AMG GW&K International Small Cap Fund filing
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/720309/000119312520267166/d43311d485apos.htm

Me too regarding hopes for the future. Regarding the recent trend in renewables, I initiated a position in TERP on 12/30/19 and made additional investments during Q1 of 2020. It was merged into BEPC during the summer. The return to date on that investment is 105% plus dividends. That jump will probably not be repeated in the near future, but I have no plans to sell. (The results of the upcoming election will partially shape the investment outlook going forward for the U.S.)

Unfortunately most retirees I know including myself don't want to increase volatility and/or use cash + alternatives. The only choice most have are bond funds.
I have looked for alternative for years and couldn't find any that proved to be a good consistent one for years.
In my case as a trader, I'm at over 99% in bonds most times but trades riskier stuff for hours-days several times annually. The results are much better than my specific goals (making 6% annually, never lose 3% from any last top, SD < 3).
For someone who is not a trader and still want to have bond funds, they may look beyond "simple" bond funds. PIMIX used to be a great one and it's still OK but other funds may be PTIAX,TSIIX(both multi) + MNCPX(Non Trad) + HY Munis(VWALX).
Another good choice is a fund like PRWCX where the manager have been using flexible approach.

I prefer VCORX or BIV over BSV, a bit more volatility but much better returns (chart)

VCOR is not a near cash vehicle. BSV is, and also is inversely correlated to the market, making it a good choice to combine with near cash positions that do better but are correlated to the market (a bit) like GILPX and THIIX. In a balanced basket there is a very low probability of losing significant dollars, and they should materially outperform something like a high yield on line savings account (in the .70%-.80 range these days).

Mr Yardeni is interviewed on WealthTrack Oct 2, 2020:

Recent Sept/Oct Episodes:

The 20's will be full of interesting new innovations:
INTRODUCING ONE OF THE FASTEST ELECTRODE FOR BATTERIES IN THE WORLD

You can read my bond thread for ideas (link)
Higher rated bonds (core + core plus) + Munis are not doing well for 1-4 months.
The best bond funds are specializing in securitized/MBS. You can most in the Multi category but also in Non Trad

Mine:
PTIAX dropped measurably at the beginning of the week. Holding even on the last two or three days. PRSNX and RPSIX have risen nicely, this week. For not any reason I can figure out. Particularly given the political turmoil.
27 US stocks
8 foreign stocks
57 bonds of all sorts
PTIAX 7.82 of portf.
PRSNX 20.99
RPSIX 26.51
retired, 66. pretty happy with my funds. Wife has one fund, Trad. IRA: BRUFX.
Everything else is concentrated in 6 funds. PRWCX holds 31.48 % of portf, including BRUFX.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/720309/000119312520266471/d46556d497k.htm
AMG Managers Cadence Emerging Companies Fund
Supplement dated October 8, 2020 to the Summary Prospectus, dated October 1, 2020
The following information supplements and supersedes any information to the contrary relating to AMG Managers Cadence Emerging Companies Fund (the “Fund”), a series of AMG Funds III (the “Trust”), contained in the Fund’s Summary Prospectus (the “Summary Prospectus”), dated as noted above.
At a meeting held on October 8, 2020 (the “Meeting”), the Trust’s Board of Trustees (the “Board”) approved the appointment of GW&K Investment Management, LLC (“GW&K” or the “Subadviser”) as the subadviser to the Fund on an interim basis to replace Cadence Capital Management LLC (“Cadence”), effective October 8, 2020 (the “Implementation Date”). The appointment of GW&K was pursuant to an interim subadvisory agreement between AMG Funds LLC (“AMGF”) and GW&K (the “Interim Subadvisory Agreement”), to be effective until the earlier of 150 days after the termination of the former subadvisory agreement between AMGF and Cadence with respect to the Fund (the “Former Subadvisory Agreement”), which occurred on October 8, 2020, or the approval of a new subadvisory agreement between AMGF and GW&K by the Board and Fund shareholders. At the Meeting, the Board also approved the longer-term appointment of GW&K as the subadviser to the Fund, a new subadvisory agreement between AMGF and GW&K (the “New Subadvisory Agreement”), and the submission of the New Subadvisory Agreement to Fund shareholders for approval. The rate of compensation to be received by GW&K under the Interim Subadvisory Agreement approved by the Board is the same rate of compensation that Cadence would have received under the Former Subadvisory Agreement.
In connection with the hiring of GW&K, effective as of the Implementation Date, the Fund (i) changed its name from AMG Managers Cadence Emerging Companies Fund to AMG GW&K International Small Cap Fund, (ii) made changes to its investment objective, principal investment strategies and principal risks, and (iii) replaced its existing benchmark index with the MSCI World ex USA Small Cap Index.
In addition, effective as of the Implementation Date, the Summary Prospectus is amended as follows:
All references to the name of AMG Managers Cadence Emerging Companies Fund shall refer to AMG GW&K International Small Cap Fund.
The section titled “Investment Objective” on page 1 is deleted and replaced with the following:...
Also from AMG website,
https://www.amgfunds.com/products/gwk_international_small_cap_fund_mecax.html
Fund Notice:
Effective October 8, 2020, the subadviser of AMG Managers Cadence Emerging Companies Fund (the “Fund”) changed from Cadence Capital Management LLC to GW&K Investment Management, LLC (“GW&K”). The appointment of GW&K is pursuant to an interim subadvisory agreement in anticipation of shareholder approval of a definitive subadvisory agreement. Also effective October 8, 2020, the Fund changed its name to AMG GW&K International Small Cap Fund and changed its investment objective, principal investment strategies and principal risks. For more information regarding these and other changes to the Fund, please see the Fund’s prospectus.

In the current interest rate environment, I would require "near cash" to:
(a) be only slightly volatile - the more volatile a fund is, the longer one might have to wait to cash out even accepting a modest loss;
(b) have relatively small max drawdowns - it could take "forever" to recover from a significant drop
Bonds are more predictable than stocks in the sense that one can say, given a particular condition, how a particular bond will behave. If one bond with basic attributes (maturity, duration, credit quality) similar to another pays more, there's a reason.
Even (and perhaps especially) if a fund has never exhibited a risk, if it is yielding more, there's a risk there somewhere. The rule of thumb I follow is that the less obvious the risk and the less likely it is to happen, the more catastrophic it will be if the risk is realized.
I think one objective for "near cash" is to reduce the likelihood, however small, of such a catastrophic event. "Near cash" is not an investment one is planning to hold for many years. It does not have the time to prove its long term mettle.
VCORX has 2½ times the volatility of BSV (3.67% vs 1.51% over three years). It has a duration of 6.4 years (per Vanguard). No wonder it (and BIV) took off since March 20th. But do you really expect interest rates to drop again just as much? That would be a drop to 0.0%. (Between March 18th and October 8th, 7 year treasury rates dropped from 1.08% to 0.54%; another 0.54% drop would take them down to 0.0%.)
Regarding BSV, this still carries some interest rate risk, some volatility, some credit risk. Its 30 day SEC yield is 0.34%. These don't compare favorably with no-penalty CDs from Ally Bank (11 month, 0.60% - 0.65%), and Marcus Bank (7 month, 0.55%). Though the ETF does have the advantage of finer granularity (you don't have to cash out everything) and ETFs can be easier to invest in than CDs with an IRA.
As to bonds in general, I substantially agree with one of the quotes in the Barron's article that @hank cited in another thread: "Rieder recommends more stocks and, in the bond portfolio, only half in traditional fixed income, with the other half split between alternatives and cash."
Personally, I'm not into alternatives, but increasing equity and using cash rather than bonds to protect against sequence of return risk makes sense to me. Especially since one doesn't do much better with bonds these days than with cash unless one is taking outsized risks.

I prefer VCORX or BIV over BSV, a bit more volatility but much better returns (chart)

short-term, pure manipulation
https://www.axios.com/trump-mccarthy-wants-stimulus-deal-b872e5b8-243a-44f2-adfb-998b87fd1816.html

New to portfolio during past week or so: DLY, STK, SZC

Oops. Here are some brief whys. These three purchases finalized development of a high yield portfolio funded by carving 25% out from OEF/ETF portfolio.
DLY - New diversified Doubleline income CEF purchased to complement PDI holding.
NAV in uptrend. Discount near peak since inception. YOC = 7.86%
STK - Tech focused CEF purchased to complement BST which was purchased earlier in year during market downturn. Slight discount. YOC = 8.54%
SZC - Infrastructure CEF with new mandate in April purchased to complement UTF which was purchased earlier in year during market downturn. 28% discount. New mandate and new portfolio make sense. YOC = 9.23%

Almost 50 years ago, two upstart companies pioneered a new model in the financial services industry—one entirely devoted to individual investors. Following this week's close of the acquisition, TD Ameritrade and Schwab are now part of one company with the same shared goal: helping people realize their dreams through the power of investing.

mail.tdameritrade.com/H/2/v600000175091d3956a25213f4bbe5cfc0/b21ddfaa-76df-4f58-b1b4-0239b10f8915/HTML

Also, a fund like PRNHX continue to impress me in the mid growth space...up 80% since March...40% YTD...27% over 3 years...23% over last 5 years...21% over trailing 10 years...15 % over previous 15years.

let us hope
https://scontent-bos3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/121045397_10158137075281749_1044652665160004636_o.png?_nc_cat=1&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=it9ZIxKnNWIAX_-rZSA&_nc_ht=scontent-bos3-1.xx&oh=08e57278c9d1cd525117b0d17719b47c&oe=5FA46A2E

https://www.barrons.com/articles/how-to-build-the-best-bond-portfolio-for-crazy-times-51601679774

Pretty good rare article.

Ditto. If you ever wondered what the barbell approach looks like ..... :)

Plausible outlook. And, the last sentence lines up with what the Fed chair recently said....

“Given historically low yields and high equity valuations, it makes sense for portfolio managers and asset allocators alike to lower their return expectations rather than stretch too far and extend too far down the quality spectrum in hope of maintaining historical levels of returns,” PIMCO said.
“While central banks including the Fed have the means to provide a backstop for asset markets in times of crisis, credibly achieving their inflation targets requires a tool they cannot control: fiscal policy.”/blockquote>
https://reuters.com/article/us-pimco-outlook/pimco-sees-low-return-environment-likely-for-next-3-5-years-idUSKBN26S2C4