My expectation for MFO members is that alternative funds are not necessarily a bright spot for money over the years. AND if one doesn't hold at least 10% of a portfolio in an alternative fund, any gain or loss is noise; and of little benefit to the portfolio.

Two good points @catch22. But...
1) I agree alts have not been a bright spot in the past, but I'm not confident in the traditional diversifier, bonds, being a bright spot going forward. It's possible bond funds may return zero% or worst. Use bond funds as a diversifier in a portfolio? Ok, but maybe you can do the same with a couple alternative funds. For me 'some' of these alts are an alternative to traditional bond funds, not equity or balanced funds). My expectation is they return what we have expected from core bond funds or even HY funds in the past.
2) Your 10% rule - I agree. I try not to be a fund collector or toe-dipper into a bunch of funds, but I see the term "alternative" as some what different than owning multiple similar-type traditional category funds. Alternative has such a diverse spread of style application. I think you can own a couple of these alt funds with differing approaches totaling 10% or more and get the average return you are looking for. In my case, FWIW, my sleeve of 3 alt funds total close to 20% of my self managed portfolio. Again, this is taking the place of traditional bond funds with the same return expectation of what core bond funds returned in the past.
I'll add, 30% of my self managed port is in 3 balanced funds, PRWCX easily the bulk of that, so I still have bonds in that aspect. Will alts work as bond alternatives? I'll let you know :)

@catch22, Thanks for the chart. I was not sure, with the chart, if you were agreeing with my statement that until the beginning of Covid, it performed more or less similar to a good High Yield bond fund or you wanted me to see some other aspect I had not mentioned. Please spell it out. Interestingly, pre March / April 2020, JHQAX was pretty anchored to ARTFX but after that date interest rates have only gone up and JHQAX accelerated higher from ARTFX - may be that just proved JHQAX's worth as a good replacement for (HY) bond funds, which per MikeM was part of the i(e)nquiry in this forum earlier this year.
Your comments: "My expectation for MFO members is that alternative funds are not necessarily a bright spot for money over the years."
If you meant the above for the future, please share your thoughts on why.
"AND if one doesn't hold at least 10% of a portfolio in an alternative fund, any gain or loss is noise; and of little benefit to the portfolio."
I am deducing from your statement that you do not expect JHQAX's historic 10% per year (not compounded) return (somewhat lower return, pre-Covid) to continue. But do you expect it to perform worse than a good HY fund, say, ARTFX? I am not one to quibble about predictions about the future but it would be helpful to know your thoughts. I am going to divert some of my bond (low volatility) sleeve to this fund. I do not own any dedicated investment grade fixed income.
I am not a big fan of alternative funds in general because a lot of them are idiosyncratic and potentially have a large range of outcomes. I experimented with a few of them over the years and never felt I understood their behavior. The last one I owned was an AQR fund - some 15% of my portfolio - I can not say I understood that fund at anytime of my ownership. JHQAX is very simple and its relative outcomes are reasonably predictable - or let us say, I understand it as well as any equity or bond fund I currently own. For the relative low volatility it is expected to have, I owning >10% of portfolio in JHQAX is not a problem.

BaluBalu
JHQAX
Per your initial post:

As an aside, its performance from inception (2014) until the beginning of Covid is about the same (more or less) as a good high yield fund but bond funds had falling rates as a tail wind - may be not a fair comparison.

Being curious, the below chart; starting at inception of JHQAX:
ARTFX is a decent active managed HY fund, SPY for a standard equity view and FBALX.
CHART
Your Dec. 9 post:

Upon my search of MFO site, I am surprised to learn only three posters (incl @carew388) indicated owning this fund. I would have thought it would have a wider ownership among MFO posters.

My expectation for MFO members is that alternative funds are not necessarily a bright spot for money over the years. AND if one doesn't hold at least 10% of a portfolio in an alternative fund, any gain or loss is noise; and of little benefit to the portfolio.
Remain curious,
Catch

I've owned the fund since March. There was a lot of talk about alternative funds at the start of 2021. The discussion in part was what might take the place of bond funds moving forward. That is where I first heard of it. Also mentioned at the time was that it was about to close, so after some research and comparison to other alternative funds and ETF's mentioned I dove into JHQAX. Options trading has been interesting and doing well for a while now. It was also different to anything else I owned. I don't have the time or experience to play options myself so this fund seemed perfect for addition to my alternative sleeve in my self managed portfolio (along with TMSRX and CTFAX). The fund has been a great buy since purchase.
I hold it in my tax deferred IRA so I know nothing about the tax ramifications.
What do I expect from it? I expect it to out-perform bonds, high yield or otherwise, with just slightly more risk. It has averaged about 13+% per year over the last 3 years but I don't expect it to duplicate that return in the next 3-5 years. I expect volatility to be low. In the past 3 years the funds STD has been ~7% compared to SPY at ~18%. Going forward, 60-70% of the S&P 500 return with 1/2 the down side in a bear market would be good I think.
FWIW, so far I really like the fund.

Cathie Wood worked in the hedge fund business in the past.

In 1998, along with Lulu C. Wang, Wood co-founded Tupelo Capital Management, a hedge fund based in New York City

Many fund managers have disciplined buy and sell processes with a holding period of 5 years or longer. Also the positions are built on multiple buys without rising the stock prices.

I think most fund investors (self included) are very “fickle” today. If a fund disappoints over a few months or a year they’re ready to pull money out. So, the more volatility that’s associated with a fund the more likely it is to experience these swings in investor commitment. And, being forced to unload assets during poor markets is never a good thing for the manager or the stalwarts who stick with the fund. Wood’s approach might work better in a hedge fund where minimum holding periods are sometimes stipulated. BTW - one reason for the success of PRWCX over many years is that it’s not the kind of high octane fund that invites a lot of hot money flows in and out.
As investors today it might be a good idea to consider the growing impact short sellers are exerting on some targeted equities.

Sorry if I sounded ungrateful! Agree Giroux is always worth listening to. Just trying to summarize the interview for those who didn’t have chance to view it. First time I’ve watched CNBC in a couple years. On Bloomberg interviews are a mixed bag - some brief and others very detailed.

More re @derf’s query about % of transactions that go bad. Bear in mind that not all “transactions” are equal. I can’t remember an exchange between funds @ TRP ever failing to go through. Pretty routine stuff. Here’s where it became frustrating for me ……
1) Switching from paper statements to online statements as my internet capability improved did not result in fewer paper statements as intended. The opposite happened and they began mailing monthly statements that I did not welcome - often replete with account numbers and balances. So I called them. First they said I had to remove checkwriting capability from my money market account if I wanted these frequent mailings halted. I did so at some inconvenience to me. But the flood of paper did not stop. If anything it increased. Calls to try to resolve this often had me on hold for anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours. Still, the monthly (occasionally weekly) paper statements continued to arrive. And every “agent” I talked to seemed to have a different “take” on what the problem was.
(2) For years TRP had agreed to stop taking Michigan withholding from distributions provided I filed the appropriate Michigan tax form ahead of time. And every January 1 I completed a new form and sent it (certified mail) along with a brief typed letter to Price. But when I took a 2021 distribution mid-year, they did not honor that opt-out form. To be more specific, they did honor the opt-out provision on part of the distribution (from one bond fund) but they pulled the state tax from the other part (from a second bond fund). When I followed up with a call to try to ask why they essentially “blew me off” saying something like “sometimes we do and sometimes we don’t” (honor the opt-out request). Interestingly, Fido let’s you opt out of state withholding when you submit the transaction - a feature missing at TRP.
(3) While 90+% of the transfer to Fido was in-kind, there were 3 short term bond funds having small balances I elected to liquidate. Rather than combine these into a single check, Price mailed Fido 3 separate checks. Fido credited those to my account and allowed me to trade with them, which I did. But 3 days later Fido had the checks returned to them from their bank as “unpaid.” The next thing I knew my investments were being force sold by Fido and I was being hit with a slew of related fees. I was suspended from being able to trade with unsettled funds for 3 months. My record still bears a “Free Riding” violation which the SEC considers fraudulent behavior and a serious breech of law.
(4) Daily for over a week I was in phone contact with TRP, experiencing those 30 minute to 2 hour wait times on virtually every call trying to resolve this. Their phone personnel seemed poorly informed and ill prepared to deal with the issue. Repeatedly I was told “we’ll call you” which rarely really happened. They did eventually apologize for the matter and send out 3 new checks to Fido. What a horrendous experience - considering that TRP had long held the bulk of my retirement assets and had been trusted by me for decades to do things right.
So, @Derf and others …. it’s not so much the % of things that go wrong as the type of issue involved and how well equipped they are to resolve a problem once one occurs.

@Sven. i guess you meant "outside" of the US. The fellow I finally reached was surely a first-language USA English-speaker. But clearly, TRP is not keeping their end up. Just awful. Years ago, I was sent a card in the mail with a "Priority" phone number. I guess you have to be some kind of special to receive the thing. But there's no "priority" service about anything to do with TRP, anymore.

WeathTrack and Morningstar In-depth interviews are far better than CNBC. What can you talk about in 5 minutes slot, really not much.
Giruox gave a detailed interview last spring during the lockdown (he was doing it from home). Will post that agin when I locate it. He talked about the change of management that led them to buy GE at very good price. Their team know the companies well and forecast their earning several years ahead. The stable stocks revolve around healthcare, consumer staples and utility stocks. Took a more tactical approach on Amazon and Microsoft. That fits his approach being GARP and don’t overpay for growth. He explained his view of bank loans and how offer attractive yield (3%) with less than one year in duration. Think I will get his Kindle book over Christmas.

1 - 1 - 1
The last profitable day for initiating a buy-and-hold position in ARK Innovation was one year, one month and one day ago. Somewhere in the mid-day. Good news, I guess, is that any purchase made after that day is a candidate for tax-loss harvesting.
64.9%
The amount by which ARK will have to rise for get positions established in early February 2021 out of the red. The fund saw huge inflows in the fourth quarter of 2020 and most of the first quarter of 2021 as investors rushed to buy the previous five years' returns. Which is to say, almost all of ARKK's investors are likely underwater.
- - - - -
There's an interesting (somewhat semi-pro) piece on Wood's long term record at the anonymous InvestmentWatch blog. The author's takeaway is

almost all of Cathie’s major outperforming years come during special periods in the market cycle, particularly in the periods following a market crash ... Outside of those special events, Cathie’s funds generally underperform equivalent style peers on a year-by-year basis. She has a history of leaving a fund during or following a period of underperformance, then “rebooting” in another fund. This includes a short stint in a hedge fund that lost over 80% of it’s AUM.

That last caveat shouldn't apply now, but the others are useful reminders.
For what that's worth, David

FWIW...I just completed an DB plan rollover to my exiting TRP IRA Rollover (Brokerage). It was seemless and I had no need to interact with TRP.
A few years ago, when changing jobs, I tried rolling my 401k at former employer into Fido (new 401k at new employer) and had issues with a small amount of the proceeds considered 'after tax' money from the sale of company stock. Fido wouldn't process rollover so I switched to tRP. They obliged and asked for a Letter stating what to do with after tax $$$...simple fix!!! TRP received my proceeds because Fido couldn't accomodate me...

I've had an account with TRP for 20 years. The brokerage customer service is solid, the fund lineup is a above average IMO. There 'Sales Charge' is $35 compared to Fido's $49.95 so that's better. I like Fidelity's fund screener much better...it's probably the one area TRP is below average. Hope that helps or if you have any particular questions...

Wow, what a mess!
This is even worse than the Facebook mess (and no customer support) that my wife has encountered (locked her out of her account), because money and tax law are involved in your case.
Several years ago I opened 529 accounts for my two grandsons at TRP (the state of Alaska plan). I mailed in a check to fund the accounts.
Check didn't clear.
Waited a little while. Called TRP.
Waited a little longer.
Finally they said we've not received the check -- I should send another.
So I agreed to send another check, with the admonition "don't cash the first check!"
Second check arrived there and was deposited in the accounts.
Several weeks later, they returned the first check to me. I'll never know whether they had it all along or it was lost in the mail. I should've stopped payment on it.
Fortunately it all worked out.
The boys are now high school juniors and looking at colleges.
Which TRP fund did you choose to put the transferred funds in? How were you eligible to put money in the closed fund?
David

The biotech space is very volatile though one which I have involvement. As noted above, IBB and FBIOX are good choices which contain several well known and familiar names and with good overall portfolios. There are funds with a more clinical stage focus, such as ETNHX. I've owned that for about 6 years with good results, though it's not for the squeamish. As Mark noted, FSMEX is an excellent choice in the healthcare space. I swapped VGHCX for FSMEX last year, and frankly, should have done it years ago. That one's a Great Owl, and deservedly so.

I've also had good experiences with Tire Rack over the years.
My last tire purchase (several years ago) was at Costco.
Costco has a much smaller selection of tires since they only sell a few different brands.
However, it's possible to get a great deal if the tires you want are available and one of their periodic sales is in progress.
Their service is top-notch although I've waited longer than I've liked for work completion on several occasions. The tire department at my "home" Costco always seems to be busy!

@BenWP - Size 265/65R-18 - Japanese off-brand. They ship UPS in 3 days. Yes, I have a local dealer who’s happy to mount & balance them, for a fee of course. These are a mud & snow tire suitable for both winter and summer driving. Have had good luck with Tire Rack over the years.

FBIOX, Fidelity's Select Biotechnology was a standout performer in the recent past but I have no idea where they stand today. Just wondering if you've also considered ETF's as a possibility. You might also look at some wide-mandated health care funds (e.g. PRHSX) to see if they may contain healthy slices of biotech holdings.
The health care sector has been hit or lots of misses for me over the years and I've settled on just one that I care to hold longer term - FSMEX.

Originally I'd hoped to name this site FundWatch.com. A squatter in the Netherlands wanted $25,000 for the URL so, no. (Mercer now owns it.) To the extent we have an active going-forward, it would be good to find a way to signal the fact that we care about pooled investment vehicles (PIVWatch?) and recognize that the wrapper makes a difference in only a few special instances (you can't close an ETF to new investments so in a capacity-constrained strategy, you need an OEF, as an example).
Cheers and holiday good wishes!
David

Interesting observations.
I looked up fundwatch.com and there is mercerfundwatch.com, a fund advisory for HK and Singapore. This "Mercer" (not related to the "Mercer family" in news in recent years) is a subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan/MMC.
I think that MFO - Mutual Fund Observer name caught on nicely.
There have been several instances where creation/redemption processes for ETFs were disrupted and then they traded just like CEFs at premium/discount. Of course, ETFs are not designed with this in mind, but that can happen. And ETNs (terrible sponsor IOUs) are famous for shutting at the worst possible times for their holders.

Thank you everyone for your contribution to this topic.
@msf, great stuff to consider as I am working on the $ amount we want to convert. Most likely it will be done over several years before RMD begins while coordinating with my spouse’s RMD which starts several years later.
@hank, we did exactly what you suggested several years ago when we consolidated IRAs in the same brokerage. We have laid our a plan on what goes in the Roth versus Traditional IRA.
@sma3, I have been reviewing the details on income level and their impact on Medicare premium. Great suggestion on Maxifi for evaluate various scenarios - will check it out.