FYI: At least 10 U.S. fundsters, plus several fundster­adjacent folks, are
among the world's billionaires this year, as identified by Forbes.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.mfwire.com/common/artprint2007.asp?storyID=55944&wireid=2

In last month's Elevator Talk, Paul allows that he'll pursue for SFVLX some investments that are riskier than what would be appropriate in SFGIX.
If you want to limit downside, consider a fund that hedges its equity exposure. There are three possible hedges: a hybrid fund that holds bonds (often flagged "Total" or "Multi-asset"), a fund that's willing to hold a lot of cash, or a fund with a formal hedging policy. I screened for open, retail funds with the lowest downside deviation over the past five years. Here are 14 of the 15 "best" (the other was an institutional fund). Ten of the 14 have peer-beating returns over that period. Remember: these aren't recommendations, these are just a set of funds that meets one of your criteria that you might want to learn a bit more about.
David
GuideMark Emerging Markets GMLVX - 98% equity exposure
Capital Group Emerging Markets Total Opportunities ETOPX - 45% equity
Deutsche X-trackers MSCI Emerging Markets Hedged Equity ETF DBEM - hedged equity
Harding Loevner Frontier Emerging Markets HLFMX -95%
ICON Emerging Markets Fund ICARX - 88%
New World Fund NEWFX - 84%
Amana Developing World AMDWX - 87%
AB Emerging Markets Multi-Asset ABYEX - 47%
Fidelity Total Emerging Markets FTEMX - 63%, a Great Owl
Lazard Emerging Markets Multi Asset EMMIX -47%
Baron Emerging Markets BEXIX - 92%
Calamos Evolving World Growth CNWIX -80%
Seafarer Overseas Growth and Income Fund SIGIX - 90%, a Great Owl
iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Emerging Markets ETF EEMV - hedged equity

A few more to throw in (some attributable to Bernard Baruch):
1. Don't try to buy at the bottom and sell at the top. It can't be done except by liars.
2. I made my money by selling too soon.
3. Every man has a right to be wrong in his opinions. But no man has a right to be wrong about his facts.
4. I never lost money by turning a profit.
5. The main purpose of the stock market is to make fools of as many men as possible.
6. When good news about the market hits the front page of the New York Times, sell.
7. If a speculator is correct half of the time, he is hitting a good average. Even being right 3 or 4 times out of 10 should yield a person a fortune if he has the sense to cut his losses quickly on the ventures where he is wrong.
8. A speculator is a man who observes the future, and acts before it occurs.
9. Don't be afraid of income taxes when deciding whether to turn a profit. (my own)
10. Sooner or later economics always takes over. (my own)

Indeed Ted but that's where the money is. I wonder how long it will take for any of them to reach 5* status. Stay tuned.

FYI: Morningstar launching their own funds feels a little bit like an
Olympic judge deciding to participate in the games — it's weird.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.mfwire.com/common/artprint2007.asp?storyID=55925&wireid=2

@MFO Members: It's been about 20 years since I first linked Max Gunther's Zurich Axioms to the FundAlarm Discussion Board. One of the major problems I see on the MFO Discuaaion Board is that many members don't take enough risk. Here's what Max Gunther had to say about risk. " Put your money at risk. Don’t be afraid of getting hurt a little. The degree of risk you will usually be dealing with is not hair-raisingly high. By being willing to face it, you give yourself the only realistic chance you have of rising above the great unrich."

The biggest risk is not taking risk. I agree. The problem is easy to convince someone who started investing in 1990, not 1999. Blaming the investor is the easiest thing to do.
Trading is not always speculation. And it is not "market timing". Ask those who got out of the market the last 2 times it went down 50%. Don't just say they never got back in soon again. They slept well and someone has to produce proof they are worse off today. And until the next 50% correction.
"If you had invested $X in year Y...." is all available in hindsight. In the real world things work differently. When I'm 80 (nah, I don't think I'll live that long, I couldn't afford it, but dream with me a bit...) and I don't have responsibilities, sure I'll go to Vegas.
PS - by the way I've never been to Vegas. I know, I suck.

I like your approach @Ted and I believe you are correct in your assessment of risk-averse MFOers. Your three top fund holdings revealed in a recent thread show that you walk the walk. For my part, I put a slice of my active portfolio into PTIAX for diversity's sake, but you won't see me agonizing over or discussing bond durations or other arcane metrics fixed income investors revel in. According to my age, I should have 25% equity exposure, but it's closer to 75% because I believe I'll be around for 20 more years, a long-term target. I realize what the risk is.
A few years ago my TIAA advisor showed me a graph depicting a line going straight up from 2000 to 2014. It represented the performance of TIAA's fixed income portfolio returning 5% per annum. Stocks came nowhere near that level of performance. I felt kind of dumb until I realized that no one could have told me in 2000 to put everything into bonds and I now doubt many TIAA investors achieved that extraordinary performance. I've done fine in equities despite periods of lagging performance and I've enjoyed the ride. 2008 was a sickening time, but it didn't last forever and it provided a great time to put more money into stocks.

Hi Crash,
Nice recall! The Zurich Axioms are indeed an excellent set of investment rules. Your reference Links to the book. Here is another Link that summarizes the 12 rules:
http://www.financialsense.com/contributors/joseph-dancy/2012/01/26/the-twelve-axioms-of-investing
The Zurich set violates the research recommended 4 to 7 limits so immediate recall might prove difficult. The author of the referenced article summarized the 12 Zurich set to a more manageable set of 7. Here they are:
1. Run a concentrated portfolio
2. Keep the odds are in your favor
3. Cut your losses short
4. Let winners run, but sell when they reach fair market value
5. Do your own analysis
6. Beware of excess optimism or pessimism and of expert options
7. Remain flexible and adapt to the investment environment
Note how these rules differ from those that I listed. Simple rules are personal to each individual. You choose those that allow you to sleep well. I just might be doing something right since I sleep very well indeed.. Then again, I might just be innocent or perhaps even lucky
Thanks again.
Best Wishes

Its top holding, NKTR, was up 42.65% today. 2nd top holding, AMD, was up 6.75%. This fund continues to deliver. OPGIX could head the other way at some point, but it has been fun being in it.

1) I want to invest 100% of my money I give it to fund manager that has mandate to be 100% invested.
2) I want to invest 5% of my money I give 50% of my money to fund manager that has mandate to be 100% invested.
3) I want to invest WHATEVER percent of Money, but I dunno how much. Or I want my manager to invest WHATEVER percent she thinks should be invested. I decide how much % of this money I want to give the THIS manager.
So I can't really understand why anyone wants to believe or not believe in this. This is not a matter of opinion as to why one should or should not invest in a fund which has a mandate of being invested 100% all the time. It's like saying I don't like to scratch my nose with my left hand. I'm talking about whether you want to scratch your nose or pick your nose not whether you used your left or right hand to do either?
Why is everything in life so hard to explain?

I'm getting exposure to this sector with PRMTX. Rolling averages for all time increments over the last fifteen years are all rolling positive.

Hi Guys,
Investing can either be a simple or a very complex matter with a spectrum of intermediate approaches. I favor the most simple approach, but with a cautionary constraint. That cautionary recognition is best summarized by an Albert Einstein quote: "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.”.
That's terrific advice that can be immediately transferred to a simple set of investment rules or perhaps more properly guidelines. Many investors have formulated their own guidelines. I have too. Here is my short list.
1. Be a long term investor, not a speculator. Trading is hazardous to wealth so set it and forget it. Stay the course.
2. Hard data beats opinions. Another word for guru is charlatan so ignore them.
3. Diversity rules. Change and fat tails happen randomly and more often than expected.
4. Costs matter greatly so keep control of them. Index when possible.
5. Don't react in haste so make portfolio adjustments incrementally.
Researchers in this field have concluded that most folks can't handle more than 4 to 7 rules. So the actionable rule list should be very limited.
I'm most interested in your actionable investment guideline list. My list is surely not cast in stone and is subject to adjustments so add to those I use or suggest a deletion if you so feel. All your comments are welcomed. Please contribute.
What simple rules do you favor when making investment decisions?
Best Regards

@guilhermes: If I'm going to give a fund manager my money, I expect he/she to put it to work in equities or bonds that will return a rate higher than CD's or MM with slightly higher risk. I consider any cash reserve in excess of 5-7% excessive. Otherwise I'm owning an expensive MM Fund.
Regards,
Ted

FYI: Ever since the strong upside reaction to President Trump’s address to Congress at the start of the month, the S&P 500 has been trading in a bit of sideways range with no new highs since the first trading day of the month. While the broader market has been treading water, FANG stocks have continued to claw their way higher. In fact, just last Friday alone, both Facebook and Alphabet (formerly Google) hit 52-week highs, while Amazon.com and Netflix finished the week just shy of new highs.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.bespokepremium.com/think-big-blog/fang-still-ripping/

I Own Scharf Balanced Opportunity Fund (logox) Cash 25.11%

Have to say I'm like @AndyJ. Only MAPIX remains in my portfolio and Asia no longer feels like the go-go region it was 25 years ago. Seafarer and Grandeur Peak got my Matthews dough.

Similarly, I swapped MACSX for Seafarer...and also found a place for 2 GP funds. I do still have MAPTX, as it was my first experience with Matthews and still serves a unique purpose and accounts for itself very well. I am contemplating MINDX also, for an area I think will shine over the next 20 years purely due to demographics, and Matthews is where I would turn for that expertise.

Have to say I'm like @AndyJ. Only MAPIX remains in my portfolio and Asia no longer feels like the go-go region it was 25 years ago. Seafarer and Grandeur Peak got my Matthews dough.

@briboe69, How about SGENX? I own both IVWAX and SGENX. The performance and risk profile are comparable.

A great fund, I've owned it for 20 years. I'm a little concerned about asset bloat with SGENX, so I also own FEBAX since there is a lot of overlap between the two. My four largest holdings in order are PRWCX, FEBAX, IVWAX, and SGENX. My main goal is capital preservation first, growth second, despite being only age 45.

5% is okay, but probably won't move the needle much, and anything less is probably not going to do much of anything for you either. Frankly, things that hold single-digit percentages in stuff (ie, some funds-of-funds) I avoid like the plague for several reasons, including what I just said and also b/c it's probably holding it to help prop up the AUM in the various positions it holds. (IE, PAUIX)
FWIW saying I'm mainly an equity person and don't diversify across "asset classes" to so speak.

I still can't shake the feeling that until the IRA contributions can be made in sums equal to that of 401/403/457s ($18K vs $5500 per year) they may well be a joke down the road and/or don't allow people to save away enough for retirement. Yes, I contribute to mine each year, but if you CAN contribute more - up to a certain limit - why shouldn't we, especially if you're in a job that LETS you be a responsible saver and tuck away more while you can? Heck, if you suddenly are able to contribute $18K to an IRA while you're in a good-paying job, that can put you ahead of things if for some reason you lose that job and/or are later unable to contribute much to your retirement future. In this case, it's like you're being penalised for trying to be a responsible person and thinking proactively about your future needs.
Long story short every now and then I just think the whole IRA/Roth IRA thing is a nice thought but may not be very helpful -- or more trouble than they're worth. Ridiculous contribution limit aside, the various loopholes / hoops you have to jump through with retirement accounts, conversions, limits on contributions, required withdrawls, etc .... it's crazy.