money, I should add, is where my mouth is: What I advise here is essentially identical to certain instructions I’ve laid out in my will. One bequest provides that cash will be delivered to a trustee for my wife’s benefit. (I have to use cash for individual bequests, because all of my Berkshire shares will be fully distributed to certain philanthropic organizations over the ten years following the closing of my estate.) My advice to the trustee could not be more simple: Put 10% of the cash in short-term government bonds and 90% in a very low-cost S&P 500 index fund. (I suggest Vanguard’s.) I believe the trust’s long-term results from this policy will be superior to those attained by most investors – whether pension funds, institutions or individuals – who employ high-fee managers.

"That's the lamest excuse for not doing one's homework before turning it in."
@rforno- Having spent a significant portion of my school years evading homework, I'm curious as to what there is to turn in if one hasn't done it? Evidently I missed something important way back there...

Well, yes, he turned SOMETHING in, but it wasn't worthy of a grade.....and the professor in me says he didn't do the expected work. :)

"That's the lamest excuse for not doing one's homework before turning it in."
@rforno- Having spent a significant portion of my school years evading homework, I'm curious as to what there is to turn in if one hasn't done it? Evidently I missed something important way back there...

There are pre-market (before open) and after-market (after close) sessions. It is a VERY THIN/ILLIQUID market, so use limit-orders. Even reliable quotes are not available. These sessions don't mix with regular sessions, i.e. nothing carries over between sessions. I have used them at Fido and Schwab. Years ago, Fido did require me to listen to several minutes long stuff that the Rep read on phone about warnings and cautions, but that was it. I don't recall Schwab doing anything like that.
Example - Nasdaq Quotes on TWTR https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/stocks/twtr

That's for sure... I've been thinking the same thing for years now.

@yogibearbull,
Any thoughts on the following?
VIX was down yesterday when S&P 500 was down a decent amount. VIX is having difficulty cracking 35 today.
AAII- S&P 500 has been down about 10% since 4/28 while Bearish sentiment is also down coincidentally about 10% - focusing on the severity of the moves in the same direction rather than the percentage of the move.
CNN fear and greed index is at 6 - the lowest in a year. (CNN is no longer giving me a long term chart of this but I do not remember seeing this low reading in ten years, except for in March 2020).
2-10 yr rates have come down about 20 bps in the past week but not collapsing.
The question I am asking myself is, is the stablecoin fiasco muddling some of the readings and perhaps the contagion is not systemic enough to call a bottom in the stock market?
P.S.: Senate confirmed Powell for the second term.

I've owned Matthews funds (MAPIX, MAPTX) previously and believed Matthews was an estimable firm.
Lydia So and Rahul Gupta left the firm in April 2020.
Tiffany Hsiao, YuanYuan Ji, and Beini Zhou left August 31, 2020.
These PM departures occurred within a short timeframe which really concerned me.
I no longer have a high regard for Matthews because of this and mediocre overall performance in recent years.
@ProtonAnalyst33,
I was not aware that a private equity firm has an ownership stake in Matthews.
Do you know when this PE firm initiated its stake?

Your list of names made me go dig up my notepad! There were other key PM departures: Raymond Deng who was a brilliant up and coming PM on Pacific Tiger and China left for Genesis in 2021. Robert Harvey, lead PM of their frontier asia fund also left in 2021. I recall the first major PM departure that shocked me was Kenichi Amaki, who was lead PM of the Japan fund (left for capital group in 2019). Brilliant investor and had basically been with the firm his entire investment career up until that point. how could they let him go? That was the begining of the exodus it seems and I stopped investing in the matthews funds and started asking more questions. In total, I recall them losing over 10 next gen PMs in the span of 2 years. Scary for an investment team of less than 40!
There was also that bizarre hiring then resignation of their President and CIO, Yu Ming Wang. The loss of PMs couldn't be attributable to him b/c many occured before he was even brought in. Truly odd and something I've never seen before in my 40 years in the business. https://citywireselector.com/news/matthews-asia-global-cio-exits-after-less-than-a-year-in-role/a1404581
I believe their new COO also left in less than 2 years, but the PM departures and their profiles (and where they left to) really spooked me.
Re the PE firm, I googled and found this. I think its Lovell Minnik. This article says they first invested in Matthews in 2011. That's over 10 years of being invested, which is a bit long in the tooth for a PE fund. Seems that supports the "sales mode" the firm has undertaken. I am guessing that fund life is coming to an end, so PE firm must sell sell sell!
https://www.themiddlemarket.com/news/lovell-minnick-backs-asia-focused-asset-manager
Something is going on at Matthews and it doesn't seem great for investors. I'd urge everyone to do your diligence.

Regarding BLNDX, Standpoint, it's done well YTD but...............the 5% down in one day last autumn still holds in my memory and I have reduced my position here....
Baseball Fan

I felt that pain last year, too. I like the idea of BLNDX, but that kind of move should not happen.
ATESX is a long-short fund that has done ok in its 4 years (all positive), and its held up pretty darn good YTD. Could be worth a look.

@Charles Lynn Bolin...enjoyed the recent commentary...resonated with me.
Charles, how do you feel about putting monies into funds that have a somewhat "black box" dynamic to them...yes, they explain their positions but sometimes I wonder, how safe of an investment are some of these funds?
I've had my eye on Grant Park Multi (GPANX) for a while now and have stepped in, toes first, testing the waters...other than I bonds, and Tbills, 2 yr treasury, I think this type of fund might be the only way you can scrape up mid single digit returns for the next few years.
Regarding BLNDX, Standpoint, it's done well YTD but I am concerned the mgr's model might not be picking up quickly enough if there is a trend change, meaning stonk markets really flush, like a limit down day I mean and/or bond yields start moving down and the commodity futures trades turn quickly on him...the 5% down in one day last autumn still holds in my memory and I have reduced my position here....did pick up a bit on PQTAX PIMCO Trend as I'm not certain but my perception (and I could be way wrong) is that their models might be quicker to account for a turn in certain markets and likely less stonk mkt exposure?
Hold on Palm Valley, PVCMX, nibble position started recently in RPEIX T Rowe Global Dynamic Bondo.
Continue to shovel in cash into 90 day Tbill, 6 month T bill, 1 and 2 Yr T Notes.
Safety first, rule1 don't lose money.
Of course, do what works for you, don't listen to anyone on line like me who does not know anything about anything, I just post here to share what I'm doing and only for entertainment purposes.
Good Luck to all,
Baseball Fan

FBGRX, Fidelity Blue Chip Growth, has actually outperformed TRP’s Blue Chip fund. Also heavily tech and growth names. Just another alternative for “bottom fishing.”

Thanks for the information
I have in the distant past owned TRBCX. Was a fine fund 15 years ago. But things change. It fell 3% today putting it down over 33% YTD. If you liked it at the end of 2021, you gotta love it now - at 2/3 the price.

@BaluBalu, in the heady days of allocation/balanced funds, some even touted their performance beating SP500 with one hand tied in the back (i.e. 30-40% in bonds). Of course, that claim couldn't be sustained.
FPURX now is also much different from the past. It used to have value tilt for equities but the new FPURX has been quite growthy for years (VWELX is going through that shift now but it chose a bad time for that). For the time period you looked at, there was no magic but FPURX lost much less than SP500 by 1974 - i.e. it came out way ahead by not losing that much in that bear stretch (1972-74).