FYI: (The Linkster has never been a fan of DCA.)
Investors who dutifully put money into the stock market on a periodic basis over the decade ended in 2009 would have felt dejected when looking at their statements.
If you started dollar cost averaging $500/month into the S&P 500 in January of 2000, by December of 2009 you would have invested $60,000 in total. This strategy would have netted you a whopping $64k and change, not much more than the amount saved. By way of comparison, simply investing that same $500/month in one-month t-bills would have given you more than $67k.
Regards,
Ted
https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2018/10/a-lost-decade-of-dollar-cost-averaging/

Fidelity Investments
https://www.fidelity.com/bin-public/060_www_fidelity_com/documents/mutual-funds/capital-gains-estimates.pdf
Guggenheim
https://www.guggenheiminvestments.com/mf/distributions
Invesco
https://www.invesco.com/portal/site/us/template.PAGE/investors/newsroom/?javax.portlet.tpst=9bbd3cd7967de86de9e3cc31524e2ca0&javax.portlet.prp_9bbd3cd7967de86de9e3cc31524e2ca0_FilterList=FCLASS_SUBJECT_MATTER&NOOP_FIELD_VALUE&javax.portlet.prp_9bbd3cd7967de86de9e3cc31524e2ca0_action=&javax.portlet.prp_9bbd3cd7967de86de9e3cc31524e2ca0_FilterGGA=I6 &javax.portlet.prp_9bbd3cd7967de86de9e3cc31524e2ca0_firstResult=&javax.portlet.begCacheTok=com.vignette.cachetoken&javax.portlet.endCacheTok=com.vignette.cachetoken
Knowledge Leaders Funds
http://knowledgeleadersfunds.com/
Nationwide
https://www.nationwide.com/mutual-funds-distributions.jsp
Oppenheimer Funds
https://www.oppenheimerfunds.com/advisors/funds/distributions/all

I’ve owned RPSIX for 15+ years because it seemed like the best option available at TRP and provides a broadly diversified income exposure. This is its worst year I can remember in comparison to comparable funds and it seems to be due to its large stakes in PRCIX (New Income) and foreign/EM bonds. As a result, it has performed poorly as interest rates have risen. So, for the first time ever, I shifted about two-thirds of my holding in RPSIX to other less interest-rate sensitive bonds funds — namely TRBUX (ultra short) and PRFRX (floating rate). When interest rates finally seem to be stabilizing, I will probably move the money back into RPSIX.
In the past, RPSIX’s primary weakness was its 10-20% stake in dividend stocks, which hurt returns in bear markets. However, this year has shown that it’s also vulnerable to rising interest rates.

@johnN: FYI:
Regards,
Ted :)
https://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/36013/a-new-etf-uses-ibm-s-ai-technology-to-help-it-pick-winning-stocks-aieq/p1
https://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/44610/celebrating-1-year-of-the-ai-powered-equity-etf-aieq/p1

Anyone owe this etf?!
https://www.thespec.com/news-story/8976543-robot-etf-leaves-pros-in-dust-scoring-wins-on-small-cap-fliers/
News Oct 19, 2018 by Sarah Ponczek Bloomberg
Everyone knows fund managers can't keep up with benchmarks, and the last 12 months have been particularly grim. So when it turns out an exchange-traded fund supposedly driven by artificial intelligence has managed the feat, people take notice.

+1

Hi Derf. Thanks. Not sure what your numbers reference. M* breaks down the credit quality of RPSIX’s bond holdings. (If you include the fund’s 10% equity holding in the total, the following percentages would be a bit lower.)
Here’s the non-investment grade percentages from M*
BB 11.4%
B 15.76%
Below B 4.4%
Not Rated 1.4%
Total 33% (+ -)
So, in addition to the 10% equity position, it appears that close to 30% of the fund’s total holdings are in non-investment grade bonds. The puzzle remains as to why it hasn’t performed a little better.

Thanks@ Ted,
I'm contemplating the following. Using a credit card offer for 12 month at 0%. The CC has a flat $35 transfer fee and would allow me to pay off a 3.5% personal loan one year early. Paying that loan off 12 months early would save me $525 in interest.
Just one way of managing short term debt in a low interest rate environment.

35.43% 21.30%
AA 3.44% 5.17%
A 9.80% 12.78%
BBB 18.30% 20.79%
BB 11.41% 18.68%
B 15.76% 14.29%
Below B 4.43% 4.40%
Not Rated 1.42% 2.58%
Percent of Long Fixed Income Assets
RPSIX
Credit Rating
Multisector Bond
Average
Chart
35.43%
AAA
Chart
21.30%
AAA
Is this what your looking for ? RPSIX on left _ Category Ave. on right.
Derf

FYI, OppenheimerFunds history:

OppenheimerFunds’ beginnings can be traced back to the late 1950s and the brokerage firm Oppenheimer & Co. (OpCo). Near the end of that decade, OpCo entered the mutual fund business, first offering the Oppenheimer Fund to the public on May 15, 1959. Shortly after, OpCo created a subsidiary, Oppenheimer Management Corporation, to serve as the investment advisor to the Oppenheimer Fund. In 1996, Oppenheimer Management Corporation was renamed OppenheimerFunds, Inc.

https://www.allianzlife.com/new-york/annuities/variable-investment-options/money-managers/oppenheimerfunds
In 1983, Oppenheimer sold Oppenheimer Capital (apparently including Oppenheimer Management Corporation, later called OppenheimerFunds) to Mercantile House Holdings. In 1986, the management of Oppenheimer & Co. and the management of Oppenheimer Capital bought back Oppenheimer Capital, but not OppenheimerFunds.
http://managerreview.com/su_companydetails.php?iCompanyId=2914&CompanyName=Oppenheimer Capital LLC
"Mercantile had had little success in trying to create synergy between Oppenheimer and its London businesses." (NYTimes, Aug 21, 1985). Perhaps a lesson for Invesco?
In 1990, Oppenheimer Management Corporation was acquired by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co (MassMutual).
https://www.upi.com/Archives/1990/08/01/Massachusetts-Mutual-to-purchase-Oppenheimer/6609649483200/
To make matters more confusing, in 1995, Oppenheimer Management Corp (by then owned by MassMutual) acquired a dozen of Oppenheimer Capital's Quest for Value funds. The two companies were not related (having split in 1986, see above).
https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Oppenheimer+Management+Corp.+agrees+to+acquire+the+assets+of+12+Quest...-a017195335

FYI: The top-performing ETFs that invest in dividend stocks this year have had a rough month amid the stock market correction, with several of them falling as much or more than the S&P 500.
High-quality dividend stocks, those with strong earnings and solid balance sheets, often fall less than highflying growth stocks in stock market corrections.
The top-performing dividend ETF this year, WisdomTree Middle East Dividend (GULF), fell a relatively modest 0.45% in the one-month period ended Oct. 17. That compares with a 4.97% drop by Victory Shares Dividend Accelerator (VSDA) and a 2.64% decline by the S&P 500, according to Morningstar Direct.
Dividend Stocks In Correction
Regards,
Ted
https://www.investors.com/etfs-and-funds/etfs/are-dividend-stocks-helping-in-stock-market-correction/
M* Snapshot GULF:
https://www.morningstar.com/etfs/XNAS/GULF/quote.html

FYI: The early October jolt of stock market volatility seemed to awaken investors briefly from a relative sense of calm and reminded us that pullbacks and downside risk are part of the price to be paid for upside performance.
Despite just about every investing fear imaginable, any long-term snapshot of stock market performance will illustrate a persistent bias toward positive performance. Whether looking back 10, 50, 100 years or more, the basic economics of investing in a broad range of publicly traded companies is difficult to deny.
On the subject of whether more market shake-ups are ahead, most financial advisers are rightly positioning the possible impact of the midterm elections along the lines of: "We're long-term investors" or "We don't have a crystal ball."
Regards,
Ted
https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=pDfLW_bhBaOVjwTJrbTABw&q=Investors,+don't+lose+sleep+over+the+midterm+elections&btnK=Google+Search&oq=Investors,+don't+lose+sleep+over+the+midterm+elections&gs_l=psy-ab.3...3030.6789..8754...0.0..0.131.233.2j1......0....1j2..gws-wiz.....0..33i299.2_tpbvoSjLQ

RPSIX. Since I'm pretty well married to T Rowe, it looks like one of the best among a less than fabulous menu of bond funds. Is RPSIX worth throwing money into it? I've been window-shopping up and down that T Rowe bond lineup more than a few times...

NO. I wouldn’t “throw money at it” @Crash.
It is what it is - a conglomeration of many different types of income producing funds - ranging in quality from government bonds to junk and EM. I’d say it’s a good long-term repository for funds on which you want to earn better than money market rates - and don’t have any other use for.
You likely won’t find it rated very high at M* and the others. But I don’t know how you can put the fund into any “category”. It’s unique to T. Rowe - dependent on the success of the roughly 15 different T. Rowe Price funds that comprise it. I’ve always held it. It represents about 15% of my overall allocation. But unlike some, I do not consider it a substitute for cash or short term-bonds.
As you mention, the exposure to PRFDX makes it somewhat vulnerable to equity moves. They can allocate up to 25% to that fund. But 15% is the highest I can remember. RPSIX is having an uncharacteristically poor year. I don’t expect that to persist into the future (but could be wrong). Over the longer term I’d expect the fund to average maybe 2-4% above what a money market fund will net - with decent downside protection against an equity sell off. Bond risk? Because it’s so widely diversified it shouldn’t be as susceptible to a hit from rising rates as many other types of bond funds - Just MHO.
Yes, I’ll agree with you that bonds are not Price’s strong point. There’s better bond managers. On the other hand, they do understand allocation strategies very well (but are often too early in their calls).
@Crash - The fund report (available on their website) will have a chart (near the back) showing both the “target” and “current” percentages to all the funds it holds. If you don’t care for most of those funds, you shouldn’t buy RPSIX.

RPSIX. Since I'm pretty well married to T Rowe, it looks like one of the best among a less than fabulous menu of bond funds. Even holds about 10% equities. Monthly divs which look at least a little better than my PRSNX--- which I will keep, and grow. My only other (Trad.) IRA bond fund is TRP HY, TUHYX. Junk bonds are not where I'd prefer to be, but I'm not betting the farm on it. Is RPSIX worth throwing money into it? I've been window-shopping up and down that T Rowe bond lineup more than a few times...

Here's a piece on one of John Hancock's plans. It has a 1.69% plan fee - which might be paid by the employer, the employee, or split. If the employee pays that fee or part of it, it could make the fund expense look higher. The example in the article takes a 0.18% underlying fee expense and adds the 1.69% plan fee to come up with a 1.87% fund fee.
https://www.employeefiduciary.com/blog/john-oliver-should-be-upset-his-hancock-401k-fees-are-too-high
The column is a discussion of the Hancock plan John Oliver presented a couple of years ago (and was linked to by MFO, somewhere). Oliver starts talking about the plan around 12:00 in the video:

VTMFX holds 51% of its fund in tax free munis while also holding 48% in LC/MC equities with a 9% turnover and a 2% yield. A solid choice for someone looking for a tax efficient balance fund. ER = 0.09%

Was it a CIT or an a clone offered inside an annuity? That's common at smaller companies. If it was the latter, it should be possible to find info in the plan docs that separate out the underlying clone cost from the annuity wrapper fee. (Not that it matters, because your friend pays the total cost, regardless of who gets the money - the insurance company or the underlying fund manager.)
I believe that 401k plans are allowed to have opt-out provisions, but not mandatory ones. That is, you can't be required to invest in a default fund. Though a plan can specify a default and you wind up invested there if you don't actively opt out.
---
The column doesn't do a great job of explaining clones, as it lumps multiple share classes of one fund (VFINX et al.) with a share class (VIIIX) of different fund that is a clone of the Vanguard 500 fund. I added a comment there to that effect.
One place where that distinction matters is in taxable accounts. It's often possible to do a tax-free exchange from one share class to another of the same fund. But AFAIK you can't do that between share classes of clones.

https://www.financial-planning.com/news/muni-bonds-sport-attractive-yields-for-retirees?feed=00000153-9f90-d098-a37b-dfb9d93c0000
Lee Conrad
Published
October 19 2018, 4:42pm EDT
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Our daily roundup of retirement news your clients may be thinking about.
Muni bonds sport attractive yields for retirees
The municipal bond market remains steadfast despite investors' expectation that the demand for muni bonds would dwindle because of new lower tax rates, and bond prices would drop as a result of interest rate increases, according to this article from Kiplinger. Indeed, the economy and the muni market proved resilient and tax revenues have been strong, said one expert. For older investors, muni bonds can also offer diversification as they tend to have low correlation with other fixed-income investments. To be sure, tax reform has been a mixed bag for muni bonds, but a few other factors working in their favor now include the fact that there was a huge spike in issuance in late 2017, which constrained the supply of muni bonds this year, helping to support prices. Moreover, muni defaults, which have been historically rare, have lately dropped to their lowest level since 2008.

Looking over a friends 401K plan recently I tried to decipher what his employer was offering for investment choices. In his case, he was mandatorily enrolled in what appeared to be a T. Rowe Price 2020 Retirement Fund, yet it did not have the investor share class ticker symbol TRRBX. Instead it was a CIT (Collective Investment Trusts) fund option that carried an ER (expense ratio) of 1.18% compared to TRRBX's ER of (0.61 %).
I attempt to monitor my weighted expense ratio of my entire portfolio. Funds in my portfolio that have an ER above this weight average will be scrutinized more closer for lower ER comparative options. In some rare cases, paying a high ER is legitimized by manager out performance.
Article explores these expenses:
https://humbledollar.com/2018/08/separated-at-birth/

Even better return, you might want to invest the $10,000 in Power Ball or Mega Millions!!! You could be a billionaire.