Can anyone please explain what does reorganizing a mutual fund into a mutual fund trust accomplish? Layman's terms please if you can. Also, is this move good for the shareholders? TIA

The first is an interesting question, and one that Yogi has addressed, but not the right question for these funds. They are already in a trust - the second line in Shadow's transcription reads: FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST.
A more focused question would be: what does reorganizing mutual funds from one trust into a different trust accomplish? Check for changes (infrequent) in fees, waivers, clawbacks, management firms. Also shareholder voting rights (see below).
Rondure Global Advisors has been using a trust (Financial Investors Trust) and will be moving to Northern Lights Trust III. They are both Delaware statutory trusts, so the laws governing them are the same (Delaware).
But because they are different trusts, they have different trustees (those are the fiduciaries you vote for to represent your interests in the funds). Also, since the size of the two trusts are almost surely different, a shareholder vote will have more (or less) weight than before.
Yogi wrote that large fund firms use trusts (aggregating their funds) for efficiency. Boutiques do the same, except that instead of aggregating their funds together in a trust they run, they join together with other boutiques in a trust they don't run. So you find funds from multiple families in a single trust.
Here's a list of some of the funds in Financial Investors Trust. I've underlined some funds/families that have appeared in posts here:
JCRAX - FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - ALPS/CoreCommodity Management CompleteCommodities Strategy Fund Investor Shares
INDAX - FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - ALPS/Kotak India Growth Fund Investor Shares
LPEFX - FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - ALPS/Red Rocks Listed Private Equity Fund Investor Shares
ALIBX - FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - ALPS | Smith Balanced Opportunity Fund Investor Class
SMCVX - FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - ALPS | Smith Credit Opportunities Fund Investor Class
FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - ALPS/Smith Short Duration Bond Fund Class A
FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - ALPS/Smith Total Return Bond Fund Class A
AMWYX - FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - ALPS/WMC Research Value Fund Investor Shares
CHNAX - FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - Clough China Fund Investor Shares
HSSAX - FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - Emerald Banking and Finance Fund Class A
HSPGX - FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - Emerald Growth Fund Class A
EFCAX - FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - Emerald Insights Fund Class A
ESTAX - FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - Emerald Select trueLiberty Income Fund Class A
ELASX - FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - Emerald Small Cap Value Fund Class A
GPEOX - FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - Grandeur Peak Emerging Markets Opportunities Fund Investor Class
FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - Grandeur Peak Global Contrarian Fund Institutional Class
FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - Grandeur Peak Global Explorer Fund Institutional Class
GPMCX - FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - Grandeur Peak Global Micro Cap Fund Institutional Class
GPGOX - FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - Grandeur Peak Global Opportunities Fund Investor Class
GPROX - FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - Grandeur Peak Global Reach Fund Investor Class
GGSOX - FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - Grandeur Peak Global Stalwarts Fund Investor Class
GPIOX - FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - Grandeur Peak International Opportunities Fund Investor Class
GISOX - FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - Grandeur Peak International Stalwarts Fund Investor Class
FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - Grandeur Peak US Stalwarts Fund Institutional Class
RMRGX - FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - Highland Resolute Fund Class I
RLTAX - FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - RiverFront Asset Allocation Aggressive Investor Shares
RLGAX - FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - RiverFront Asset Allocation Growth & Income Investor Shares
RMIAX - FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - RiverFront Asset Allocation Moderate Investor Shares
RNWOX - FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - RONDURE NEW WORLD FUND Investor Class
ROSOX - FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - RONDURE OVERSEAS FUND Investor Class
SFGIX - FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - Seafarer Overseas Growth and Income Fund Investor
SFVLX - FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - Seafarer Overseas Value Fund Investor Class
DGIFX - FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - The Disciplined Growth Investors Fund
VVPLX - FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - Vulcan Value Partners Fund Investor Class Shares
VVPSX - FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST - Vulcan Value Partners Small Cap Fund Investor Class Shares
Source: https://fintel.io/ff/915802
Here are some of the funds/families in the new trust, Northern Lights Trust III. Nothing pops out at me:
AAMAX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - Absolute Capital Asset Allocator Fund Class A Shares
ACMAX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - Absolute Capital Defender Fund Class A Shares
ADOAX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - ACM Dynamic Opportunity Fund Class A Shares
TINIX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - ACM Tactical Income Fund Class I
BWDAX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - Boyd Watterson Limited Duration Enhanced Income Fund Class A Shares
CINTX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - Centerstone International Fund Class I
CENTX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - Centerstone Investors Fund Class I
CPQAX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - Counterpoint Long-Short Equity Fund Class A Shares
CPAEX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - Counterpoint Tactical Equity Fund Class A Shares
CPATX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - Counterpoint Tactical Income Fund Class A Shares
TMNAX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - Counterpoint Tactical Municipal Fund Class A
HYTR - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - CP High Yield Trend ETF
FPAG - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - FPA Global Equity ETF
GHSIX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - Good Harbor Tactical Select Fund Class I Shares
QQH - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - HCM Defender 100 Index ETF
LGH - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - HCM Defender 500 Index ETF
HCMNX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - HCM Dividend Sector Plus Fund Class A Shares
HCMFX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - HCM Dynamic Income Fund Investor Class Shares
HCMEX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - HCM Income Plus Fund Class A Shares
HCMGX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - HCM Tactical Growth Fund Class A Shares
LIONX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - Issachar Fund Class N Shares
GHTAX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - Leland Real Asset Opportunities Fund Class A Shares
LDPAX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - Leland Thomson Reuters Private Equity Buyout Index Fund Class A
LDVAX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - Leland Thomson Reuters Venture Capital Index Fund Class A Shares
MVPFX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - Marathon Value Portfolio
NFMAX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - Newfound Multi-Asset Income Fund Class A
NFGAX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - Newfound Risk Managed Global Sectors Fund Class A Shares
NFDIX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - Newfound Risk Managed U.S. Growth Fund Class I Shares
NFDAX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - Newfound Risk Managed U.S. Sectors Fund Class A Shares
LSEIX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - Persimmon Long/Short Fund Class I Shares
APSHX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - Pinnacle Sherman Multi-Strategy Core Fund Class A
IPTRX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - Pinnacle TrendRating Innovative Equity Fund Class I
RQEAX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - RESQ Dynamic Allocation Fund RESQ Dynamic Allocation Class A Shares
RQIAX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - RESQ Strategic Income Fund Class A Shares
SDFAX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - Swan Defined Risk Emerging Markets Fund Class A Shares
SDJAX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - Swan Defined Risk Foreign Developed Fund Class A Shares
SDRAX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - Swan Defined Risk Fund Class A Shares
SDAAX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - Swan Defined Risk Growth Fund Class A Shares
SDAYX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - Swan Defined Risk Growth Fund Class Y Shares
SDCAX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - Swan Defined Risk U.S. Small Cap Fund Class A Shares
TCBAX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - The Covered Bridge Fund Class A Shares
TEBRX - NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III - The Teberg Fund
Source: https://fintel.io/ff/1537140

I spoke with TD. Front line wasn't helpful, but I got transferred to a supervisor who provided a clear explanation and took my feedback to clarify the "never received" savings bond form (FS-3062).
I was told that it is TD policy to replace paper bonds issued within the previous 12 months with paper bonds. After that, you replacements of paper bonds will be electronic.
The supervisor drew a distinction between "reissued bonds" (e.g. when a savings bond is retitled due to an owner's death), and "substitute bonds". While I can appreciate that subtle difference, the form's wording muddies the distinction. Still, at least I can articulate the one year paper policy.
The safest thing to do perhaps is to wait until you receive all tax refund bonds (including "substitute bonds" for any lost in the mail), and only then mail them all in together to get converted to electronic form.
Alternatively, send in the paper bonds you have, and wait a year to request "substitute bonds" for those lost in the mail. Those should then (and only then?) get automatically registered in electronic form.
Some things still don't make sense, however. Form 3062 conflates "reissued" and "substitute". It says in one place that "When we reissue a Series EE or Series I savings bond, we no longer provide a paper bond". While in another place it says that "For Series EE and Series I bonds, we no longer issue substitute bonds in paper form."
Another is that I was told that one can request electronic savings bonds as part of a tax refund. Perhaps so, but I can't find how to do that. All I see is Form 8888 that allows you to request paper savings bonds.
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8888.pdf
Speaking of Form 8888, the TurboTax FAQ "How do I buy savings bonds with my tax refund?" has its own problem. It says that you can use the form to request up to three savings bonds. You have no choice on the savings bonds, but can request refund direct deposits into up to three financial institutions.
https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/small-business-processes/buy-savings-bonds-tax-refund/L33edmEa2_US_en_US

Invests only in Post Office properties. So, it's safe to say the P.O. (half private, half governmental entity) will not default.
Funny you should bring that up. From OJ's post about the Supreme Court case to determine whether the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding is unconstitutional:

The CFPB is not the only agency funded this way. ... The U.S. Postal Service, the U.S. Mint, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which protects bank depositors, and more, are also not funded by annual congressional appropriations.

https://mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/60734/supreme-court-to-hear-case-that-threatens-consumer-protection-agency-and-other-federal-agencies

Following are lightly edited excerpts from a current NPR report:

The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to take up a case that could threaten the existence of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and potentially the status of numerous other federal agencies, including the Federal Reserve.
A panel of three Trump appointees on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last fall that the agency's funding is unconstitutional because the CFPB gets its money from the Federal Reserve, which in turn is funded by bank fees.
Although the agency reports regularly to Congress and is routinely audited, the Fifth Circuit ruled that is not enough. The CFPB's money has to be appropriated annually by Congress or the agency, and everything it does is unconstitutional, the lower courts said.
The CFPB is not the only agency funded this way. The Federal Reserve itself is funded not by Congress but by banking fees. The U.S. Postal Service, the U.S. Mint, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which protects bank depositors, and more, are also not funded by annual congressional appropriations.
In its brief to the Supreme Court, the Biden administration noted that even programs like Social Security and Medicare are paid for by mandatory spending, not annual appropriations.
"This marks the first time in our nation's history that any court has held that Congress violated the Appropriations Clause by enacting a law authorizing spending," wrote the Biden administration's Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar.
Conservatives who have long opposed the modern administrative state have previously challenged laws that declared heads of agencies can only be fired for cause. In recent years, the Supreme Court has agreed and struck down many of those provisions. The court has held that administrative agencies are essentially creatures of the Executive Branch, so the president has to be able to fire at-will and not just for cause.
But while those decisions did change the who, in terms of who runs these agencies, they did not take away the agencies' powers. Now comes a lower court decision that essentially invalidates the whole mission of the CFPB.
The CFPB was the brainchild of then White House aide, and now U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren. She issued a statement Monday noting that lower courts have previously and repeatedly upheld the constitutionality of the CFPB.
"If the Supreme Court follows more than a century of law and historical precedent," she said, "it will strike down the Fifth Circuit's decision before it throws our financial market and economy into chaos."
The high court will not hear arguments in the case until next term, so a decision is unlikely until 2024.

Among other "perpetual bulls" ( it seems) on EM is GMO
For a very long time they have believed Emerging markets will outperform almost everything else, but I think this is almost all based on valuation.
There are a lot of moving parts to try to understand.
Some are just financial: Dollar strength vs weakness ( can be hedged away I guess) honesty of management ( perhaps identifiable by good PM), corruption ( a matter of opinion perhaps but clearly some countries have stronger rule of law protections etc than others)
Then there are the ethical issues: child labor, worker's rights etc all weaker than in US and even the US we will all admit has major problems
You now have to add Climate Change. India has done very well, until the last couple of years, but already is hitting summertime temperatures ( per Bloomberg) with only 10 % of population having air conditioning. Over the next few years this is bound to weaken economic performance unless you are 100% into Indian A/C companies
For the funds that do provide decent annual letters, a careful read can see how well a lot of these issues are addressed. But what do you do when they are not mentioned at all?

Hi @larryB
I was going to write about this next week, but here we are and that's great; as it relates to your and my own question, too.
SOFR is a broad measure of the cost of borrowing cash overnight, collateralized by
U.S. Treasury securities in the repurchase agreement (repo) market.
There is monetary hand-holding in REPO and SOFR land. LIBOR had this function, but has been replaced with SOFR. LIBOR (London) had a few proven manipulations taking place and was given the boot for this monetary trading arena. Trillions of dollars travel these hidden electronic roads as we eat, sleep, play and other. I don't know about all of the areas using SOFR rates (lack of study time), but some large mortgage companies use the SOFR yield rate to set mortgage rates.
SOFR New York Fed. Reserve related write up.
This links to Part II, for the overview. I wouldn't begin to launch this in my own words. I think you'll find some quick decent reading without going crazy.
SOFR A decent Investopedia definition
My quick and dirty for SOFR and MMKT rates is that, as FED rates increased....then SOFR rates increased and with watching SOFR rates there is a very close connection in the yields being paid in MMKT's.
SOFR is reported through the day on Bloomberg tv, and has remained at 4.55 during the same time frame as with the 'flat line' in MMKT yields, generally speaking. for the ones I view. There is a % range for this and I can't find my handy-dandy chart. I'll dig around and place it in this thread; as it can't be more than a few electrons away.
Hi @Anna Thanks for the kind words. I learn from writing, too.

I’ve read the full report for DODBX and just a quick glance so far at DODEX.
DODBX: They’ve sliced 2 or 3 % off their previous near -70% allocation to equities, moving that into bonds. Equities are now at 66%. They single out what they see as opportunity in mortgages / mortgage related instruments. And they’ve got a significant hold in international equities - near 15% as I recall.
I was curious about their previous explained use of a small S&P short position. No mention of it in this year’s commentary. However, the financial accounting page lists 3 shorts. The amounts seem relatively insignificant. A bit of hedging going on.
E-Mini S&P 500 Index— Short Position
Euro-Bund Future— Short Position
Ultra 10 Year U.S. Treasury Note Future— Short Position
DODEX: Very interesting! Here’s a few excerpts:
”2022 was a difficult year for emerging and developed equity markets around the world. Waning economic growth, rising geopolitical tensions, disruption in global supply chains, and tightening monetary policies in the face of surging inflation, all weighed on stocks …
“From a valuation perspective, emerging markets equities continue to look compelling: the MSCI EM ended the year at 11.3 times forward earnings. Emerging markets value stocks remain attractively priced compared to growth stocks, with a wide valuation spread—nearly two standard deviations above the historical mean. The broad divergence between performance and valuation within emerging markets, coupled with a highly volatile and uncertain global economic and political backdrop, provides a potentially productive setting for (our investment approach).
“ … The Fund’s holdings, on average, trade at 9.5 times forward earnings, compared to the MSCI EM at 11.3 times. This, coupled with our long-term investment horizon, enables us to invest in companies, industries, and countries that may face significant uncertainty in the short term, but where we believe the long-term prospects are bright. An example of these principles in action is the Fund’s large overweight position in select China Internet holdings, the biggest contributor to the Fund’s outperformance last year.” (Boldface mine)
Re China - They appear to see diamonds where I see mainly refuse (based on the geopolitics). Reminiscent of the circus act of swallowing a burning torch.

This week’s guest has experienced multiple economic and market cycles during his more than 50 years of managing money and thinks the current one is particularly perilous for investors. In an exclusive WEALTHTRACK appearance, he felt it was important to tell us why and what steps we should consider taking to mitigate its effects.

Feb 25, 2023

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/874964/000093041323000476/c105767_497.htm
497 1 c105767_497.htm
THE LAZARD FUNDS, INC.
Lazard Emerging Market Debt Portfolio
Supplement to Current Summary Prospectus and Prospectus
The Board of Directors of The Lazard Funds, Inc. (the “Fund”) has approved the liquidation of Lazard Emerging Market Debt Portfolio (the “Portfolio”).
No further investments are being accepted into the Portfolio, except for investments by certain brokers or other financial intermediaries or employee benefit or retirement plans (acting on behalf of their clients or participants) with pre-existing investments in the Portfolio pursuant to an agreement or other arrangement with the Fund, the Distributor or another agent of the Fund regarding Portfolio investments. Promptly upon completion of liquidation of the Portfolio’s investments, the Portfolio will redeem all its outstanding shares by distribution of its assets to shareholders in amounts equal to the net asset value of each shareholder’s Portfolio investment. It is anticipated that the Portfolio’s assets will be distributed to shareholders on or about April 25, 2023.
Prior to the liquidation of the Portfolio, depending on the arrangements of any broker or other financial intermediary associated with your account through which Portfolio shares are held, the Fund’s exchange privilege may allow you to exchange shares of the Portfolio for shares of the same Class of another series of the Fund in an identically registered account. Please see the section of the Prospectus entitled “Shareholder Information—Investor Services—Exchange Privilege” for more information.
Dated: February 24, 2023

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/915802/000139834423004073/fp0082418-1_497.htm
497 1 fp0082418-1_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 February 23, 2023 to the
Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information,
each dated August 31, 2022, as supplemented
The Board of Trustees (the “Board”) of Financial Investors Trust (the “Trust”), based upon the recommendation of Grandeur Peak Global Advisors, LLC, the investment adviser to the Funds, approved the proposed reorganization of each Fund into correspondingly named series of Grandeur Peak Funds Trust (each, a “New Fund”), subject in each case to the approval of the shareholders of the relevant existing Fund (each, a “Reorganization”).
The Board also approved an Agreement and Plan of Reorganization and Termination (the “Plan”) that provides that each existing Fund will assign all of its assets to the corresponding New Fund, in exchange solely for (1) the number of the New Fund shares equivalent in value to shares of the relevant existing Fund outstanding immediately prior to the closing date of the Reorganization, and (2) the New Fund’s assumption of all of the relevant existing Fund’s liabilities, followed by a distribution of those shares to such existing Fund’s shareholders so that the existing Fund’s shareholders receive shares of the corresponding New Fund equivalent in value to the shares of the existing Fund held by such shareholder on the closing date of the Reorganization. Each Reorganization is intended to qualify as a tax-free reorganization for federal income tax purposes.
The Trust will hold a shareholder meeting on or about April 12, 2023, as may be adjourned, at which shareholders of each existing Fund as of February 22, 2023 will be asked to consider and vote on the Plan. If shareholders of each Fund approve the Reorganization with respect to that Fund, the Reorganizations are expected to take effect in or around June 2023.
Shareholders of each existing Fund will receive a combined prospectus/proxy statement with additional information about the shareholders meeting, the Reorganizations, and the New Funds. Please read these materials carefully, as they will contain a more detailed description of the Reorganizations.
Please retain this supplement with your Prospectus and
Statement of Additional Information.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/915802/000139834423004075/fp0082418-3_497.htm
97 1 fp0082418-3_497.htm
FINANCIAL INVESTORS TRUST
Rondure New World Fund
Rondure Overseas Fund
(each, a “Fund”)
Supplement dated February 23, 2023 to the
Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information,
each dated August 31, 2022, as supplemented
The Board of Trustees (the “Board”) of Financial Investors Trust (the “Trust”), based upon the recommendation of Rondure Global Advisors, LLC, the investment adviser to the Funds, approved the proposed reorganization of each Fund into correspondingly named series of Northern Lights Fund Trust III (each, a “New Fund”), subject in each case to the approval of the shareholders of the relevant existing Fund (each, a “Reorganization”).
The Board also approved an Agreement and Plan of Reorganization and Termination (the “Plan”) that provides that each existing Fund will assign all of its assets to the corresponding New Fund, in exchange solely for (1) the number of the New Fund shares equivalent in value to shares of the relevant existing Fund outstanding immediately prior to the closing date of the Reorganization, and (2) the New Fund’s assumption of all of the relevant existing Fund’s liabilities, followed by a distribution of those shares to such existing Fund’s shareholders so that the existing Fund’s shareholders receive shares of the corresponding New Fund equivalent in value to the shares of the existing Fund held by such shareholder on the closing date of the Reorganization. Each Reorganization is intended to qualify as a tax-free reorganization for federal income tax purposes.
The Trust will hold a shareholder meeting on or about April 12, 2023, as may be adjourned, at which shareholders of each existing Fund as of February 22, 2023 will be asked to consider and vote on the Plan. If shareholders of each Fund approve the Reorganization with respect to that Fund, the Reorganizations are expected to take effect in or around June 2023.
Shareholders of each existing Fund will receive a combined prospectus/proxy statement with additional information about the shareholders meeting, the Reorganizations, and the New Funds. Please read these materials carefully, as they will contain a more detailed description of the Reorganizations.
Please retain this supplement with your Prospectus and
Statement of Additional Information.
New filing:
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1537140/000158064223000969/rondure_485a.htm

”Enthusiasm for bonds is proving to be a bonanza for BlackRock’s fixed-income exchange traded funds, which have attracted more investor cash since US interest rates started rising than all their competitors combined.BlackRock, the world’s largest money manager, is capitalising on growing interest among wealth managers and other asset managers in using ETFs instead of or in addition to buying bonds directly. From March last year to the end of January, there were $146bn net flows into BlackRock’s fixed-income ETFs, while competitors took in $134bn.
“Bond ETFs have been a bright spot for BlackRock after a year when its overall assets under management shrank by nearly 15 per cent to $8.6tn. Chief executive Larry Fink considers them a main driver of revenue growth. BlackRock predicts that bond ETF assets industry-wide will more than double from $1.8tn now to $5tn in 2030. The increases are being driven by regulatory changes, investors’ growing comfort with the way they perform in volatile markets and creative uses of them by wealth managers and even other bond funds.”

Financial Times - February 17, 2023
I was able to access the article one time online using my DuckGo browser. Good luck. As I posted in OT, a subscription to the Financial Times via Amazon’s Kindle service can now be had for a modest $7.99 monthly. I am a subscriber. ISTM the articles in the Kindle edition publish a day or two later than they appear online, however.

LarryB - agreed. Nobody knows nuttin' and markets will fluctuate. Only things you can do is either stick your head in the sand (and money in the mattress) or stay in the game and remember the markets are like flying in a plane: control what you can about the trip (eg, choice of airline, seat/class, etc) but understand that there may well be some turbulence along the flight ... and while it could be scary at times, the only way out of it is through it.
That said, I do wonder what younger financial advisors/planners/brokers are feeling or acting during market swoons and what they can advise clients outside of algorithmically-generated allocation recommendations ... for the past 20 years they've pretty much only known ZIRP environments, fed-puts, and no prolonged periods of inflation, stagflation, or chaos.
(But your point is well-taken: I had an 8%-ish condo mortgage back in 2000 (obtained via, of all places, Priceline.Com and very quickly paid off) which until recently was considered exhorbitant and OMGTERRIBLE.) Current rates are still better than what we had back then!

It’s odd because I often hear from the usual pundits that any attempts to tax people or regulate industry are socialist and anti-American, but I can’t think of anything quite so anti-American on the right wing as crypto. Its existence is an attempt to undermine and circumvent the U.S. dollar, and what could be more American than our sawbucks? Our currency is arguably the most powerful representation of America worldwide, and if the dollar fails as the world reserve currency it doesn’t bode well for us as a superpower.
Perhaps that is the actual value of crypto as an investment— it represents a belief and perhaps even a hope that America will fail. I don’t think it’s an accident by the way that Russia has become intensely interested in crypto. It is a nation state and currency weapon of mass destruction, like investing in a missile pointed at the dollar. The problem with even that thesis is America has ample financial and legal means to defend itself against crypto. One of them is interest rates. A lot of investors want dollars now so they can buy T-bills, CDs and money markets yielding almost 5%. You get 0% on your crypto investment, and any entity issuing yield-paying debt on crypto would be of dubious credit quality versus the government which has taxing authority to pay its bills, the financial terrorists in Congress notwithstanding.
Then there are the legal defenses. As Yogibearbull rightly pointed out, it wouldn’t be too hard for regulators to clamp down on crypto for attempting to muscle in on the dollar. Moreover, if blockchain technology is the most interesting and valuable aspect of crypto—and I believe it is—it wouldn’t be too hard to use that technology for our existing all-American much beloved dollar.

Why model portfolios won’t help you to succeed in the stock market.

February 14, 2016|by Pat McKeough
1978, 1998, 2007, 2016 or 2023...............a model is a model. Everyone has a 'model' in their head, dependent upon one's financial goals and means to arrive at that goal. The assumption of an 'investing model' of being only the stock market is 'strange'. Market investments are models of some form.
VWINX operated by Vanguard/Wellesley is a model for a conservative investment.
Not including taxes and inflation since its inception in 1970, the fund has a 15 year return of 6.30% and a lifetime return of 9.30%.
@Alban Maintain reading and studying, remain curious to help with learning. All of us here are 'still' learning. As with your post, continue to ask the proper question in hopes of finding a proper answer.
--- Strictly my opinions, of course.

@sma3 Interesting. Thanks for your response. I am a reporter for a financial news outlet. Would you be interested in speaking on-the-record about this for a larger story? If so, I can offer my email or number. Thank you.

Thanks all for the above insights!
Kolanivak isn’t just another market pundit. As a spokesman for the investment arm of JPMorgan Chase he commands a very high stature. If size and financial influence of company or institution is considered, the advice might be seen to carry more weight and be of superior quality. One would expect advice from such a giant to move markets. Their advice feels incrementally different from that of smaller money managers like Charles Schwab, T. Rowe Price or Invesco.
From Wikipedia: ”JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational financial services company … the largest bank in the United States and the world's largest bank by market capitalization. The firm is considered systemically important by the Financial Stability Board (which) has led to enhanced regulatory oversight …” (Wikipedia)
Here’s an indication of the relative sizes of some financial institutions by market cap:
J.P. Morgan Chase $418 Billion
Bank of America $283 Billion
Charles Schwab $150.77 Billion
T Rowe Price $26.4 Billion
Invesco $8.4 Billion

I have been trying to find out more about model portfolios now that Morningstar provides a lot of data on them. At first sight, they seem to be beneficial for both investors and financial advisers, but they are unregulated, which can create problems. I came across this article. It is very critical of model portfolios and raises a number of issues. I wonder if people here have come across any of these questionable practices in broker model portfolios. Thanks, Alban

Supposedly the buy-side and sell-side 'analysts' don't coordinate the timing of release of their guidance, but I still don't trust Wall Street to play fair, even if it's the law or SEC regulation. A Chinese-firewall sort of thing, I think.
Nevertheless, a good rule of thumb is that when Joe/Jane Retail Investor see something in the media or as a research note from their firm, the information's already long-since known by others with far deeper pockets so it's not a surprise to everyone and depending on what's discussed, the 'easy' money could already have been made.
An even better rule of thumb is to never act blindly on what big-bank 'analysts' and prominent CIOs put out no matter how loudly their prognostications might be. You could've made a fortune fading (taking the opposite position) on such statements from, for example, Goldman's various CIOs over the years or Cramer's TV picks. Frankly, to me, the more I see them on TV or the financial press/social media, the less credence I give them.
By contrast, senior investment analysts or CIOs who eschew the media and rarely do interviews or make prognostications, or smaller folks running tiny funds or doing newsletter analysis might be worth paying more attention to in terms of their assessments and opinions - such as David Giroux of TRP or Jason Kelly. But even there, you still have to do your own diligence!

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Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)
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