The Week in Charts (12/27/23)
Put these charts on your wall. Topics:
0:00 Intro
00:23 Overbought! Oversold!
01:08 Credit Card Rates & Mortgage Rates
01:55 Fed Policy & Stock Market Returns
03:30 Mortgage Rates & Home Prices
04:20 The Stock Market Is Not the Economy
05:20 Bear Market Bottoms
06:39 Volatility is Mean-Reverting at Extremes
07:36 Markets Don't Follow a Normal Distribution
09:35 Bank Failures and Financial Crises
10:33 Increasing Concentration
11:59 What Happened Last Year = What Will Happen Next Year?
12:47 Cars Are Not Appreciating Assets
13:43 Past Performance = Future Results?
14:54 Just Buy What You Know?
15:54 Shorting Stocks Based on Valuation
17:07 Irrational Investors
18:38 Streaks
19:41 Profits Matter ... Eventually
20:41 The Workers Came Back
21:42 Bonds Have Risk
23:23 Buying a Stock Based on a Meme
24:34 Supply/Demand Imbalances
25:20 Makes Changes to Your Portfolio Based on Headlines
26:26 Rising National Debt
28:06 Big Returns, Big Drawdowns
28:59 Central Planning vs. Capitalism
29:53 Wall Street Predictions
31:10 Why You Need to Invest
32:21 There Is No Impossible in Markets
Video
Blog

Interesting article in Financial Times about TRP’s loss of investors. I’m one of the long term investors who’ve been bailing out. Although I still invest in TRP funds, I transferred our Roth IRAs from there to Fidelity a couple years ago. Convenience was a big factor because now all of our investments are with Fidelity. However, it was also due to a growing lack of confidence in TRP. A lot of my investments are in allocation funds, and I’m not pleased with TRP’s offerings, aside from PRWCX, which has been closed to new investors for a while. My wife and I have invested with TRP for more than 25 years, with more than $200K in our Roth IRAs, and they still wouldn’t let us invest in PRWCX.
So we invested heavily in TRPBX, which has been a major disappointment. It was considered a top moderate allocation fund when we started using it, but performance has steadily declined— which is ironic because PRWCX has been so successful. Much of the problem seems to be their asset allocation, with heavy stakes in foreign and emerging markets. Although the fund’s volatility is not bad on a day-to-day basis, it has been hurt by the high foreign allocations in down and up markets. TRP also started investing about 10% of its assets in hedge funds, which from my view hasn’t helped performance a bit.
We still own several TRP stock funds that have performed well, through the Fidelity funds network. However, we’ve ditched their bond and allocation funds. The Fidelity funds that replaced them have all had better performance. We’ll probably drop some of our remaining TRP funds if they don’t improve soon. At one time, I considered using TRP for all of our investments, but we decided to use Fidelity as well — and my Fidelity investments as a whole have greatly outperformed my TRP holdings.
https://www.ft.com/content/7cdd7cd9-f465-48ae-af18-aa8201f8fab8

Andrew Foster, a renowned portfolio manager and founder of Seafarer Capital Partners, shares his insights on why emerging markets are no longer a growth story. Foster emphasizes that the investment case for emerging markets lies in individual companies rather than countries.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=sFpirvQRBuE

Interesting guys.
I’ve felt rightly or wrongly that Dow 37,000 (reached 2 years ago) is a decent marker of sentiment and valuation. That’s about where it still is today (I’m guessing that’s about neutral today). So, FWIW, I’m pretty much stuck in neutral - where I’ve been all year long. I recognize the Dow doesn’t represent the greater market or have any special significance. But over the years it’s been a half-decent guide for me (of euphoria vs bust). At least as good as 75% of the market prognosticators.
Did unload BINC a few days ago and move into an IG short term (1-3 years) bond ETF. Not a market call. I expect the former will continue to perform well. Just trying to reduce overall risk profile as a decent year ends and with potential distributions in mind. It seemed as good a place as any to take a little risk off the table. (Equity exposure fell slightly from 48% down to 46% as a consequence of the move.)
I’m structured into 10 equally weighted static segments (all but one represented by a single holding), so selling / replacing any one position is a pretty significant move, Also limits my ability to add or reduce risk incrementally. So far so good. But it’s a relatively new methodology for me.
There are so many cross-currents regarding the financial landscape now it’s hard for me to form an opinion on the future course of the economy or stock valuations. Wars, Sino-tensions, disfunction in DC, consumer attitudes re prices, and the approaching elections. All of this has to weigh heavily on investor sentiment.

From @msf post,
"McWilliams is also the sole manager of T. Rowe Price's U.S. Risk Managed Dynamic Allocation SMA (separately managed account strategy)
https://www.troweprice.com/financial-intermediary/us/en/investments/separately-managed-accounts/us-risk-managed-dynamic-allocation-sma.html"
That is a useful link.
Here is my quick summary (but as msf suggested, read the fact sheet at the link above) -
In the four years since inception, the Dynamic Allocation strategy gathered $13.5M in assets. It has a hefty wrap fees. Aside from the small AUM, this essentially tactical allocation (equity and fixed income and no derivatives or hedging) strategy did not beat PRWCX and its draw down during 2022 was not good. Not sure what the strategy's limitation is to go to cash to limit risk. As of Sept, 30, 2023, the strategy was 100% in equities. (Fact Sheet: Approximately 50% of the portfolio is dynamically allocated between fixed income and equities, primarily through broad market index-based ETFs (and cash), to dynamically adjust asset allocation in response to short-horizon risk forecasts.)
Somehow, PHEFX managed to garner large AUM, given its infancy. In the first month alone it gathered $1B AUM and now has $3.1B AUM. I never thought TRP are a marketing machine but they are able to market this very well.
I will watch the manager's risk management in real time before increasing my current 1% of PV in the fund. Notwithstanding his 100% equity bias in the Dynamic Allocation strategy, PHEFX did alright against JHQAX during Sept and Oct equity market draw down.

M* published a quantitatively-driven analysis for PHEFX
Since the sole manager is a quant analyst, that seems somehow appropriate :-)
(The M* analysis 10% analyst-driven, i.e. the parent "pillar" is written by a human being.)
Because the fund is new, there's little to be gleaned from the fund itself. One could do a bit more diligent research by looking into the fund manager Sean P. McWilliams. He's the third wheel (most recently added of three managers) on a couple of annuity portfolios: SunAmerica's T. Rowe Price VCP (volatility control portfolio) Balanced Portfolio and VCP Index Allocation Portfolio.
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/892538/000119312519023995/d695956d497k.htm
Here are the SEC filings for the Balanced Portfolio and the Index Allocation Portfolio respectively:
https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?CIK=S000052512&action=getcompany&scd=filings
https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?CIK=S000059205&action=getcompany&scd=filings
And the prospectus for all the Sun America portfolios:
https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/0000892538/000119312523122077/d397945d485bpos.htm
McWilliams is also the sole manager of T. Rowe Price's U.S. Risk Managed Dynamic Allocation SMA (separately managed account strategy)
https://www.troweprice.com/financial-intermediary/us/en/investments/separately-managed-accounts/us-risk-managed-dynamic-allocation-sma.html
The Fact Sheet there gives key benefits: stabilize volatility over time, mitigate tail risk, minimize impact on long term return. The PHEFX prospectus (Principal Investment Strategies) echoes this: "mitigate tail risk ... and provide strong risk-adjusted returns with lower volatility". You can look at the graphs and numbers to see how well the Risk Managed Dynamic Allocation SMA is meeting its objectives.
Regarding comparisons with JHQAX, the strategies seem a bit different. JPM is using an explicit disciplined collar strategy to limit risk. While TRP says it is doing something similar, it is using options on individual securities rather than on the market (S&P 500) as a whole. TRP also says explicitly that it is using "modest leverage", though that appears only implicitly in the risk factors (under derivative risks).

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/825063/000174177323004048/c497.htm
497 1 c497.htm MS P5 1222
MS P5 12/23
FRANKLIN MUTUAL SERIES FUNDS
SUPPLEMENT DATED DECEMBER 15, 2023
TO THE PROSPECTUS DATED MAY 1, 2023, OF
FRANKLIN MUTUAL FINANCIAL SERVICES FUND (A SERIES OF FRANKLIN MUTUAL SERIES FUNDS)
The Board of Trustees of Franklin Mutual Series Funds recently approved a proposal to reorganize the Franklin Mutual Financial Services Fund (the “Fund”) with and into the Franklin Mutual Global Discovery Fund, each a series of Franklin Mutual Series Funds.
It is anticipated that in the first quarter of 2024, shareholders of the Fund will receive a proxy card and a Combined Prospectus/Proxy Statement requesting their votes on the reorganization. If approved by the Fund’s shareholders, the transaction is currently expected to be completed on or about April 26, 2024, but may be delayed if unforeseen circumstances arise.
Effective at the close of market (1:00 p.m. Pacific time or close of the New York Stock Exchange, whichever is earlier) on or about January 29, 2024, the Fund will be closed to all new investors except as noted below. Existing investors who had an open and funded account on January 29, 2024 can continue to invest in the Fund through exchanges and additional purchases after such date. The following categories of investors may continue to open new accounts in the Fund after the close of market on January 29, 2024: (1) clients of discretionary investment allocation programs where such programs had investments in the Fund prior to the close of market on January 29, 2024; and (2) Employer Sponsored Retirement Plans or benefit plans and their participants where the Fund was available to participants prior to the close of market on January 29, 2024. The Fund will not accept any additional purchases or exchanges after the close of market on or about April 24, 2024. The Fund reserves the right to change this policy at any time.
Please retain this supplement for future reference

I’ve been looking at mid-caps and I came across XMHQ, a promising candidate. When researching the « quality » factor for this fund, I found the following description:
The Invesco S&P MidCap Quality ETF (Fund) is based on the S&P MidCap 400 Quality Index (Index). The Fund will invest at least 90% of its total assets in the component securities that comprise the Index. The Index is a modified market capitalization weighted index that holds approximately 80 securities in the S&P Midcap 400® Index that have the highest quality scores, which are computed based on a composite of three proprietary factors. The Fund and the Index are rebalanced semi-annually.
I guess S&P own the recipe to the secret sauce. They don’t appear to want you and me to know what the three proprietary factors are. I suspect further research into « quality » funds will prove equally frustrating.

I have that in the IRA. It might be a better fit for the taxable. I'll probably put that money into FMIMX.
According to etf.com this is the secret sauce:

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.

@stillers,
Sorry, I read the OPs question rather than getting in any fund managed by Mr. Krug as to getting in a closed fund managed by Mr. Krug.
https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/935015/000119312523227441/d515026d497.htm#xx_1e50d048-f5f7-47a0-b2d4-07301b86b98f_2
The only way to purchase ARTFX as cited from the most recent prospectus:
Who is Eligible to Invest in a Closed Fund?
Artisan High Income Fund, Artisan International Small-Mid Fund and Artisan International Value Fund are closed to most new investors. From time to time, other Funds may also be closed to most new investors. The Funds do not permit investors to pool their investments in order to meet the eligibility requirements, except as otherwise noted below.
If you have been a shareholder in a Fund continuously since it closed, you may make additional investments in that Fund and reinvest your dividends and capital gain distributions in that Fund, even though the Fund has closed, unless Artisan Partners considers such additional purchases to not be in the best interests of the Fund and its other shareholders. An employee benefit plan that is a Fund shareholder may continue to buy shares in the ordinary course of the plan’s operations, even for new plan participants.
You may open a new account in a closed Fund only if that account meets the Fund’s other criteria (for example, minimum initial investment) and:
◾you beneficially own shares of the closed Fund at the time of your application;
◾you beneficially own shares in the Funds with combined balances of $250,000;
◾you receive shares of the closed Fund as a gift from an existing shareholder of the Fund (additional investments generally are not permitted unless you are otherwise eligible to open an account under one of the other criteria listed);
◾you are transferring or “rolling over” into a Fund IRA account from an employee benefit plan through which you held shares of the Fund (if your plan doesn’t qualify for rollovers you may still open a new account with all or part of the proceeds of a distribution from the plan);
◾you are purchasing Fund shares through a sponsored fee-based program and shares of the Fund are made available to that program pursuant to an agreement with the Funds or Artisan Partners Distributors LLC and the Funds or Artisan Partners Distributors LLC has notified the sponsor of that program in writing that shares may be offered through such program and has not withdrawn that notification;
◾you are an employee benefit plan and the Funds or Artisan Partners Distributors LLC has notified the plan in writing that the plan may invest in the Fund and has not withdrawn that notification;
◾you are an employee benefit plan or other type of corporate, charitable or governmental account sponsored by or affiliated with an organization that also sponsors or is affiliated with (or is related to an organization that sponsors or is affiliated with) another employee benefit plan or corporate, charitable or governmental account that is a shareholder of the Fund at the time of application;
◾you are a client, employee or associate of an institutional consultant or financial intermediary and the Funds or Artisan Partners Distributors LLC has notified that consultant or financial intermediary in writing that you may invest in the Fund and has not withdrawn that notification;
◾you are a client of a financial advisor or a financial planner, or an affiliate of a financial advisor or financial planner, who has at least:
○$2,500,000 of client assets invested with the closed Fund at the time of your application; or
○$5,000,000 of client assets invested with the Funds or under Artisan Partners’ management at the time of your application and, with respect Artisan International Value Fund only, the Funds or Artisan Partners Distributors LLC has notified such financial advisor or financial planner, or affiliate of such financial advisor or financial planner, in writing, that that you may invest in the Fund and has not withdrawn that notification;
◾you are an institutional investor that is investing at least $5,000,000 in the Fund and the Fund or Artisan Partners Distributors LLC has notified you in writing that you may invest in the Fund and has not withdrawn that notification (available for investments in Artisan International Small-Mid Fund and Artisan International Value Fund only);
◾you are a client of Artisan Partners or are an investor in a product managed by Artisan Partners, or you have an existing business relationship with Artisan Partners, and in the judgment of Artisan Partners, your investment in a closed Fund would not adversely affect Artisan Partners’ ability to manage the Fund effectively; or
|
Prospectus—Artisan Partners Funds
155
◾you are a director or officer of the Funds, or a partner or employee of Artisan Partners or its affiliates, or a member of the immediate family of any of those persons...

Nice piece today from Ben Inker, co-director of GMO's asset allocation team. Timed to reflect the launch of their US Quality ETF, Inker argues that "quality" is systemically mispriced - that is, underpriced in one market cycle after another - for both equities and high-yield bonds. As a result, "quality" should be considered an investor's one permanent bias in portfolio construction.

As GMO launches its first ETF, it seemed like a good time to share my thoughts on the market inefficiency that the strategy seeks to exploit ­– the quality anomaly. The basic goals of any active investor are to achieve higher returns and/or lower risk than a passive portfolio. These goals are, or at least should be, in conflict with each other. If financial markets were efficient, it would be impossible to sustainably achieve higher returns without taking on additional risk. And any portfolio that embodied lower risk would pay for it with lower long-term returns. At the highest level, markets basically work this way. Government bonds and cash are lower risk than high yield bonds and equities and have delivered lower returns across almost all markets and most time periods. But within risk assets, things get weird. Within both stocks and high yield bonds, you have historically been able achieve both higher returns and lower risk by owning the highest quality securities in those universes. This quality anomaly has been around for a long time and exists within multiple subsets of the equity universe. And for what it is worth, their opposite numbers have also been mispriced – low-quality stocks and CCC (and below) bonds have underperformed their broad universes despite their obviously greater downside in bad economic times. In an investing world where most trade-offs are difficult, this one is pretty easy. If you were going to have one permanent bias in your equity and high yield bond portfolios, it should be in favor of high quality.

He looks at the returns and volatility for higher quality vs lower quality in US stocks, high-yield (BB vs CCC) bonds, small cap stocks, global stocks and value stocks.
Looking over a 20-year period, higher quality stocks in various classes return maybe 400-550 bps more than low quality stocks yet suffer something like 400 bps less in volatility.
I've included a link, but I suspect you'll hit a wall. Happily, at least in my case, registration was free and quick. The argument is worth considering.

@Baseball_Fan - I don’t think you’ll get many affirmatives here on your annuity question. I’m sure they have a place for some people. But haven’t been mentioned much by board members. Dunno … Maybe …
@FD - I posted the advice of Buffett to his wife’s financial administrator to put 90% of her wealth upon his passing into a low cost S&P 500 index fund because that seemed closest to your “WTF” proposition. Indeed, she will likely need to withdraw less than the 3% annually you mention to afford a decent living standard. I think I get it. “WTF” means you’re so rich you can afford to take big chances. It really won’t affect you much if the S&P falls 50% or more. You’ll still be fine.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1089951/000119312523291824/d488384d497.htm
497 1 d488384d497.htm AMG FUNDS
Filed pursuant to Rule 497(e)
File Nos. 333-84639 and 811-09521
AMG FUNDS
AMG GW&K Emerging Wealth Equity Fund
Supplement dated December 8, 2023 to the Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information,
each dated March 1, 2023
The following information supplements and supersedes any information to the contrary relating to AMG GW&K Emerging Wealth Equity Fund (the “Fund”), a series of AMG Funds (the “Trust”), contained in the Fund’s Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, dated as noted above.
The Board of Trustees of the Trust has approved a plan to liquidate and terminate the Fund (the “Liquidation”), which is expected to occur on or about February 9, 2024 (the “Liquidation Date”). Effective on or about December 11, 2023, it is expected that the Fund will begin selling its portfolio investments and will invest the proceeds in cash and cash equivalents, in anticipation of the Liquidation. Proceeds of the Liquidation are expected to be distributed to shareholders of the Fund promptly following the Liquidation Date in full redemption of each shareholder’s shares of the Fund.
Effective prior to the open of business on December 11, 2023, the Fund will no longer accept investments, except for investments made through existing asset allocation programs investing in the Fund, and shares purchased pursuant to automatic investment programs, such as automatic investments through 401(k) plans and reinvestments of any dividends and distributions. Those shareholders investing in the Fund through one of the exceptions described above may continue to purchase shares of the Fund provided that such transactions settle prior to the Liquidation Date.
A letter will be sent to shareholders who hold shares directly with the Fund (“Direct Shareholders”) setting forth the various options and instructions with respect to the Liquidation and the distribution of Direct Shareholders’ redemption proceeds. Any Direct Shareholder may elect to have redemption proceeds sent to them via check. Direct Shareholders may also elect to exchange their Fund shares into the same share class of any other fund in the AMG Funds family of funds that is open to new investors (subject to minimum initial investment requirements as described in such fund’s prospectus). Shareholders who hold their shares in the Fund through a financial intermediary should contact their financial representative to discuss their options with respect to the Liquidation and the distribution of such shareholders’ redemption proceeds.
The Fund intends to distribute its accumulated net capital gains and net investment income, if any, to shareholders of record of the Fund as of the close of business on December 13, 2023; these distributions may be taxable to shareholders who do not hold their shares in a tax-advantaged account such as an IRA or 401(k).
PLEASE KEEP THIS SUPPLEMENT FOR FUTURE REFERENCE

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/912036/000119312523291825/d640668d497.htm
497 1 d640668d497.htm AMG FUNDS IV
Filed pursuant to Rule 497(e)
File Nos. 033-68666 and 811-08004
AMG FUNDS IV
AMG River Road International Value Equity Fund
Supplement dated December 8, 2023 to the Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information,
each dated March 1, 2023
The following information supplements and supersedes any information to the contrary relating to AMG River Road International Value Equity Fund (the “Fund”), a series of AMG Funds IV (the “Trust”), contained in the Fund’s Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, dated as noted above.
The Board of Trustees of the Trust has approved a plan to liquidate and terminate the Fund (the “Liquidation”), which is expected to occur on or about February 9, 2024 (the “Liquidation Date”). Effective on or about December 11, 2023, it is expected that the Fund will begin selling its portfolio investments and will invest the proceeds in cash and cash equivalents, in anticipation of the Liquidation. Proceeds of the Liquidation are expected to be distributed to shareholders of the Fund promptly following the Liquidation Date in full redemption of each shareholder’s shares of the Fund.
Effective prior to the open of business on December 11, 2023, the Fund will no longer accept investments, except for investments made through existing asset allocation programs investing in the Fund, and shares purchased pursuant to automatic investment programs, such as automatic investments through 401(k) plans and reinvestments of any dividends and distributions. Those shareholders investing in the Fund through one of the exceptions described above may continue to purchase shares of the Fund provided that such transactions settle prior to the Liquidation Date.
A letter will be sent to shareholders who hold shares directly with the Fund (“Direct Shareholders”) setting forth the various options and instructions with respect to the Liquidation and the distribution of Direct Shareholders’ redemption proceeds. Any Direct Shareholder may elect to have redemption proceeds sent to them via check. Direct Shareholders may also elect to exchange their Fund shares into the same share class of any other fund in the AMG Funds family of funds that is open to new investors (subject to minimum initial investment requirements as described in such fund’s prospectus). Shareholders who hold their shares in the Fund through a financial intermediary should contact their financial representative to discuss their options with respect to the Liquidation and the distribution of such shareholders’ redemption proceeds.
The Fund intends to distribute its accumulated net capital gains and net investment income, if any, to shareholders of record of the Fund as of the close of business on December 13, 2023; these distributions may be taxable to shareholders who do not hold their shares in a tax-advantaged account such as an IRA or 401(k).
PLEASE KEEP THIS SUPPLEMENT FOR FUTURE REFERENCE

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/879947/000119312523291826/d605591d497.htm
497 1 d605591d497.htm AMG FUNDS II
Filed pursuant to Rule 497(e)
File Nos. 033-43089 and 811-06431
AMG FUNDS II
AMG GW&K Global Allocation Fund
Supplement dated December 8, 2023 to the Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information,
each dated May 1, 2023
The following information supplements and supersedes any information to the contrary relating to AMG GW&K Global Allocation Fund (the “Fund”), a series of AMG Funds II (the “Trust”), contained in the Fund’s Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, dated as noted above.
The Board of Trustees of the Trust has approved a plan to liquidate and terminate the Fund (the “Liquidation”), which is expected to occur on or about February 9, 2024 (the “Liquidation Date”). Effective on or about December 11, 2023, it is expected that the Fund will begin selling its portfolio investments and will invest the proceeds in cash and cash equivalents, in anticipation of the Liquidation. Proceeds of the Liquidation are expected to be distributed to shareholders of the Fund promptly following the Liquidation Date in full redemption of each shareholder’s shares of the Fund.
Effective prior to the open of business on December 11, 2023, the Fund will no longer accept investments, except for investments made through existing asset allocation programs investing in the Fund, and shares purchased pursuant to automatic investment programs, such as automatic investments through 401(k) plans and reinvestments of any dividends and distributions. Those shareholders investing in the Fund through one of the exceptions described above may continue to purchase shares of the Fund provided that such transactions settle prior to the Liquidation Date.
A letter will be sent to shareholders who hold shares directly with the Fund (“Direct Shareholders”) setting forth the various options and instructions with respect to the Liquidation and the distribution of Direct Shareholders’ redemption proceeds. Any Direct Shareholder may elect to have redemption proceeds sent to them via check. Direct Shareholders may also elect to exchange their Fund shares into the same share class of any other fund in the AMG Funds family of funds that is open to new investors (subject to minimum initial investment requirements as described in such fund’s prospectus). Shareholders who hold their shares in the Fund through a financial intermediary should contact their financial representative to discuss their options with respect to the Liquidation and the distribution of such shareholders’ redemption proceeds.
The Fund intends to distribute its accumulated net capital gains and net investment income, if any, to shareholders of record of the Fund as of the close of business on December 13, 2023; these distributions may be taxable to shareholders who do not hold their shares in a tax-advantaged account such as an IRA or 401(k).
PLEASE KEEP THIS SUPPLEMENT FOR FUTURE REFERENCE

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1089951/000119312523291827/d614129d497.htm
497 1 d614129d497.htm AMG FUNDS
Filed pursuant to Rule 497(e)
File Nos. 333-84639 and 811-09521
AMG FUNDS
AMG GW&K Emerging Markets Equity Fund
Supplement dated December 8, 2023 to the Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information,
each dated March 1, 2023
The following information supplements and supersedes any information to the contrary relating to AMG GW&K Emerging Markets Equity Fund (the “Fund”), a series of AMG Funds (the “Trust”), contained in the Fund’s Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, dated as noted above.
The Board of Trustees of the Trust has approved a plan to liquidate and terminate the Fund (the “Liquidation”), which is expected to occur on or about February 9, 2024 (the “Liquidation Date”). Effective on or about December 11, 2023, it is expected that the Fund will begin selling its portfolio investments and will invest the proceeds in cash and cash equivalents, in anticipation of the Liquidation. Proceeds of the Liquidation are expected to be distributed to shareholders of the Fund promptly following the Liquidation Date in full redemption of each shareholder’s shares of the Fund.
Effective prior to the open of business on December 11, 2023, the Fund will no longer accept investments, except for investments made through existing asset allocation programs investing in the Fund, and shares purchased pursuant to automatic investment programs, such as automatic investments through 401(k) plans and reinvestments of any dividends and distributions. Those shareholders investing in the Fund through one of the exceptions described above may continue to purchase shares of the Fund provided that such transactions settle prior to the Liquidation Date.
A letter will be sent to shareholders who hold shares directly with the Fund (“Direct Shareholders”) setting forth the various options and instructions with respect to the Liquidation and the distribution of Direct Shareholders’ redemption proceeds. Any Direct Shareholder may elect to have redemption proceeds sent to them via check. Direct Shareholders may also elect to exchange their Fund shares into the same share class of any other fund in the AMG Funds family of funds that is open to new investors (subject to minimum initial investment requirements as described in such fund’s prospectus). Shareholders who hold their shares in the Fund through a financial intermediary should contact their financial representative to discuss their options with respect to the Liquidation and the distribution of such shareholders’ redemption proceeds.
The Fund intends to distribute its accumulated net capital gains and net investment income, if any, to shareholders of record of the Fund as of the close of business on December 13, 2023; these distributions may be taxable to shareholders who do not hold their shares in a tax-advantaged account such as an IRA or 401(k).
PLEASE KEEP THIS SUPPLEMENT FOR FUTURE REFERENCE

Add 1% annually. Usually, by age 75 you can start taking more risk.
WTF portfolio is when someone needs under 3% (2.5% is better) withdrawal annually from their portfolio. In that case they can have 20/80 to 80/20 mix of stock/bonds.
The portfolio size is usually in the millions. I'm talking about someone that is living well and spends money they can afford.
Of course, someone who has a pension+ SS that cover all the expenses, can have a smaller portfolio.
Let's see how many posters will try to find a word or something else I didn't mean and twist the above.
On the other hand, there are people who won many millions in the lottery and spend it all.
Then you have the FIRE (https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/financial-independence-retire-early-fire.asp)
movement. That isn't appealing to m either.

@sma, Wade Pfau has done several recent studies on retirement withdrawals. Basically, he has looked at various ways to modify/improve Bengen's 4% w/COLA Rule. He was a Professor at the American College of Financial Services, so he is not pushing any one idea, but has analyzed various possible variations.
https://risaprofile.com/about-us/
https://retirementresearcher.com/about/wade-pfau-bio/
https://www.amazon.com/Retirement-Planning-Guidebook-Navigating-Important/dp/194564009X
One of the ideas he has mentioned is "rising equity glide-path" (not sure who first came up with the idea). So, one starts with lower equity exposure around retirement to account for high SOR risks, and then increases equity exposure gradually as retirement progresses. These increases are not dramatic.
"What’s the solution?
There are four ways to manage the sequence-of-return risk. One, spend conservatively. Two, spend flexibly. If you can reduce your spending after a market downturn, that can manage sequence-of-return risk because you don’t have to sell as many shares to meet the spending need. A third option is to be strategic about volatility in your portfolio, even using the idea of a rising equity glide path. The fourth option is using buffer assets like cash, a reverse mortgage or whole life policy with cash value.
What is a rising equity glide path?
Start with a lower stock allocation at the beginning of retirement, and then work your way up. Later in retirement, market volatility doesn’t have as much impact on the sustainability of your spending path, and you can adjust by having a higher stock allocation later on. "
Subscription Link https://www.barrons.com/articles/retirement-4-percent-rule-downturn-strategy-51642806039

Another excerpted comment from the thread I previously referenced, this one straight to the point(s) by the venerable "dickoncapecod":
Well, you shouldn't be surprised that the financial relationship is between you and the bank that YOU deposited money at. If it is FDIC insured (or even not) institution, you'll surely receive what you are due eventually. However, the smaller the bank and higher the rate, the more likely the bank has antiquated systems and annoyances like this occur. Sometimes it's worth actually computing the dollars and cents gained by chasing "opportunities" in the risk-free rate world versus a good old (floating rate) money market funds.
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I responded to Dick's post:
To dick's very worthy point about "chasing 'opportunities'":
Per Fido (bold added):
Fidelity offers a wide range of issues, rates, and maturities to help you find the certificate of deposit (CD) that fits your needs. If a fixed income security is sold or redeemed before maturity, it may be subject to substantial gains or losses. Your ability to sell a CD on the secondary market is subject to market conditions. Fidelity doesn’t decide the creditworthiness of the issuing institution.
Read: If the bank defaults on the interest or principal, it's the account holder's ultimate responsibility to do the FDIC filing.
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Dick's first comment should answer the question being kicked around here.
If it's me in the OP's position, I would ask Schwab if they have a policy like Fido does related to issuing a brokerage "service request" at the 10-day mark if the interest still has not been received.
I would also obtain the best phone number possible and speak directly to a person at the bank who is directly involved/has direct knowledge of the interest payment in question.
I would NOT blow this out of proportion and would NOT start to doubt CDs.
As Dick noted, you WILL get your principal repaid timely.
As my scenario played out, I learned that this is a possible issue at the BOY and the EOY, every year.
And if there is an issue, it is usually the normal, possibly slow payment cycling related to the BOY or EOY, or there is a specific reason why the interest payment was missed.
In my case, the bank manager I spoke directly to was very helpful, NOT aware of the issue yet and thanked me for calling it to the bank's attention. She also immediately remedied the issue. She even gave me her direct phone number in the event it was not resolved.

I don't have more expertise or knowledge, but that hasn't stopped me from posting before :-)
This post of mine from another thread may help. I cite a few different sources. Of particular interest is this little item, essentially confirming your assumption above:

The financial institution [bank] makes principal and interest payments to the Depository Trust Company (DTC). DTC is responsible for passing the principal and interest to the broker-dealers. The broker-dealer is responsible for passing the correct amount of principal and interest to the owners of the Certificates.

https://capitalmarkets.fidelity.com/brokered-certificate-of-deposit-underwriting
The Fidelity site goes on to say that "Retail CDs require one aggregate weekly settlement and one fund's transfer at maturity."

@yogibearbull
That's what concerns me for a good friend who is 50 years old (married) and has a retirement portfolio of a million already. He hopes to retire at 52 and is planning to be 100% invested in the SP500 until death. He scoffs at the 4% rule as being far too conservative, though I don't know what his starting withdrawal rate plan is. He has floated the idea of meeting with a financial planner to vet his plan.
Here is a link for an article from M* columnist John Reckenthaler on the viability of an all-stock portfolio and high real withdrawal rate in retirement.
https://www.morningstar.com/retirement/can-you-safely-spend-more-early-retirement