Hi Flack,
I am probably an isolated case in where carrying this many funds works reasonably well. Some folks might buy a fund based upon a whim … I buy a fund for a specific reason and purpose; and, it must fit well within the sleeve where I plan to park it.
One of the things that has helped me to achieve above average returns, from my perspective, is to be a shrewd buyer and buy when assets have become oversold and then perhaps sell some assets off when I feel they have become overvalued. Booking small profits over the years will add to a portfolio’s overall performance. Especially if a good downdraft comes, those booked profits don’t get vaporized. My brokerage firm does a good job of keeping track of my portfolio’s total return by year. With this, I pretty much know where I am at from both asset investment and portfolio performance perspectives.
Thanks for stopping by and making comment.
Old_Skeet

@MFO Members: I was only giving an example of how you can attain a 12% + return over ten years with only three funds. I don't think you could accomplish this with fifty. I believe less is more
Regards,
Ted

Ted, I was only referring to the period that yields went up during the 3 or so months of whichever year it was (it was during the last couple of years), not the entire year. During that period, both stocks and bonds went down. I could be mistaken, my memory of what happened a couple years ago during those few months might not be 100% accurate, but after that, yields went back down, and stocks and bonds both went back up.

@BenWP: Yes, My drugs went from $10 per generic drug for a ninety day supply to $25 for the same seven generics. For three years I paid $280 for my meds, I'm now paying $700.
Regards,
Ted

I just picked up two prescriptions for meds we've been taking for several years and which are Tier One generics on our prescription plan. One rose in price from $1.79 to 2.89 and the other from $10 to $40. The lower prices had been in effect for at least two calendar years. We did not change the drug plan from 2014 to 2015. The pharmacist told me I am not to only one to register sticker shock since Jan 1st. No wonder our healthcare stocks and funds are doing so well…

Well ... hi again, Ted,
Seems the many post about how many funds to own might have given them something to write about. Ever wonder how many from the press vist the MFO board and pick up on ideas? It would be nice if there were away to find out.
Perhaps, they have not learned of the Old_Skeet's sleeve system. It is cleaver, neat and it works. In addition, a look at their reported results from different time periods might have produced a better picture of the outcomes. After all, 2014 was indeed a strong year for domestic equities and not so good for the international ones. It would have been good to see the periods of five, ten and fifteen years represented. After all, diverification is designed to have some assets in the faster currents of the markets while others might have found a slower moving channel.
I still plan to keep on keeping-on with my system. Thinking now of adding a little to my private equity fund, LPEFX.
For those that might be interested, I have linked its Morningstar report below.
http://quotes.morningstar.com/fund/f?t=lpefx&region=USA
Have a good one,
Old_Skeet

PONDX a great fund for the conservative investor. As a not so conservative investor this fund lost its allure in the spring of 2013 and have never ventured back. Without checking I assume AUM have soared the past many years making it not as nimble.

Hi @scott,
PIMIX dropped 3% between Nov 27 and Dec 17 last year, bumped up about 1.5% and remains sideways. And yes, this has been an exceptional bond fund for the past several years of our holding. The fund is 1, 1 and 7 ranking over the past five years and has almost doubled the average return of all M* rated, multisector bond funds.
Something has changed their previous pattern.
We also sold all of LSBDX the first week of January, our 2nd largest bond holding at the time.
This comes from a house that has "overstayed" the bond rally way past what most would have considered to be prudent investing in this sector. Every year for the past 5 years we have been issued warnings about the death of bonds. We also sold our HY bonds, early last fall.
We're 50% equity right now. Keeping in mind that our investments are all post-retirement directed.
The major consideration, as with all sells, is where the money will travel next.
Thank you, scott.
Regards,
Catch

Managed Futures Funds per M*
How would an investor find a fund in this category that they would be assured could perform in a steady performance pattern over the years?
Yes, there are winners and losers over various time frames; but most investors here at MFO, are managing their "future" mix of funds for steady and positive returns, just not using the "common futures tools" that these funds use.
Check the 3 and 5 year average returns at the link above. Also look at some of the winners and losers in various time frames. One would have to hold 10 of these type of funds to hope for a decent averaged profit, using a best guess method, IMO.
Regards,
Catch

Combining thread ideas here.
Ted recently posted a similar Top Performing Global Stock list which revealed a few funds that I might call "Global Hybrid" and what M* calls "World Allocation" funds.
These funds are typically made up of:
-stock (both US and Foreign)
-bonds (both US and Foreign)
-cash (hedging currency?)
-other opportunistic holdings
For example HCOYX holds a large portfolio percentage of its bonds in Argentinian Sovereign debt. I find important and interesting looking under the hood and understanding these fund's holdings.
A few others "Global Hybrid" / "World Allocation" funds are GAOAX(40% stock/40% bond/20% cash), MDLOX(56/17/15/11% other), SGENX (80% stock/ 20% cash), KTRSX(55% stock/40% bonds), ARTGX(90% stock/ 10% cash).

Hi Tampabay,
Thanks for your comment.
The policy in the family for years has been if you catch, trap or shoot wild game ... you have to fix and eat it. Its one of the reasons I did not shoot any squirrels yesterday. I simply was not in the mood for squirrel stew. However, I did watch Buster and Skeeter tree a few of them yesterday out in the grove. If I shoot the squirrels in the grove then they can not have their afternoon fun. That's why I wrote we would have to take the Jeep and go back into the woods. Last night we had about three inches of new snow fall. Right now I am picking, the best I can, on the key board of my laptop ... thinking about what I'll write under Scott's post ... "What are you buying, selling or pondering?"
Have a good one ...
Old_Skeet

@Hank, Giroux's work, starting 6/06, may be somewhat different from other allocation funds, or so they claim, but closely analyze its opportunistic performance since then, especially during hard times, compared with similarly opportunistic GLRBX, ICMBX, JABAX, and FPACX. The last few years have been strongest, yes. Otherwise slightly unimpressive, while recently hot. If you add DODBX to the graph, you will see substantiation of its rankings. If I were seeking gogo in this area now, I might add FBALX.

Wonderful time to be in the stock market.....last few years before needing our money for retirement, timing was perfect, 2008 a distant (forgotten) dream(nightmare)

FYI: The Dow just made another all-time record high. To provide some further perspective to the current Dow rally, all major market rallies of the last 115 years are plotted on today's chart.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.chartoftheday.com/20150225.htm?H

FYI: The world is out to get active money managers. As Bloomberg’s Charles Stein reports, they’ve been having a tough economic recovery, with only 21 percent of stock-picking mutual funds beating their benchmarks during the past five years. They (at least, several that Stein talked to) have also identified a culprit on Constitution Avenue:
Regards,
Ted
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-02-24/active-money-managers-have-the-whole-world-against-them

Those big dogs are still licking their wounds from the 2000 tech bubble pop. Only now has the QQQ come almost back to that level. 15 years drawdown is a long time.
http://etfs.morningstar.com/quote?t=Qqq

@Old_Skeet: Please, your not telling me anything I don't already know about the Nasdaq-100. Check QQQ's performance against any of your fund YTD-10 Years Its time for you to get off the porch and hunt with the big dogs.
Regards,
Ted

I've owned SGENX for a number of years when I loved Jean-Marie Eveillard but looking now to hold something that might be very good over next few years, both OAKGX and MWEIX. I'm more interested in past 3 years. We shall see.

Classic Risk/Reward 101
(Bloomberg) -- Chevron Corp. sold $6.35 billion of bonds, the biggest debt offering by a U.S. oil and gas producer since the 54 percent rout in crude began in July, as investors seek debt of energy producers that can weather the downturn.
“Chevron is a reminder that all energy companies aren’t created equal,” said Scott Carmack, a money manager at Portland, Oregon-based Leader Capital Corp., which oversees $1.5 billion in fixed-income assets. “They are a behemoth of a company that is built for the long haul. Investors have no problem lending to them.”
Debt of the riskiest energy companies tracked by Bank of Merrill Lynch Bond Indexes lost more than 9 percent since last June, while those of safer energy securities gained 0.6 percent.
The new debt is an insurance policy against further declines in oil as well as an opportunity to take advantage of lower interest rates, Fadel Gheit, Chevron analyst at Oppenheimer & Co., said in a telephone interview.
“If they see a once-in-a-lifetime investment opportunity, they don’t want to be stuck in a situation where interest rates rise,” he said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-24/chevron-said-to-plan-bond-sale-in-second-deal-since-oil-plunge
Original
http://seekingalpha.com/news/2322826-chevron-raises-6_35b-in-biggest-oil-bond-deal-since-rout
Country,Company,Commodity,Corruption Risk Wrapped in One
Moody's downgrades Petrobras' ratings to Ba2; maintains review for downgrade
Global Credit Research - 24 Feb 2015
These rating actions reflect increasing concern about corruption investigations and liquidity pressures that might result from delays in delivering audited financial statements, as well as Moody's expectation that the company will be challenged to make meaningful reduction in its very high debt burden over the next several years. The ratings remain on review for downgrade.
https://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-downgrades-Petrobras-ratings-to-Ba2-maintains-review-for-downgrade--PR_319021
It was the fourth Petrobras downgrade in five months by Moody's.
http://seekingalpha.com/news/2322936-moody-s-downgrades-petrobras-debt-to-junk

Mr Alyesworth mentioned that his index fund (GASFX) is based on NG companies membership in the AGA (American Gas Association). Seems qualifying for this index has a bit to do with your membership dues and lobby efforts. Utilities remain a piece on the monopoly game board. I'm an investor in utilities because I am a user of utilities and much like healthcare I see myself needing their services.
Anyway, Here's the AGA's playbook for 2015:
playbook.aga.org/mobile/index.html
This might be better described as a "managed utility/energy index fund". Once managed by FBR...now part of Hennessey's fund GASFX has had long history of being a "smooth operator" especially with all the volatility in the energy markets. VPU is a true utility index fund (100% Utility)...GASFX blends utilities (61%) with energy (38%) and is more concentrated than VPU. GASFX is also 15 % outside the US. Here are the two funds over the last 10 years:

Here's GASFX 10 yr performance in comparison to oil (USO), Coal (KOL), Natural Gas (UNG), and Energy (XLE):