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Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
  • Perils of Chasing Star Managers + Other Fund Stories from Barron's
    Sometimes it feels like we expect financial situations to be quantifiable and behave like a chemistry operation where all of the various materials, inputs, and processing can be measured within tolerances of .001%. OK, manager "X" is very successful in environment "Y", and the results are great. So let's just replicate that.
    The problem of course is the various materials, inputs, and processing which actually constitutes environment "Y". Some of the factors which make up "Y" may be reproducible, but a good many are not, because unlike chemistry, financial operations are subject to constant uncontrollable influences from the overall financial environment, creating complex conditional sets which change over various time frames, and are impossible to standardize.
    So, manager "X" may be a constant, but the results of moving him/her from environment "Y" to environment "Z" are always going to be unpredictable.
  • CrossingBridge Funds 2Q23 Commentary
    I agree that it is open with Schwab, but it should not be.
    From January 31, 2023:
    https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1494928/000139834423001516/fp0081525-7_497k.htm
    Excerpt:
    Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
    Sales of Retail and Institutional Class Shares of the Fund are closed to new investors except as noted below. Existing shareholders of the Fund (including clients of any financial adviser or planner who has client assets invested in the Fund) and certain eligible investors may purchase additional shares of the Fund through existing or new accounts and may reinvest dividends and capital gains distributions. New shareholders may open Fund accounts and purchase shares directly from the Fund (i.e., not through a financial intermediary). Further, any trustee of RiverPark Funds Trust, or employee of RiverPark Advisors, LLC or Cohanzick Management, LLC, or an investor who is an immediate family member of any of these individuals may also open new accounts and purchase shares of the Fund. The Fund reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to determine the criteria for qualification as an eligible investor and to reject or accept any purchase order. Sales of shares of the Fund may be further restricted or reopened in the future.
  • Perils of Chasing Star Managers + Other Fund Stories from Barron's
    @FD1000: You can sit there and blather whatever you want. It doesn't change the fact that coming from middle-class families with little inherited wealth we can now sit here without any financial worry, and that our American Fund financial advisor played a significant role in that.
    American Funds never charged any load when selling and reinvesting in a different fund. You would have us believe that you know everything about everything, but your world view is so self-centered that all that you accomplish is pomposity and arrogance. Hubris... how pathetic.
    But I'm pretty sure that many others have already commented on that.
    I don't why you got offended. I asked several questions I didn't know the answer to. I also didn't say anything about your investment ability, nor did I post anything about my past record. I'm glad you are doing well and hope you will do great in the future.
    In my opinion, no one should ever pay 5%, and most should not pay even 1% annually when Vanguard's annual fee is 0.35% for its all-index investment options and 0.40% for an active/index mix. A good adviser can and should have a clear plan that lasts for years, and only make changes in major events, and why most who need advice should do it every several years or in major events.
  • Anybody Investing in bond funds?
    Has anybody looked into or invested in BINC - Blackrock Flexible Income ETF? Inception is late May 2023. About $125M AUM.
    https://www.blackrock.com/us/financial-professionals/products/331752/?referrer=tickerSearch
    Can this be a good substitute for PIMIX, a fund with massive AUM?
  • Perils of Chasing Star Managers + Other Fund Stories from Barron's
    @FD1000: You can sit there and blather whatever you want. It doesn't change the fact that coming from middle-class families with little inherited wealth we can now sit here without any financial worry, and that our American Fund financial advisor played a significant role in that.
    American Funds never charged any load when selling and reinvesting in a different fund. You would have us believe that you know everything about everything, but your world view is so self-centered that all that you accomplish is pomposity and arrogance. Hubris... how pathetic.
    But I'm pretty sure that many others have already commented on that.
  • Perils of Chasing Star Managers + Other Fund Stories from Barron's
    There hasn't been a requirement to invest with a financial advisor or to pay a load to buy American Funds for about a decade now. Most big brokers like Schwab waive their front end loads for A shares or "F-1" shares, and there are other share classes that have no load. Also, their fees for active management are reasonable, not as cheap as index funds, but what is? Admittedly, the alphabet soup of share classes is confusing.
    Here's an example: https://schwab.com/research/mutual-funds/quotes/summary/gfafx
  • Perils of Chasing Star Managers + Other Fund Stories from Barron's
    FA(financial advisers) catch 22. When your knowledge is below average, you can't distinguish between a good FA to below average/average one.
    When your knowledge is above average, you don't need a FA.
    I never invested with AF funds. Suppose I start with 1 million using an American financial adviser.
    1) The FA invested in 3 AF funds. Do I pay 5% = $50K?
    2) After 3 years, international stocks look great and I want to invest 0.5 million in it. I sell 0.5 million from the funds I own and buy the new fund. Do I pay a new 5% for the new fund?
    3) Can you invest in other fund families? Do you pay any commission to buy Vanguard/Fidelity funds?
  • Perils of Chasing Star Managers + Other Fund Stories from Barron's
    I agree with respect to the zillion share classes at AF. When we were investing there I just stayed with the "A" class. Fortunately after a few years we were able to invest there with diminishing loads, and finally without load. Load funds were not uncommon in those days, but I never did think that charging 5% or so to buy into a fund was really justified.
    We knew nothing about funds then, but fortunately we had a very good AF advisor who helped us understand the ins and outs, and what the whole thing was all about. Part of that 5% paid his salary, and I have to concede that he was a big factor in our present financial well-being in retirement.
  • Perils of Chasing Star Managers + Other Fund Stories from Barron's
    I'm not a big fan of American with so many funds and create confusion. The funds that are available at Fidelity have ER of 0.64% to 0.96% which isn't cheap. Their stock funds are better than bond funds. They use many financial advisers which I'm not fond of.
  • California Is Going to Drop a Liquidity Bomb on The Stock Market
    So an unknown number of Californian tax filers are going to have a big tax bill coming due on Oct. 16, 2023, as they have to file their 2022 returns plus put together what would have been all of their quarterly estimated payments that they have not had to make thus far during 2023. That is going to be one giant windfall in October 2023 for the Treasury Department.
    But here is why this event matters to the rest of us. Those California late payers are going to have to raise the money to make sure that their big October 2023 checks to the IRS clear. That is going to mean selling some stock, cashing out of money market funds, shifting money from savings to checking, and otherwise generally sending waves through the banking system to get their money organized so that they can cover those deferred payments. Writing a check to the IRS means that a bank then has to cover that check, and move money all around the system as the IRS cashes those checks.
    The entire financial system has grown accustomed to that type of turbulence taking place in April every year. But this anomalous Oct. 16 for rich taxpayers in the most populous state is a non-standard type of ripple in the liquidity stream.
    There is no way to quantify how much of an effect this will have, as we cannot see into the hearts and the bank accounts of all of those delayed filers in California. But it is going to have some meaningful effect that is an irregular feature of the normal calendar for banking and liquidity. By late October, all of the dust should have settled, and all of that moving around of money to cover tax payments will have simmered down, so stocks can get back to their normal seasonal strength starting by late October.
    Background to this upcoming event (October):
    california_is_going_to_drop
  • Anybody use any hedging or shorting?
    Point taken @FD1000. You have said that your timing method isn't for everyone. That is true. And you have said that most should be diversified. But that begs the question, why do you keep posting about your system and trumpeting the great results you have achieved if the majority will lose money with timing. Are you trying to sway them to try when most will lose. Or, are you self-promoting? I have no doubt it works for a small minority. But the majority will never get it right.
    Some of your advice is cookie-cutter good. Some, I'm not so sure.
    MikeM, please reread my post, I didn't mention or promoted my system.
    This site is about all kind of investors. From cookie cutter to advance. From very conservative to all stocks with different goals.
    What you or I think is good, others don't agree so much.
    2 Easy examples:
    1) If you ask Buffet what stocks you should hold, he will say you just the SP500. Ask 100 financial advisers and none will tell you it's correct. Ask posters on this site and none will say, only the SP500.
    2) Tell 100 financial advisers that you hold over 40% of your equities in Apple and they will tell you, it's unacceptable. This is what Buffet holds.
  • quick reminder: please don't be a troll
    Re @David_Snowball ‘s “Please don’t be a troll “ - I am aware from time to time of a few posters supplying links to other discussion boards. Aside from thinking that a bit “cheap” or trite and non-productive from the standpoint of this board’s well being, I have never, and don’t intend to, visit or participate on any other investment discussion boards.
    I’ve gone a step further since this thread went up and decided to no longer name the two subscription-based financial websites sites I visit for market analysis & information. Neither is a discussion board in the normal sense. One does allow readers to email questions to the host who usually responds on his board. Out of an abundance of caution I will no longer refer to either by name.
    Folks have expanded, I think, the original intent of this thread to address a current ongoing issue involving personalities. I get it. There used to be (probably still is) a mission statement from David in which the bottom line states that members shall interact among one another “with good cheer.” ISTM adherence to that goal would do a lot to sooth ruffled feathers among members. I will add here, I think MFO is big enough to tolerate a few braggarts. I don’t think it should ever tolerate meanness.
  • quick reminder: please don't be a troll
    So we've come to this: let's allow a couple of self-important brats to shut down entire threads by tolerating their ill-tempered juvenile behavior, which they have imported to MFO from other financial sites that banned them.
    How about dealing with the source of the problem instead of allowing them to determine what the rest of us are confronted with?
  • Reorganization at Grandeur Peak Global Advisors (similar to Rondure post)
    update:
    https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/915802/000139834423013179/fp0084407-1_497.htm
    497 1 fp0084407-3_497.htm
    FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST
    Grandeur Peak Emerging Markets Opportunities Fund
    Grandeur Peak Global Contrarian Fund
    Grandeur Peak Global Explorer Fund
    Grandeur Peak Global Micro Cap Fund
    Grandeur Peak Global Opportunities Fund
    Grandeur Peak Global Reach Fund
    Grandeur Peak Global Stalwarts Fund
    Grandeur Peak International Opportunities Fund
    Grandeur Peak International Stalwarts Fund
    Grandeur Peak US Stalwarts Fund
    (each, a “Fund”)
    Supplement dated July 17, 2023
    To the Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information,
    each dated August 31, 2022, as supplemented
    The Funds’ Reorganization date, as previously announced in the Supplement dated June 16, 2023 to the Funds’ Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and SAI, has been extended to on or about October 6, 2023.
    For additional information regarding the Funds’ Reorganization, see the Supplement dated June 16, 2023 to the Funds’ Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and SAI.
    *********
    Please retain this supplement with your Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information.
  • Reorganization at Rondure Global Advisors
    update:
    https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/915802/000139834423013179/fp0084407-1_497.htm
    497 1 fp0084407-1_497.htm
    FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST
    Rondure New World Fund
    Rondure Overseas Fund
    (each, a “Fund”)
    Supplement dated July 17, 2023
    To the Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information,
    each dated August 31, 2022, as supplemented
    The Funds’ Reorganization date, as previously announced in the Supplement dated June 16, 2023 to the Funds’ Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and SAI, has been extended to on or about October 6, 2023.
    For additional information regarding the Funds’ Reorganization, see the Supplement dated June 16, 2023 to the Funds’ Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and SAI.
    *********
    Please retain this supplement with your Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and Statement of
    Additional Information.
  • Anybody use any hedging or shorting?
    Yes, @Mark. You’ve identified the problem. (But neglected to mention the high expenses). I haven’t seen any reputable financial advisors recommend it for individuals. One noted professional / experienced short seller I follow on his subscription site advises against individuals playing the game. And AFAIK he is not doing much shorting now. Prefers to “jump on the back” of things that are already falling.
    I’ve never considered the folks at TRP idiots. Some here have held stakes in TMSRX in the past (including myself). The numbers on FT show very heavy % in shorts. So heavy I don’t trust them. I’ll attempt to link their page, but doubt it will pull up without a subscription.
    https://markets.ft.com/data/funds/tearsheet/summary?s=TMSRX
    BTW - What @Mark said about small amounts not being enough to make a significant impact on overall performance is true. One reason I don’t mess any more with small spec stock positions. A lot of extra headache with little to show for the effort.
  • Need a solid, good, consistent, un-flashy AA fund. (Closed thread.)
    @msf- Thanks- like hank, I was thinking along the lines of bond funds. Odd that we couldn't find the info in the usual "financial terminology" sites.
  • Grandson in a quandry
    Gosh, this is a stodgy old board!
    The grandson is young and time is on his side. If those stocks drop, he can wait on them to bounce back.
    The real strength of his financial position is a steady monthly income, sufficient to cover his expenses and loan payments. My advice would be to add to his portfolio by using dollar cost averaging -- select a dividend-paying stock or fund or ETF which is more value oriented than AAPL and META and initiate a purchase plan on automatic pilot with dividend reinvestment.
    Watching something grow is a wonderful incentive to be interested in investing. That's how he'll gradually build knowledge or markets and investments.
    I'd bet that if he divests now, it will be a long time before he makes the decision to step back into the market.
    David
  • Grandson in a quandry
    The other question, which is more personal and Bobpa does not have to answer is does he need an emergency fund? While I worked hard to wean my kids off my checkbook, and they happily followed thru when they had jobs, in a true financial emergency involving several thousands of dollars, we would gladly help.
    It is important at young ages to adapt responsible budgeting, a savings plan and to be able to swing emergency car repairs for example, but a new roof might be beyond that funds capacity.
    I would agree with paying off student loan.
    Having received similar equity inheritances, I would also suggest keeping a little bit of at least one position as a sentimental reminder of someone else’s largesse.
    I have a few shares of Exxon that “were” originally my grandfathers in 1920s. They are only electrons but they are still a reminder of his life and career.
    Great idea about keeping the reminders. I have my Grandfather's tax forms from the beginning of the income tax. Much heavier than electrons, but interesting to contemplate from time to time.
    He could keep a 1000 bucks each, pay off the student loan, and still have some left over for the emergency fund/IRA/HSA account.