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Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
  • Diversification
    @Bobpa: In order to have any meaningful position in any single mutual fund, I agree with MikeM and Tony it should be at leat 5%. You want to be careful, and understand diversification and diworsification"
    Regards,
    Ted
  • Diversification
    I think that diversification is a big driver of the "Lazy Portfolios," and the smallest allocation that I've ever seen is 5%.
  • Diversification
    Good question and likely many personal answers. IMO, holding any fund at 2.5 % or less is mathematically window-dressing in regard to having much affect on your portfolio. I just don't have any use for toe-holds or foot-holds. I have a simple brain, so the very small positions are just confusing for me.
  • ROTH IRA Question
    I think you mean non-deductible contributions. In Roth IRA leagalize, "qualified" generally refers to "distributions" (withdrawals). Distributions are said to be qualified if they meet the five year rules and you're over 59.5 or meet some exception.
    https://www.irs.gov/publications/p590b/ch02.html#en_US_2016_publink1000231061
    "Qualified" is also used to describe employer plans that satisfy section 401(a) of the tax code (e.g. 401(k) plans). A completely different subject.
    http://www.360financialliteracy.org/Topics/Retirement-Planning/Retirement-Planning-Basics/What-does-the-term-qualified-plan-mean
  • Diversification
    Is holding a 2.5% position in such categories as gold, real estate, commodities, etc really diversification or only window dressing? Possibly more confusion/trouble than it's worth?
  • ROTH IRA Question
    The link is a nice try, but is talking about something different - money in employer-sponsored plans (e.g. 401(k)s). With all due respect to LLJB, I think you might be advised to ignore it, at least for now. Especially given your question asking to clarify whether 401(k) assets count in this IRA question.
    Short answer - they don't; that's why I'm suggesting you pay no attention to 401(k) rules for now.
    The only way your wife's 401(k) plan could mess with the IRA Roth conversion is if your wife rolled over the 401(k) money into an IRA (the existing one or a new one) before doing the conversion. Don't do that, and you're fine.
    Dolphin's got it exactly right.
    ==========
    Other details include:
    - Since this is wife's first Roth IRA, she'll have to wait five years to get post-conversion earnings out without taxes
    - If converted money is withdrawn in less than five years and wife is under 59.5 at the time, then there's an extra penalty. (The reason is that this is viewed as a backdoor for getting money out of the original IRA before age 59.5, which would have that penalty.)
    Here's a description of the general 5 year rule for all Roths (explaining the first item above):
    http://fairmark.com/retirement/roth-accounts/roth-distributions/tax-free-distributions-from-roth-iras/
    Here's a description of the Roth conversion/early withdrawal penalty issue (second item):
    http://fairmark.com/retirement/roth-accounts/roth-distributions/distributions-after-a-roth-ira-conversion/
  • COSIX
    Hi @Bobpa
    Yikes on the front load of 4.75% and the 1.02 E.R. for a bond fund.
    It ranks well in the non-traditional bond area, but if I were looking for long term performance I would have to remain directed to PONDX and their management team.
    PONDX remains much ahead of COSIX or any other non-traditional bond fund.
    What is the draw to COSIX for you???
    Regards,
    Catch
  • Jim O'Shaughnessy: What Works On Wall Street
    FYI: Years of experience have taught me that to be a successful active investor requires a very specific set of characteristics, and that many investors attempting to actively manage their portfolios today lack the emotional and personality traits necessary for success.
    Investors with passive portfolios—assuming they are adequately and broadly diversified—face only one real point of failure: reacting emotionally to a market selloff and selling their holdings, often near a market bottom.
    But investors who use actively managed strategies face two points of failure:
    Regards,
    Ted
    http://jimoshaughnessy.tumblr.com/post/158366040139/successful-active-stock-investing-is-hard-here
  • How To Invest In Water:
    FYI: (Click On Article Title At Top Of Google Search)
    Analysts and money managers see a wave of water-related investments ahead. But there isn’t a single dominant company to bet on.
    Regards,
    Ted
    https://www.google.com/#q=how+to+invest+in+water+5+picks+Barron's&*
  • Funds with high cash stakes
    @Prof Snowball. Yeah I have checked that article however...
    High cash stake is an accident and not part of investment philosophy and it shows in current numbers (PQUAX)
    Then there is too-small-fund nuisance - small funds just close without warning (BABFX)
    Then some are not available NTF at brokerages (Day Hagan I shares are $1000 but...)
    Then there is manager-too-old risk (Gabelli)
    Then there is too many funds in the same equity box (ICMAX,PVFIX....CUSRX too?)
    Then there is not much evidence high cash stake has protected the fund in DD numbers (FRKNX)
    Then there is meaningful manager ownership (I consider $500,000 a slam dunk)
    I keep looking at that list if things changed. Lately I haven't. I actually was monitoring BABFX for the longest time even before you mentioned it the first time. However, no one wants that fund and assets are at $1.5MM now. At that point I just stopped monitoring the list altogether.
    Needless, to say I'll now try remember to check again.
  • Funds with high cash stakes
    Ummm ... you might check the article we wrote on the subject in May and June, 2016.
    When I checked the premium screener just now for domestic equity with over 25% cash, I got:
    Comstock Capital Value Fund; Class A Shares
    GAMCO Mathers Fund; Class AAA Shares
    Scharf Alpha Opportunity Fund
    Probabilities Fund;
    Bullfinch Fund Inc: Unrestricted Series
    PACE Small/Medium Co Growth Equity Investments;
    Pinnacle Value Fund
    Frank Value Fund
    Weitz Partners III Opportunity Fund
    Hussman Strategic Value Fund
    Intrepid Disciplined Value Fund
    Day Hagan Tactical Dividend Fund
    Bread & Butter Fund
    Port Street Quality Growth Fund
    PACE Small/Medium Co Value Equity Investments;
    American Growth Fund Series Two (AMREX)
    Cullen Small Cap Value Fund
    The list is a bit truncated because some of the Intrepid folks seem to be moving to short-term bonds rather than pure cash. ICMAX, for instance, shows as 16% equity, 18% cash, 64% bonds. That might be a more-common move now.
    David
  • FMI International Fund to close to new investors
    https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1023391/000089706917000173/cg891.htm
    497 1 cg891.htm
    Filed pursuant to Rule 497(k)
    Filed pursuant to Rule 497(e)
    1933 Act File No. 333-12745
    1940 Act File No. 811-07831
    FMI Funds, Inc.
    FMI International Fund
    Investor Class FMIJX / Institutional Class FMIYX
    March 17, 2017
    Supplement to the Prospectus and Summary Prospectus
    dated January 31, 2017
    FMI International Fund (the “Fund”) to be Closed to New Investors
    Effective April 30, 2017, the Fund will be closed to new investors. Except as indicated below, after April 30, 2017, only investors of the Fund on April 30, 2017, whether owning shares of record or through a processing intermediary, are eligible to purchase shares of the Fund. Exceptions include:
    § Participants in an employee retirement plan for which the Fund is an eligible investment alternative and whose records are maintained by a processing intermediary having an agreement with the Fund in effect on April 30, 2017.
    § Clients of a financial adviser or planner who had client assets invested in the Fund on April 30, 2017.
    § Employees, officers and directors of the Fund or Fiduciary Management, Inc., the investment adviser to the Fund (referred to as the “Adviser”), and members of their immediate families (namely, spouses, siblings, parents, children and grandchildren).
    § Firms having an existing business relationship with the Adviser, whose investment the officers of the Fund determine, in their sole discretion, would not adversely affect the Adviser’s ability to manage the Fund effectively.
    § An investment in the Fund that officers of the Fund determine, in their sole discretion, would not adversely affect the Adviser’s ability to manage the Fund effectively.
    The Fund reserves the right, at any time, to re-open or modify the extent to which the future sales of shares are limited.
    In connection with the closing of the Fund, the discussion on “Exchanging Shares” on page 33 of the Prospectus is deleted and replaced in its entirety with the following:
    EXCHANGING SHARES
    Shares of a Fund may be exchanged for shares of any other Fund or for the First American Retail Prime Obligations Fund, subject to minimum purchase requirements:
    ·FMI Large Cap Fund
    ·FMI Common Stock Fund
    ·FMI International Fund (must be an existing shareholder of the FMI International Fund, as the Fund is closed to new investors)
    ·First American Retail Prime Obligations Fund
    at the relative net asset values. An affiliate of USBFS advises the First American Retail Prime Obligations Fund. This is a money market mutual fund offered to respond to changes in your goals or market conditions. Neither USBFS nor First American Retail Prime Obligations Fund is affiliated with the Funds nor the Adviser. You may have a taxable gain or loss as a result of an exchange because the Internal Revenue Code treats an exchange as a sale of shares. The registration of both the account from which the exchange is being made and the account to which the exchange is being made must be identical. Exchanges may be authorized by telephone unless the option was declined on the account application.
    How to Exchange Shares
    1.Read this Prospectus (and the current prospectus for the fund for which shares are to be exchanged) carefully. (Please note that the FMI International Fund is currently closed to new investors, subject to certain limited exceptions as set forth above.)
    2. Determine the number of shares you want to exchange keeping in mind that exchanges to open a new account are subject to a $1,000 minimum ($2,500 with regard to the FMI International Fund and the First American Retail Prime Obligations Fund) for Investor Class shares and a $100,000 minimum for Institutional Class shares.
    3.Write to FMI Funds, Inc., c/o U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC, P.O. Box 701, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201-0701.
    Once a telephone transaction has been placed, it cannot be canceled or modified.
    Call the transfer agent at 1-800-811-5311 to obtain the necessary exchange authorization forms and the First American Retail Prime Obligations Fund Prospectus. This exchange privilege does not constitute an offering or recommendation on the part of the FMI Funds or the Adviser of an investment in any of the foregoing mutual funds.
    ********
    The date of this Supplement is March 17, 2017.
    Please retain this Supplement for future reference.
  • Funds with high cash stakes
    >> hardly seen a fund actually use it
    ?? Depends on what proportion and what circumstance, right? FPACX and other FPA funds are famous in this regard, but there are others, Weitz Value IIRC, Delafield a couple years ago, some others; just google for articles.
    I agree, other notable examples: PVFIX 45%, ICMAX 38%, FMIMX 17%, RYSEX 12%.
  • Funds with high cash stakes
    For what it is worth ...
    I have noticed an increase of cash being held in a good number of my asset allocation and fixed income funds throuh doing an Instant Xray on my funds along with my portfolio as a whole. Enough to where it has added a one to two percent increase to my overall cash allocation within my portfolio. Plus, I take most all my mutual fund distributions in cash. With this, cash can build pretty quickly within my portfolio and as I write cash now totals in the low twenty percent range.
    Some of my funds with a large cash position are GIFAX (19%) ... TEQIX (15%) ... TSIAX (11%) ... THIFX (9%) ... DDIAX (9%) ... and FBLAX (8%). There are others.
  • Funds with high cash stakes
    I have often been impressed by your posts but why not put 80% of your money that you want to invest in this high cash fund into a say a balanced fund and 15% in a short term bond fund and 5% in eithera money market fund or perhaps something more exotic
  • Why Health Care Is The Top Sector Of 2017
    Hi @Ted
    The most critical wording/thought from the article:
    "Bargain Hunting Fueling Outperformance
    In the meantime, the health care sector, led by biotech, is seeing a resurgence in 2017 after a poor showing in 2016. Health care was the only sector within the S&P 500 to decline last year, as XLV shed 2.8%. Biotech fared even worse, losing 21.4%.
    Thus, the year-to-date rally may have more to do with investors buying up beaten-up names than anything to do with potential changes in health care laws."
    >>> A "value" discovery in a sector that has maintained a most decent monetary growth pattern for many years. NOT, unlike the rotations that take place between the large, mid and small cap, growth and value sectors. Value was the "rage" in 2016, eh?
    The rotation for 2017:
    http://online.wsj.com/mdc/public/page/2_3020-lipperindx.html?mod=topnav_2_3023
    Summary: large money chasing the best place to invest for a decent return.
    Regards,
    Catch
  • Help me and others here "GROK" the pending FEDERAL budget and investment sectors impact
    TO GROK:
    http://www.thefreedictionary.com/grokking
    I suppose one could sub-title the word into a book title, "The Art of the Grok". Many levels of GROK(king) exist dependent upon one's age, cranial wiring and life experiences. I lean towards this partial definition: to understand thoroughly and intuitively. 'Course, relative to pending Federal budget submissions; to understand thoroughly and intuitively may travel along the edge of "The Twilight Zone", eh? Indeed, way past my pay grade. I've been a lifelong student/believer in grokking. I just didn't know the word or implied meaning until the early 70's.
    To the investment side of this however, I/we will appreciate inputs here from whatever sources as to the views of those who will be studying federal budget areas going forward; with the assumption that some budget proposals will go into the paper shredder and/or become perverted into legislation that may or may not resemble its original form and intent.
    A small trinket of info here (charts are clickable for large format):
    http://www.zerohedge.com/print/590515
    ADD: 3-16-17 @9:50
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/03/16/here-are-the-federal-agencies-and-programs-trump-wants-to-eliminate/?tid=a_inl&utm_term=.22c6eff172fc
    (Don't forget the comments section....usually interesting, and the READ MORE at the end of the article)
    Hold Harmless Agreement: For informational purposes only. Not an endorsement. The accuracy of the information should be verified from other sources, as necessary and/or available.
    With reading this statement, you have electronically signed my "hold harmless" agreement.....

    Thank you.
    Catch
  • Fidelity Inflation-Protected Bond Fund to close?
    https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/35315/000137949117001676/filing836.htm
    497 1 filing836.htm PRIMARY DOCUMENT
    Supplement to the
    Fidelity® Inflation-Protected Bond Fund
    May 28, 2016
    Prospectus
    Effective after the close of business on March 31, 2017, new positions in the fund may no longer be opened. Existing shareholders may continue to hold their shares and purchase additional shares through the reinvestment of dividend and capital gain distributions.
    IFB-17-01
    1.774739.115 March 15, 2017
    Supplement to the
    Fidelity® Inflation-Protected Bond Fund
    Class A, Class T, Class B and Class C
    May 28, 2016
    Prospectus
    Effective after close of business on March 24, 2017, Class T will be renamed Class M.
    Effective after the close of business on March 31, 2017, new positions in the fund may no longer be opened. Existing shareholders may continue to hold their shares and purchase additional shares through the reinvestment of dividend and capital gain distributions.
    AIFB-17-02
    1.790682.127 March 15, 2017
    Supplement to the
    Fidelity® Inflation-Protected Bond Fund
    Class I
    May 28, 2016
    Prospectus
    Effective after the close of business on March 31, 2017, new positions in the fund may no longer be opened. Existing shareholders may continue to hold their shares and purchase additional shares through the reinvestment of dividend and capital gain distributions.
    AIFBI-17-01
    1.790683.120 March 15, 2017