@Dennis Baran, thanks again for not only your reply but also soliciting a reply from a principal at the fund company. Very helpful.
@BaluBalu... getting back to you with my reply... I've made it clear in prior threads that I'm extremely risk averse... I do have substantial financial assets ( 8 figures) and am not looking to get greedy. Furthermore, I'm of the opinion that the markets have been juiced by insane fiscal and monetary inputs as well as the somewhat ponzi structure of it due to index fund flows and stock options issuance as well as buy backs. Not sure.
So I'm on the look out for what some have recently described as boomer candy. Exposure to markets but with a shock absorber approach that might mitigate a severe downturn in the markets.
PHEFX t Rowe hedged equity is one fund mentioned prior but I also believe that VELIX likely is a very good candidate. I also really like that you have a veteran running the fund along with a still experienced and well educated co manager who is younger also at the helm.
VELA will see some of my investment monies in the near future... I'll be phasing in slowly over the next several months.
Thanks again,
Baseball fan

“Morningstar's John Rekenthaler starts with a simple but unusual observation that if 2 assets have the same long-term (LT) TR, then rebalancing will definitely benefit the TR." In all other cases, rebalancing hurts TR, but does control risk.”

Absolutely. Good distinction to make. To myself, and from what I’ve seen over the years, it’s the second reason that receives more of the attention - especially from the financial press. . Every now and than when equity markets appear frothy you’ll get this suggestion to rebalance as part of a lengthier piece on cutting risk, dealing with high equity valuations, planning for the future or some other broader topic. Not new in that sense.
Rekenthaler goes a step farther and dissects the idea into the 2 categories @yogibearbull observes. Good article. Thanks to @bee and Yogi for posting. Great minds think alike.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1342947/000121390024062820/ea0209708-01_497.htm
497 1 ea0209708-01_497.htm 497
BBH TRUST
BBH PARTNER FUND – SMALL CAP EQUITY
(BBHSX)
SUPPLEMENT DATED JULY 19, 2024 TO THE
PROSPECTUS
AND STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
DATED FEBRUARY 28, 2024
The following information supplements, and, to the extent inconsistent therewith, supersedes, certain information in the Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information. Unless otherwise noted, capitalized terms used in this supplement have the same meaning as defined in the Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information.
I. FUND LIQUIDATION
On July 19, 2024, the Board of Trustees of BBH Trust (the “Trust”) approved a Plan of Liquidation for the BBH Partner Fund – Small Cap Equity (the “Fund”) pursuant to which the Fund will be liquidated (the “Liquidation”) on or about the earlier of (i) September 30, 2024 and (ii) the date in which all shareholders have redeemed their respective shares in the Fund (the “Liquidation Date”). Shareholder approval of the Liquidation is not required.
Beginning on July 19, 2024 through the Liquidation Date, the Fund may depart from its stated investment objective and policies as it liquidates holdings in preparation for the distribution of assets to investors. During this time, the Fund may hold more cash or cash equivalents than normal, which may prevent the Fund from meeting its stated investment objective. Shareholders of record as of the close of business on the Liquidation Date will receive their proportionate interest in all of the net assets of the Fund in complete cancellation and redemption of all the outstanding shares of the Fund. Payment will be made in accordance with instructions from each shareholder. If a shareholder has not provided instructions by the time proceeds are distributed, that shareholder’s liquidation proceeds shall be distributed based on the payment instructions on file for such shareholder with the Fund’s Transfer Agent. For those accounts with no bank instructions on file with the Fund’s Transfer Agent, the Transfer Agent shall issue a check. If required by the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, the Fund will make an income distribution prior to the Liquidation Date.
Shareholders of the Fund may redeem their investments as described in the Fund’s Prospectus prior to the Liquidation Date.
If the Fund has not received your redemption request or other instruction by the Liquidation Date, your shares will be redeemed on the Liquidation Date, and you will receive your proceeds from the Fund, subject to any required withholding.
The Adviser will bear all expenses of the Liquidation to the extent such expenses are not part of the Fund’s normal and customary fees and operating expenses. However, the Fund and its shareholders will bear transaction costs and any potential tax consequences associated with turnover of the Fund’s portfolio.
The liquidation of the Fund, like any redemption of Fund shares, will constitute an event upon which a gain or loss may be recognized for state and federal income tax purposes, depending on the type of account and the adjusted cost basis of the investor’s shares. The tax year for the Fund will end on the Liquidation Date. Please contact your tax advisor to discuss the tax consequences to you of the liquidation.
II. CLOSURE OF THE FUND TO PURCHASES
Effective as of the close of business on July 19, 2024, the Fund will be closed to purchases of Fund shares, however, the Fund’s closure to purchases of Fund shares does not restrict any shareholders from redeeming shares of the Fund.
The Fund’s ability to enforce the closure of the Fund to purchases with respect to certain retirement plan accounts and accounts held by financial intermediaries may vary depending on systems capabilities, applicable contractual and legal restrictions and cooperation of those retirement plans and intermediaries.
Please contact the Fund at 1-800-575-1265 if you have any questions.
PLEASE RETAIN THIS SUPPLEMENT FOR FUTURE REFERENCE.

Ok, I got it.
MM pays now 5+% but for years it pays under 1%. A couple of year from now it will be much lower. I can always find pretty good risk/reward bond funds but that's my specialty.
Logins at 4 weeks interval and not interested too much tell me Fidelity is better for you.
How can $250K sit idle? Suppose I sell 1 million and buy $950K(5% less than a million) it's only $50K. To have $250K sitting idle means you sold $5 million. I'm a stickler in that dept, if I see $100 left, I invest it.
Taking care of my money and logging in 10 minutes 2-3 times per week is worth it. I always check all my other financial institution sites too. IMO, It's a must in the digital world to protect and verify your assets.
I only invest in funds/ETFs, very rarely, I trade leveraged CEFs for hours/days when I see a good trade, like 2020, or 2022.
What does someone pay for RIA services?

Beware of nonbank fintech apps promising good yields.
What did these people think they were getting from Yotta that they couldn't get from an actual bank?
It turns out that there's a lot to unpack here. I had not taken a look directly at Yotta. Not surprisingly, it's a "gamified" site designed to attract young customers. But surprising (at least to me) is its banking arrangement.
Unless I'm missing something, it pays just a 0.10% base rate. Though because it offers chances of winning money, its effective average rate is closer to 2.5% depending on where/when you read figures. So what one gets is the thrill of the chase in addition to (on average) a halfway decent rate of interest.
Further, it looks like a customer's agreement is directly with Evolve Bank (and perhaps Synapse), not with Yotta. So technically, the customers may in fact be getting their services from an actual bank after all!
Here's the sample customer agreement. It starts:

Synapse Financial Technologies, Inc. (“Synapse”) is providing this Agreement to you on behalf of Bank. ...
This Consumer Interest Checking Account Agreement (this “Agreement”) governs the interest-bearing consumer demand account (the “Account” or “Interest Checking Account”) made available to you by Evolve Bank & Trust (“Bank”), [member FDIC] in partnership with Synapse, as a technology service provider of Bank. ... Access ... is available only through ... Yotta.

As to watching out for nonbank fintech apps promising good yields - Yotta's promised yield is okay but not great. In contrast, Raisin (formerly SaveBetter) appears to be a well established fintech though which one can get better rates from specific banks than one would get by going directly to those banks. Much as one can sometimes get better CD rates from a bank by going through a broker than going directly to the bank.
I agree that caution is warranted, as it is for any financial investment. But there doesn't seem to be any substantial additional risk in using Raisin rather than going directly to the banks it works with. While I haven't used it, it looks like a good source of no-penalty CDs.
Raisin review - Business Insider
Top savings rates (with several Raisin arrangements) - Deposit Accounts

• Largest Catholic mutual fund family in the U.S.


• Diverse group of six funds that enable investors to align financial goals with moral beliefs


• Value investors utilizing proprietary criteria to screen out companies that promote or support activities contrary to the core moral teachings of the Catholic Church


• Place equal emphasis on investment performance and moral criteria in selecting securities


• Serve institutional and individual investors


• Advised by Schwartz Investment Counsel, Inc., a registered investment adviser established in 1980


• Professional portfolio managers and analysts average over 20 years of investment experience


• 100% no-load mutual fund family

I believe RCMFX is actually secular, but same advisor.

stayCalm

That said Fidelity and Vanguard imo are still better imo because one is not forced to manually enter a 2nd MMF trade for every single buy/sell.

Most should don't trade, and most shouldn't own MM.
This is such a small thing, no need to worry about, even if you didn't do the second buy, the yearly difference is meaningless.
You still need to look at the TOTALs.
Vanguard? no thank you, bad servicess.
Fidelity? sure. But, as I said, waving commissions is probably about $2K for me. The ability to invest 99% on day one when I switch funds at Schwab can generate another $K
These are all peanuts.

Regards your Catch 22 comment

I made a generic comment not related to you. All I can tell you is that I met probably at least with 30-40 financial advisors, and I wasn't impressed. Most are just salespeople who repeat what is fed to them.
Most are not real fiduciaries, even if their title says so. A good one should assess your goals in a couple of hours, set a plan for years to come, and only make changes at pivotal points.
They also should put you in up to 5-7 funds, at least half indexes, it's not a brain surgery.
That means charging you maybe $1000-1500 first time and nothing for years, hardly any of them will do it. Fiduciaries should look at their clients interests, not charge them every year, and never by the size of their portfolios.
Good luck.

Thanks for chiming in @BaluBalu. I was a little uncertain myself to what post of mine @Graust referred. I’ve strived to stay away from politics on the investing side, but do engage in politics a bit in the off-topic section. Always, we should endeavor to remain civil whether here or over in off-topic. I think yours is a noble attempt to discuss the Bloomberg Businessweek content absent political bickering. Good luck!
@Graust is a longtime “regular”. He may not make a lot of comments, but they are always substantive based on an obvious deep knowledge of financial matters. He has helped me on countless occasions over the years. I am grateful.

Thanks BaluBalu.
I extracted the paragraphs below from our 2021 MICUS report. A bit dated, but I believe M* has continued to grow its business even higher in the 3 years since.
The Business
If attendance at Morningstar The Conference was down this year, it does not reflect the success of Morningstar The Business, in spite of COVID or perhaps helped by it. Since Kapoor took over CEO in 2017, employees have doubled, as have MORN’s valuations. The company’s market cap has nearly quadrupled.
Adding to its acquisition of private equity tracker Pitchbook, the company acquired credit rating firm DBRS in 2019 and ESG rating firm Sustainalytics in 2020.
Since most people probably think of Morningstar as just the “Good Housekeeping” of the fund industry, it’s probably worth listing all their current products:
• DBRS Morningstar – Independent rating services and …
• Morningstar Advisor Workstation – Investment research, financial planning, client reporting …
• Morningstar Data – Global equity, managed investments, and market data …
• Morningstar Direct – Advanced portfolio analytics and performance reporting …
• PitchBook – Data, analysis, industry news, and in-depth reports on the private and public markets …
• ESG Investing Solutions – Assessments of ESG risks and opportunities across asset classes …
• Financial Planning Solutions – Web-based financial planning tools for advisors
• Sustainalytics – Sustainable investment strategies and security-level ESG research and ratings …
• Morningstar Office – Web-based portfolio and practice management …
• Morningstar Research – Independent, comprehensive evaluations on equities, funds …
• Morningstar Annuity Intelligence – Annuity research for professional investors
• Morningstar ByAllAccounts – Account-aggregation and financial-management tools…
• Morningstar Commodities & Energy – Research and data in the commodities and energy sectors …
• Morningstar Credit Information and Analytics – Credit tools and research …
• Morningstar Enterprise Components – Configurable, ready-to-integrate enterprise software …
• Morningstar Essentials – Investment statistics and ratings for institutional marketing professionals
• Goal Bridge – Goal-setting and investment planning for financial advisors
• Morningstar Investment Research Center – Comprehensive investment resources for library patrons
• Morningstar Reporting Solutions – Marketing materials, regulatory documents, and other custom …
• Manager Selection Services – Manager selection and investment analysis for financial advisors
• Morningstar Total Rebalance Expert – Tax-aware rebalancing for financial advisors
• Morningstar Indexes – Product benchmarking & creation for financial institutions and asset managers
• Managed Portfolios – Mutual fund, stock, and exchange-traded fund portfolios …
• Morningstar Retirement Manager – Workplace retirement account service for plan sponsors
• Advisor Managed Accounts – Managed accounts for registered investment advisors
• Morningstar Fiduciary Services – Investment selection, portfolio monitoring, and portfolio reporting …
• Morningstar Plan Advantage – Comprehensive retirement-plan management …
• Target-Date Solutions – Target-date funds for plan sponsors
• Morningstar Premium – Analysis of stocks, funds, and markets, plus tools …
• Morningstar Investor Newsletters – Investment strategies and in-depth analysis …
Morningstar’s founder and chairman, Joe Mansueto, retains about 45% of outstanding shares, representing a current value of about $5 billion. If there is someone vested in Chicago’s recovery, it would be him. He purchased the historic Wrigley Building in 2018 and most recently the Waldorf Astoria Chicago. He owns Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire. He remains a large donor to the University of Chicago, his alma mater.

One of the businesses Morningstar entered just under three years ago was their own brand of mutual funds, which replaced other funds in its Managed Portfolios business. The nine funds have accumulated $5.3B in AUM, or about $44M in additional fees for Morningstar.
At the time, it seemed awkward to us [here’s David’s Take] and it remains awkward for Morningstar to offer its own competing funds. What’s worse is that so far they have performed unremarkably, as can be seen in the table below. As a fiduciary, I would be hard-pressed to defend why these funds were chosen over others recommended by Morningstar’s own research teams. None of the funds will qualify for Morningstar’s “5 Star” rating when they soon reach the 3-year mark. Morningstar is also a sub-advisor of five other funds for ALPS. These five ETF asset-allocation portfolios suffer even worse performance; in fact, Morningstar itself ranks the ALPS family “Below Average.”

Baby bonds (I believe) are bonds that are traded on exchanges in denominations less than $1,000….usually $25, although some are $50 and some are $100 (or other par prices). There are also preferred stocks that trade similarly (in denominations, exchanges, etc.), but baby bonds are higher in the capital stack, have call and due/maturity dates, and generally trade more muted (lower volatility) than preferred stock (which are closer to equity—or the bottom—of the capital stack).
I know trading individual baby bonds (or any other security) can be a PITA, but if you spend some time looking at individual baby bonds, you can get yields easily of 6% or higher (usually called stripped or current yield), with built in capital gains if buying under par, that adds to the return (usually called yield to maturity or yield to call).
PIMCO also has a fund that invests in baby bonds and preferreds….PFANX is the A share version of it.
I have invested in several individual preferreds and baby bonds, so am happy to answer any more questions; usually ETF or mutual fund versions that hold these funds have several limitations (usually liquidity and excessive exposure to financial companies because these are the most likely to issue these securities) that hurt longer term returns.

I own XMHQ but I am hesitant to recommend non-active in the SMID space. But SMID ETFs in a trading account are OK.

I think the X's make an interesting contrast to the pricey boutiques Barrons likes to tout. As yogi's charts point out, mayflies are in season.
I don't have a trading account, but there are reasons I gave FMIMX a headstart on the 5th, and won't hold momentum in the IRA. It should go without saying that people should stick to what they are comfortable owning. But as my grandfather used to say, if it's worth saying once its worth repeating from time to time.
I find XMHQ's thesis simple to understand. I suspect that many active managers consider the factors in their rule set. Of course, it only has a five-year track record to weigh.

Dinky linky:

XMHQ is a passively-managed portfolio of 80 securities that tracks the S&P mid-cap 400 Quality Index. The equities are selected based on the highest quality score, calculated by the following three equally-weighted fundamental factors: (1) return-on-equity (2) accruals ratio, and (3) financial leverage ratio. The index is being weighted by the total of its quality score multiplied by its market capitalization and is rebalanced semi-annually. Prior to June 24, 2019, the fund traded as Invesco Russell mid-cap Equal Weight ETF (EQWM) and followed the Russell mid-cap Equal Weight Index.

I'm supposed to be dealing with the garage, so enough procrastinating.

@Old_Joe,
I do not need any stats to know if Schwab is milking their customers more than their competitors. Personal experience is more than sufficient. Milking can be in the form of money and / or other frictions, and their brokerage sweep feature and mandatory cash holding in Robo accounts speak for itself.
I am not one to quarrel with the weather. I had given many suggestions to Schwab to improve, including written suggestions. I have then decided to adapt and use them for what they are tolerable and use Fido for everything else.
Incidentally, I opened both Schwab and Fido accounts the same day 20 years ago. My Fido assets were about 10 times larger than my Schwab assets before TD accounts were transferred to Schwab. Fido never offered me any freebies or asset transfer bonuses. I use all investment vehicles, except interval funds. I do not use advisory services.
I have had my head taken out for being ahead of others in sharing negative info about brokerages and other financial institutions. It seems I offend forum members in my sharing. So, I will stop.
On a separate note, I, as a customer, once had a very poor experience with United Health - prior to ACA. I thought they were A holes and switched to other carriers. What I failed to consider was to look into their business financials and buy UNH stock. If they can try to screw me so blatantly, may be they have some sort of moat. Given that experience, I should look into if Schwab has a moat that allows them to provide poor customer experience and then buy Schwab stock.

The TIAA VAs that yogi is writing about are the CREF annuities. TIAA invented variable annuities for the predecessor of 403(b) plans back in 1952. These qualified annuities are different from the non-qualified annuities that Catch is asking about.
Non-qualified annuities are funded with after tax dollars. From an IRS perspective they are similar to non-deductible T-IRAs. Like IRAs, they have a penalty if you take withdrawals before age 59½. One difference is that unless you annuitize, the non-deductible dollars are the last ones out, unlike non-deductible T-IRAs, where withdrawals are prorated between pre- and post-tax dollars.
If one disregards typically expensive optional bells and whistles (enhanced death benefits, GLWBs, etc.), VAs can be used as non-deductible T-IRAs after maxing out one's IRA contributions. Unlike T-IRAs, they do not have RMDs at age 73 or so; however they do require one to withdraw money or annuitize at an age specified in the contract (usually somewhere between 85 and 90 or 95).
VAs all carry a variety of charges. Each contract sets its own rates, just as each mutual fund sets its own fees. Morgan Stanley (see link below) does a good job of giving industry ranges. Read the paper if you care to know what these fees are for:
Mortality and Expense Risk (M&E): 0.20% - 1.80%
Administrative and Distribution Fees: 0.00% - 0.60%
Annual Fee: $30 - $50, waived with high enough balance (typically $50K)
Contingent Deferred Sales Chage (CDSC) - think "class B shares" - 0% to 9% declining
https://www.morganstanley.com/content/dam/msdotcom/en/assets/pdfs/wealth-management-disclosures/understandingvariableannuities.pdf
As you can see from these ranges, there are some VAs with low "wrapper" fees (the first three charges), and that don't charge a fee to get out (no CDSC). The Fidelity Personal Retirement Annuity mentioned by catch (0.25% wrapper fees) is one such annuity. Until 2019 Vanguard had its own VA. At the time I believe its wrapper fee was 0.30%. There are others.
Of note, especially since yogi mentioned TIAA, is TIAA Intelligent Variable Annuity. Its fees depend on the size of the annuity, ranging from 0.50% (plus $25 if under $25K) to 0.35% (at $100K) and 0.25% (at $500K). The kicker is that after ten years, the wrapper fee drops to 0.10% regardless of balance. See prospectus.
Schwab sells a low cost VA (Genesis Life from Protective Life) with a 0.45% wrapper fee. There are a few others (I recall Pacific Life being one); search for no-load variable annuities.
As with 401(k)s, one also needs to consider the costs of the underlying portfolios. Like mutual funds, these come in multiple share classes. So it's not enough to simply look at the VA portfolio fund, but its share class. For example, both Fidelity and TIAA sell Pimco VIT Commodity Real Return Strategy. But Fidelity sells the Administrative class shares (see the prospectus it links to) with 1.48% ER after waivers, while TIAA sells the institutional class shares with an ER of 1.33% (see its fund prospectus).
Last and probably least :-) are a couple of comments about M*'s coverage of VAs. When comparing star ratings (if you can find them) M* has two different sets of ratings. One is for the fund itself (could vary by share class), the other is for the fund within the VA, i.e. including the wrapper fees. Most funds will tend to get high star ratings in the low cost VAs simply because they cost about 3/4% less than in "average" VAs. All those 4 and 5 star ratings are relatively meaningless if what you're interested in is the risk-adjusted performance of the underlying funds.
Second is that one can still eke out some VA info from M*. One has to search for a hidden "ticker" symbol of the fund of interest. That ain't easy. For example, here's the google search I did for dfa VA international value portfolio. It turned up a FT page with a ticker-like value of 0P00003CY8. In M*'s portfolio manager, create a portfolio with this as the sole holding, you'll be able to get a little info, including its YTD gain of 9.48%. And if you have premium membership, you'll be able to x-ray that portfolio to find that it is 98% foreign, with 54% in LCV.
If you add "pdf" to the search string, you might even turn up a 2 page M* report on the portfolio, such as this one at Pacific Life. (Just check the date to make sure you found a current report.)

There’s one more thing worth remembering when reading Wood’s letter. And it’s that her job is more about convincing investors to join her—getting the best returns for her investors is a secondary consideration. Recent outflows suggest it isn’t going well. She may well be right about the future and her stock picks may turn out to be excellent. The hard part is convincing others to join her.
BOOM. That's the money quote right there....as with many/most funds, it's all about AUM and fees.
I invested with a 'rock star' fund manager that was all over the financial pr0n world (eg, CNBC and the pundocracy) and got burned. Never again. Cathie is just the latest flavor-of-the-month...

@WABAC,
I did not know about BDAFX. Re its financial allocation, I see Visa, Moody's, SPG, MA, etc. in the top 10. I learned growth is a very broad term and as you implied, one must know where one wants to source or is sourcing growth from. E.g., one could have invested in MRFOX for growth and wondered why it did not work since April.
BTW, I like FMILX too.
If you are open to ETFs, Fidelity has a bunch of growth style box ETFs of their own.
Good luck.

Apparently the narrow answer is "Invidia" and the broad answer is "tech." The Subversive Whale funds track the publicly disclosed stock trades of Republican and Democratic members of Congress. As we've noted before, the managers are seeking to highlight insider trading; they are not actually arguing that investing in their ETFs makes good financial sense.
Morningstar just published an analysis of the Republican and Democratic funds and their differences. Takeaways might be that everybody loves them their tech, and that the Republicans are otherwise more enamored of Old Economy sectors than an Dems.
For what interest it holds, David

Above-the-fold article on this morning's WSJ website. Also mentioned are concerns over new fees nickle-and-diming customers and how growth of AUM not leading to customer service/interface improvements.
(gift link)
https://www.wsj.com/personal-finance/vanguards-die-hard-customers-have-a-message-for-new-ceo-the-service-is-abysmal-c2da0491?st=79tslq2qz4mj6bi&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
Vanguard ranked last out of eight major brokerages for customer satisfaction with website performance and mobile apps in a recent survey of 2,700 investors conducted by Investor’s Business Daily, which is published by The Wall Street Journal’s parent company, Dow Jones. The asset manager has acknowledged the problems, which some analysts chalk up to an underinvestment in technology.
Former CEO Tim Buckley, who announced his retirement in February, said in 2019 that the firm would spend $1 billion a year to improve its technology. Vanguard rolled out a modernized app in 2021, but customers weren’t impressed and complained of bugs and dumbed-down functionality.
“The complaints go back years and years,” said Daniel Sotiroff, a research analyst who covers Vanguard at Morningstar. “Part of the issue is their size and how fast they’ve grown. It’s hard to turn the Titanic.”
< - >
For investors having web or tech issues, the lack of night or weekend service is a particular point of frustration. Vanguard’s customer-service line is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time. Rivals Fidelity and Charles Schwab both offer 24/7 customer service by phone.
“They’ve always tried to keep costs low and service has suffered as a result,” said Jeff DeMaso, editor of the Independent Vanguard Adviser, a newsletter. “Long wait times are an issue.”
< - >
There’s a theory, and I’m not the only one to come up with it, that they’d rather move people onto the personal advisory service where they make more money or they’re just as happy if they go to another brokerage,” said Allan Roth, founder of Wealth Logic, a financial-planning firm.

OP, as of this writing, gold comprises 5.8% of my financial assets. Most of that is bullion in the form of 1oz Maple Leafs which I self-custody. A lesser portion is in the bullion ETF SGOL, in my IRA. Most of the bullion was acquired in 2000-2003. My investment framework does not consider gold to be an investment, but rather portfolio insurance. We insure our home, our car, our health, and our life. Seems like a no-brainer to insure the portfolio which makes these other assets possible. Unlike those other insurances -- where your premium is paid to an insurance company, gold is still your asset.
Have to laugh at the silly objections I sometimes read from the gold-haters.
Go to portfoliovizualizer.com. Run a asset comparison from 2000-current. Gold has actually outperformed the S&P. Its true if you stretch back the time to include the 80s-90's Superbull, the S&P outperforms. But keep in mind, the 'setup' for that 20 year period of outperformance was very cheap equities. We have no such setup for equities here. So the likelihood of a massive outperformance by equities vs gold strikes me as unlikely.
Some argue 'if you are a good stock trader, why buy gold'. Well, some people seem to inhabit Lake Woebegone, where everyone is 'above average'. I don't live there.Moreover, think back to the great traders of the 1990s. Where are they now? Consider, a lot of people who manage money professionally, are highly overrated, IMO. Consider Bruce Berkowitz (Fairholme). Or more recently, Kathy Woods Retail investors have increasingly moved to indexing because 'trading' is less of an investment strategy, and more of a hobby/recreational activity. Most professionals do not beat their best-fit index over time. Buy an index. And buy some gold.
I know, I know, Warren Buffet hates gold. You know who likes gold? The Federal Reserve, the BOJ, the ECB, the BOE, the Bank of China, and every other CB. Maybe they are just too dumb to understand that gold is a worthless 'barbarous relic'? More likely, they have an institutional understanding of long-term cycles of what we call 'money', and that gold is, ultimately, the "base money" on which every monetary system is based. Many Asian cultures prominently use gold as a way to store their household wealth. They do this because they know their govts end up ruining their fiat and banking systems. Gold is UNDER-owned bigly in the West, because no living person has experienced what it is like to have a major monetary reset. Maybe we won't experience it -- but taking out some insurance seems prudent to me.
Bringing it back to a more 'personal' perspective, the bullion which I self-custody is 'private money'. No custodian is telling the govt you have it. No future ex-spouse, can demand a chunk of the asset which she doesn't know about. No future creditor can lay claim to it, unless you volunteer the info.
My post is long in the tooth. It's late. I'm tired. So I will stop here.

Um, you missed my point. But worse, you seem to have twisted what I said.
"6% in six months would, in any other year, be considered an excellent performance. It is only in comparison to NVDA or QQQ that OAKMX looks bad."
I DID NOT compare value stocks to NVDA. I noted what I trust many posters here are NOT aware of in relation to some LCV funds this year. That is, chances are, the LCV OEFs that are significantly outperforming their peers YTD are slanted towards Growth and/or have names like NVDA in the fold.
Truth be told, OAKMX's 6% YTD performance thru 06/30/24 is far from "excellent" for this fund. It's 5-yr average annual TR is 16.5%, so it is trailing that on a 6-month basis. Its 10-yr average is 11.5%, so on par with that on a 6-month basis, or effectively an average TR for 6 months over the past 10 years.
But you REALLY lost me with this zinger:
"Almost nothing other than the Mag 7 has been up more than 5 to 10% this year."
Here are the 226/500, or 45+% of the S&P stocks that are UP over 6% YTD.
https://www.slickcharts.com/sp500/performance
Excerpt:
S&P 500 Component Year to Date Returns
# Company Symbol YTD Return
1 SUPER MICRO COMPUTER INC SMCI 194.51%
2 NVIDIA CORP NVDA 147.72%
3 VISTRA CORP VST 127.67%
4 CONSTELLATION ENERGY CEG 76.36%
5 ELI LILLY + CO LLY 55.55%
6 MICRON TECHNOLOGY INC MU 55.37%
7 ARISTA NETWORKS INC ANET 51.59%
8 CROWDSTRIKE HOLDINGS INC A CRWD 50.81%
9 TARGA RESOURCES CORP TRGP 50.80%
10 NRG ENERGY INC NRG 50.66%
11 WESTERN DIGITAL CORP WDC 49.04%
12 APPLIED MATERIALS INC AMAT 48.61%
13 BROADCOM INC AVGO 48.49%
14 NETAPP INC NTAP 47.32%
15 KLA CORP KLAC 44.35%
16 HOWMET AEROSPACE INC HWM 44.25%
17 META PLATFORMS INC CLASS A META 43.94%
18 DECKERS OUTDOOR CORP DECK 40.72%
19 NETFLIX INC NFLX 39.58%
20 QUALCOMM INC QCOM 38.39%
21 TERADYNE INC TER 37.85%
22 LAM RESEARCH CORP LRCX 36.97%
23 AMPHENOL CORP CL A APH 36.29%
24 ORACLE CORP ORCL 35.90%
25 LEIDOS HOLDINGS INC LDOS 34.76%
26 GODADDY INC CLASS A GDDY 34.65%
27 ARCH CAPITAL GROUP LTD ACGL 34.64%
28 CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL INC CMG 34.24%
29 TRANE TECHNOLOGIES PLC TT 33.18%
30 ALPHABET INC CL A GOOGL 32.61%
31 PROGRESSIVE CORP PGR 32.55%
32 BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORP BSX 32.42%
33 ALPHABET INC CL C GOOG 32.41%
34 DAVITA INC DVA 32.16%
35 DIAMONDBACK ENERGY INC FANG 32.13%
36 AMAZON.COM INC AMZN 31.63%
37 FAIR ISAAC CORP FICO 31.39%
38 MONOLITHIC POWER SYSTEMS INC MPWR 31.38%
39 GENERAL MOTORS CO GM 30.71%
40 COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP COST 30.19%
41 EATON CORP PLC ETN 30.09%
42 INTUITIVE SURGICAL INC ISRG 30.07%
43 IRON MOUNTAIN INC IRM 29.82%
44 WALMART INC WMT 29.53%
45 KKR + CO INC KKR 27.86%
46 GENERAL ELECTRIC CO GE 26.50%
47 TRANSDIGM GROUP INC TDG 26.34%
48 MCKESSON CORP MCK 26.32%
49 CORNING INC GLW 26.08%
50 BROWN + BROWN INC BRO 26.07%
51 AMERICAN EXPRESS CO AXP 25.96%
52 FIRST SOLAR INC FSLR 25.80%
53 SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL SYF 25.77%
54 CITIGROUP INC C 25.74%
55 GARMIN LTD GRMN 25.63%
56 FIDELITY NATIONAL INFO SERV FIS 25.24%
57 CATALENT INC CTLT 25.08%
58 HARTFORD FINANCIAL SVCS GRP HIG 24.45%
59 HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE HPE 24.38%
60 JUNIPER NETWORKS INC JNPR 24.05%
61 WELLS FARGO + CO WFC 23.87%
62 TRACTOR SUPPLY COMPANY TSCO 23.72%
63 MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS INC MSI 23.53%
64 JPMORGAN CHASE + CO JPM 22.77%
65 WABTEC CORP WAB 22.52%
66 MICROSOFT CORP MSFT 22.14%
67 EBAY INC EBAY 22.08%
68 TYLER TECHNOLOGIES INC TYL 21.74%
69 BANK OF AMERICA CORP BAC 21.56%
70 VALERO ENERGY CORP VLO 21.51%
71 WILLIAMS COS INC WMB 21.45%
72 GE VERNOVA INC GEV 21.29%
73 UNIVERSAL HEALTH SERVICES B UHS 21.18%
74 ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES LTD RCL 20.94%
75 SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY HOLDINGS STX 20.80%
76 GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC GS 20.70%
77 COLGATE PALMOLIVE CO CL 20.59%
78 INTERNATIONAL PAPER CO IP 20.33%
79 PUBLIC SERVICE ENTERPRISE GP PEG 20.33%
80 EDWARDS LIFESCIENCES CORP EW 19.65%
81 DOMINO S PIZZA INC DPZ 19.50%
82 RTX CORP RTX 19.34%
83 REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS REGN 18.94%
84 DISCOVER FINANCIAL SERVICES DFS 18.81%
85 ECOLAB INC ECL 18.81%
86 NXP SEMICONDUCTORS NV NXPI 18.44%
87 HILTON WORLDWIDE HOLDINGS IN HLT 18.40%
88 SYNOPSYS INC SNPS 18.40%
89 MARATHON OIL CORP MRO 18.29%
90 HCA HEALTHCARE INC HCA 18.11%
91 FEDEX CORP FDX 17.89%
92 MODERNA INC MRNA 17.72%
93 WELLTOWER INC WELL 17.52%
94 WESTROCK CO WRK 17.51%
95 TJX COMPANIES INC TJX 17.47%
96 MARATHON PETROLEUM CORP MPC 17.38%
97 ONEOK INC OKE 17.25%
98 INGERSOLL RAND INC IR 17.22%
99 MERCK + CO. INC. MRK 17.15%
100 REPUBLIC SERVICES INC RSG 17.13%
101 RALPH LAUREN CORP RL 17.02%
102 INTL FLAVORS + FRAGRANCES IFF 17.01%
103 WASTE MANAGEMENT INC WM 16.96%
104 CINTAS CORP CTAS 16.87%
105 UNITED AIRLINES HOLDINGS INC UAL 16.82%
106 FOX CORP CLASS B FOX 16.82%
107 ARTHUR J GALLAGHER + CO AJG 16.51%
108 VERTEX PHARMACEUTICALS INC VRTX 16.44%
109 TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INC TXN 16.40%
110 CADENCE DESIGN SYS INC CDNS 16.31%
111 BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON CORP BK 16.23%
112 FOX CORP CLASS A FOXA 16.21%
113 DELTA AIR LINES INC DAL 16.11%
114 NEXTERA ENERGY INC NEE 16.02%
115 XYLEM INC XYL 15.66%
116 HP INC HPQ 15.65%
117 PALO ALTO NETWORKS INC PANW 15.45%
118 JOHNSON CONTROLS INTERNATION JCI 15.06%
119 DOVER CORP DOV 15.05%
120 ANALOG DEVICES INC ADI 14.95%
121 CINCINNATI FINANCIAL CORP CINF 14.88%
122 QUANTA SERVICES INC PWR 14.82%
123 UBER TECHNOLOGIES INC UBER 14.78%
124 VERALTO CORP VLTO 14.70%
125 ALLSTATE CORP ALL 14.43%
126 FREEPORT MCMORAN INC FCX 14.42%
127 APPLE INC AAPL 14.41%
128 PRUDENTIAL FINANCIAL INC PRU 14.31%
129 AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL INC AMP 14.23%
130 EXXON MOBIL CORP XOM 14.20%
131 ALTRIA GROUP INC MO 14.15%
132 BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC CL B BRK.B 14.14%
133 VERISK ANALYTICS INC VRSK 14.02%
134 ELEVANCE HEALTH INC ELV 13.65%
135 DIGITAL REALTY TRUST INC DLR 13.62%
136 KIMBERLY CLARK CORP KMB 13.56%
137 AXON ENTERPRISE INC AXON 13.49%
138 ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIES CORP CL A ZBRA 13.43%
139 AIRBNB INC CLASS A ABNB 13.37%
140 CHUBB LTD CB 13.08%
141 UNITED RENTALS INC URI 12.64%
142 ROLLINS INC ROL 12.55%
143 NEWS CORP CLASS A NWSA 12.55%
144 FISERV INC FI 12.46%
145 SERVICENOW INC NOW 12.40%
146 EMERSON ELECTRIC CO EMR 12.27%
147 T MOBILE US INC TMUS 12.26%
148 AT+T INC T 12.16%
149 WR BERKLEY CORP WRB 12.01%
150 MARSH + MCLENNAN COS MMC 11.89%
151 METTLER TOLEDO INTERNATIONAL MTD 11.88%
152 PROCTER + GAMBLE CO/THE PG 11.85%
153 KINDER MORGAN INC KMI 11.79%
154 HASBRO INC HAS 11.75%
155 CUMMINS INC CMI 11.68%
156 STRYKER CORP SYK 11.63%
157 COPART INC CPRT 11.61%
158 EQUITY RESIDENTIAL EQR 11.51%
159 CHURCH + DWIGHT CO INC CHD 11.51%
160 ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES AMD 11.46%
161 HUBBELL INC HUBB 11.21%
162 AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL GROUP AIG 11.19%
163 AUTOZONE INC AZO 11.00%
164 CATERPILLAR INC CAT 10.85%
165 WW GRAINGER INC GWW 10.77%
166 PARKER HANNIFIN CORP PH 10.71%
167 M + T BANK CORP MTB 10.69%
168 SOUTHERN CO/THE SO 10.60%
169 NEWS CORP CLASS B NWS 10.50%
170 BOOKING HOLDINGS INC BKNG 10.40%
171 KROGER CO KR 10.33%
172 TAPESTRY INC TPR 10.13%
173 CORTEVA INC CTVA 10.12%
174 ESSEX PROPERTY TRUST INC ESS 10.10%
175 RESMED INC RMD 10.07%
176 GENERAL DYNAMICS CORP GD 10.07%
177 CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP CFG 9.78%
178 CAMDEN PROPERTY TRUST CPT 9.71%
179 INTERCONTINENTAL EXCHANGE IN ICE 9.65%
180 RAYMOND JAMES FINANCIAL INC RJF 9.49%
181 GEN DIGITAL INC GEN 9.38%
182 CARRIER GLOBAL CORP CARR 9.36%
183 BUNGE GLOBAL SA BG 9.34%
184 O REILLY AUTOMOTIVE INC ORLY 9.16%
185 MOODY S CORP MCO 9.08%
186 AVALONBAY COMMUNITIES INC AVB 9.07%
187 VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC VZ 9.02%
188 PACKAGING CORP OF AMERICA PKG 8.96%
189 THE CIGNA GROUP CI 8.84%
190 WILLIS TOWERS WATSON PLC WTW 8.67%
191 STEEL DYNAMICS INC STLD 8.64%
192 WALT DISNEY CO/THE DIS 8.53%
193 INTL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP IBM 8.41%
194 AFLAC INC AFL 8.40%
195 CENCORA INC COR 8.34%
196 PHILIP MORRIS INTERNATIONAL PM 8.04%
197 VULCAN MATERIALS CO VMC 7.96%
198 AMGEN INC AMGN 7.90%
199 AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER AEP 7.88%
200 SCHWAB (CHARLES) CORP SCHW 7.78%
201 LOEWS CORP L 7.69%
202 NISOURCE INC NI 7.61%
203 OTIS WORLDWIDE CORP OTIS 7.24%
204 FIFTH THIRD BANCORP FITB 7.22%
205 MARTIN MARIETTA MATERIALS MLM 7.20%
206 COCA COLA CO/THE KO 7.16%
207 TRUIST FINANCIAL CORP TFC 7.15%
208 CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORP COF 7.14%
209 CONSTELLATION BRANDS INC A STZ 7.11%
210 ABBVIE INC ABBV 7.09%
211 UDR INC UDR 7.05%
212 TRAVELERS COS INC/THE TRV 6.91%
213 MORGAN STANLEY MS 6.86%
214 TE CONNECTIVITY LTD TEL 6.72%
215 TEXTRON INC TXT 6.67%
216 CENTERPOINT ENERGY INC CNP 6.62%
217 MOHAWK INDUSTRIES INC MHK 6.60%
218 NVR INC NVR 6.57%
219 TYSON FOODS INC CL A TSN 6.46%
220 MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL CL A MAR 6.42%
221 T ROWE PRICE GROUP INC TROW 6.42%
222 AVERY DENNISON CORP AVY 6.41%
223 GENERAC HOLDINGS INC GNRC 6.24%
224 L3HARRIS TECHNOLOGIES INC LHX 6.16%
225 EASTMAN CHEMICAL CO EMN 6.16%
226 JACOBS SOLUTIONS INC J 6.14%