I do see that the annual reports have the total assets for the current and previous year, but they don't show it over the past several years.

Morningstar (under "Filings") just has the most recent annual report.
I'm assuming the individual fund websites may be a good place to find historical annual reports, going back at least several years. But some fund websites are not very good.
If they are not on the fund website, are they available on the SEC website, or elsewhere?

There are other websites where I run into big jerks. I simply turn them off. Literally, I block them so I don't even have to see them or anything they may say. That's not possible in here. I recall years ago someone was "stalking" Max Bialystock in the Fund Alarm website. He wasn't heard from much, after someone chimed-in and called a spade a spade... Anyhow, Ted is ignore-able. But I wouldn't do that. He knows too much. And a word here directly to Ted: " Where have you gone, Joe Dimaggio? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you."

Ted is 77 years old and as he has mentioned several times not in the best of health. I might be a bit more onery too if I had a host of health problems (and was 77 years young)
So we should probably cut him some slack.

I hadn't realized he was of that age. Now that I know I will take your advice Junkster and not say any more about it. Thanks for adding some perspective to the matter.

The quote:
“People aren't stupid. The problem is that our educational system has an amazing blind spot concerning risk literacy. We teach our children the mathematics of certainty -- geometry and trigonometry -- but not the mathematics of uncertainty, statistical thinking.”
>>>Nothing else is being taught that measures or assesses risk???
I see a bunch of risk assessment taking place in our school system; and "it ain't got noth'in" to do with math.
1. bullying
2. school lockdowns (practice drills) to prepare the staff and students for the event of a person who has chosen to cause harm at a particular facility.
3. plain old fights taking place in classrooms, the hallways and cafeteria.
4. risk literacy arrives in many forms in schools. Those who take the chances of failure from participation in any number and/or forms within the social fabric of a school society. Four years of being the backup quarterback for the high school football team, busting their butts to achieve a place or a position within any number of other school functions; but not always reaching the goal from any number of circumstances.
5. Sadly, for too many in some school systems, is the risk of being able to arrive at school for another day of study; without the risk of violence to them traveling to school.
The society of young folks in school systems is a world unto itself. There is risk with many things these young people deal with everyday within their school system; be it the staff/teachers or the other students of this special society.
I did not read the linked article; but hopefully it is more than data studies about math and risk, and how students do not understand risk.
Respectfully,
Catch

A good learning experience re: copyright law. I've found librarians in the past to be especially well versed on the "dos" and "don'ts". And, to his credit David has done an excellent job over the years explaining what's acceptable and not acceptable in that regard. But copyright law's not an easy concept for many laypeople to fully grasp.
Yep - I'd rather critique Ted, Rono, Catch, OJ or anyone else when they're here to defend themselves - which Ted is clearly not.

Here is a result from a MFO Fund database search, sorted by UI - ulcer index, lower is better. These funds, over a 20 year period, performed well compared to the S&P 500 (VFINX) with lower drawdowns in 2009. Over the past 3 years these funds have captured only about 70% of the S&P gain (my ball park estimate), but one could anticipate that they would also capture less of the next drawdown, making it easier to stick with your plan.
Fund APR MDD UI
MAPOX 10.3 -33.1 6.2
JABLX 10.3 -22.2 6.3
VWELX 10.1 -32.5 6.4
PRWCX 11.3 -36.6 6.5
FPACX 11.1 -28.8 6.7
JAMBX 7.4 -29.0 10.5
VFINX 9.7 -51.0 17.6
Apologies - I have not yet figured out how to post a result from the "Risk Profile" scan.

Ted is 77 years old and as he has mentioned several times not in the best of health. I might be a bit more onery too if I had a host of health problems (and was 77 years young) So we should probably cut him some slack.

Wednesday, August 6, 2014
It’s Only 3.4%
Ron Rowland
"Yesterday, the S&P 500 closed 3.4 percent below its all-time historical high. Bears are coming out of the woodwork, and media outlets are painting a grim picture. Although the modern day S&P 500 Index didn’t come into existence until 1957, Standard & Poor’s has been calculating an index of U.S. stocks since 1923. Dow Jones began the task in 1896. Today we have more than 14,000 days of S&P 500 history. That history extends to about 23,000 days if its predecessor is included and more than 29,000 days if you believe the Dow Jones Industrial Average was a good proxy 100 years ago."
One can read more of this weeks newsletter by clicking on the link below ...
http://investwithanedge.com/newsletter-archives/080614-its-only-3-4
Editing Note:
Recently there has been some issues brought forward about posting complete article content on the board over writing a brief blurb and then providing a link to the article.
The preferred way is to write a blurb and then post the link. Poster Mark called me out on this. With this, I have edited this post to reflect the site’s preferred way in hopes of maintaing harmony and conformability going forward.
I wish all ... "Good Investing."
Old_Skeet

Morningstar does have the current total AUM on the main quote page listed under "Total Assets". It is the total across all share classes.
I do see that the annual reports have the total assets for the current and previous year, but they don't show it over the past several years. In addition, I'd like to be able to pull the information programmatically into my spreadsheets. It seems parsing it from the annual reports might prove a little challenging. Not sure what kind of XBRL data is available, but I haven't been successful with my efforts thus far.

If you are a Morningstar subscriber (to the website) - you can get the AUM for each share class over several years individually by looking at the PDF for the fund. The PDF appears underneath the ticker and star rating, on the initial page for each fund, but M* doesn't have it for all funds. Again, AUM for >each< share class, not all share classes.
Also - I think that if you subscribe to Lipper then you can get the information.
Here is example for top 25 funds:
http://www.diansfundfreebies.com/performance/lg25.pdf

Hey guys! Managed to find Internet on the beach. My brother who thinks his lil brother lost it a long time back, never invests in mutual funds. However thanks to this board and after I recommended RPHYX and RSIVX - the only funds he owns besides bunch of Vanguard in his 401k - he still introduces me to others as his brother. Sorry digressing...
When we discussed conservative (ahem) ways to get some yield, he says to look at PFF and the new VRP. Then he showed me how some preferred stocks have provided him good income over the past few years and especially after the financial crisis. Anyways, just some food for thought. I am going to research some preferred stock funds after I get back. Seems like a compelling diversifying opportunity to me
Wish my first generation IPad had a camera so I could post a picture of my first real vacation in years. I have already had enought beers in the name of each one of you.

The article's argument is based on recent investor preferences - everybody and his dog is going after the good performance of passive funds over the past 5 years. My guess is that after the next solid correction, we will see articles about the superior performance of some actively managed funds.

FYI: Remember a few years back when everyone used to look at the 1% yields on long-term Japanese sovereign debt and write it off as a phenomenon specific to Japan? Well that so-called Japan specific issue is now firmly entrenched in Germany and Japan, and with a yield of 2.08% Canada is not far behind. Meanwhile, Japan has graduated down to the sub 1% club.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.bespokeinvest.com/thinkbig/2014/8/6/incredible-shrinking-yields.html?printerFriendly=true

I've been toying for a while with a story on Morningstar's venerable "buy the unloved" strategy. It starts with the simple premise that most people, quite reliably, do exactly the opposite of what's in their best interest. In its first manifestation, the strategy was to buy the three sectors that saw the greatest outflows (measured by change in percentage of assets at year's end) and hold them for 3-5 years while selling the most popular sectors. I liked it, then Morningstar stopped publishing it. When they resumed, the strategy had a far more conservative take: buy the three sectors that saw the greatest outflows measured in total dollar volume and hold them, while selling the most popular sectors.
Oh, by the way, they haven't traditionally allowed bond funds to play. They track bond flows but, in a private exchange, Mr. Kinnel allowed that "Generally they are too dull to provide much of a signal."
The problem with, and perhaps strength of, the newer version is that it means that you'll mostly be limited to play with your core sectors rather than volatile smaller ones. By way of example, large cap blend holds about $1.6 trillion - a 1% outflow there ($16 billion) would be an amount greater than the total assets in any of the 50 smallest fund categories. Large cap growth at $1.2 trillion is close behind.
Morningstar has taken, very quietly, to publishing fund flow reports each month. Here's the August report, for what interest it holds.
Who's unloved? Over the past 12 months:
intermediate term bonds - down $57 billion but up $7 billion YTD
large cap growth - down $35B
intermediate government - down $23B over the past 12 months
TIPs - down $22B
National munis - down $13B
commodities - down $11B
EM bonds - down $8B
Who's really unloved? Though Morningstar doesn't do the calculations, it appears that some of the emerging markets (China and India in particular) and currency funds have seen 10-25% of their assets disappear over the past year.
There's a lot of poke through. Hope you enjoy.
David

Fidelity lists AUM for the fund class - for 10 years or so to the best of my knowledge - under the "Performance and Risk" tab on the fund's page.

Good bond funds in my mind are there for good managers to navigate the market better than I could. Over the last 5-7 years I identified the best managers for me. So I own MWTRX, PIMIX, TGEIX, and TGBAX. That's where my bond money is.

Couldn't read the article. It says not available. But I'm sitting here at about 90% in cash for the last couple weeks, all because I'm in the middle of a 401k to IRA roll-over. Perfect time for me if the market decides to correct. I've been conservative at about 40-50% equities the last couple years.
I have my new fund portfolio set up on paper and I plan to invest again with an aim of 50-60% equities by October with a tilt towards balance/allocation fund managers and large caps. I'll sprinkle in maybe end-of- (bull market) cycle sectors like technology and energy for alpha.

Interesting article. The conservative asset allocation profiles have a lot of cash which is a losing proposition and has been for years. Personally I would not hold that much in cash these days.

I've been a shareholder of Eaton Vance Bond (EVBAX) since Gaffney left Loomis a couple years ago. The fund's cash position has risen to 20% with an additional 20% in equities. She typically chooses dividend generating stocks for the equity allocation. That had given the fund some upside since inception, but has been a drag on performance over the last month or so. In particular, the Arkema investment has been dismal - now down ~40% YTD.
Overall though no complaints. For those interested, you can buy shares load waived at Fidelity.

@MikeM After some years of purchasing mutual funds during periods that a manager is outperforming his benchmarks then being indecisive during the often inevitable underperfomance, I've decided that, rather than worry about whether my fund will deliver downside protection just because it did last time, I'll just settle for the mean (more and more ETFs).
In another thread, I saw a lot of familiar places; I'm off route 250