@TheShadow: With all due respect, please tell me when CPMCX has had a smooth patch, plus an outrageous ER. of 2.00% Ouch !!!
Regards,
Ted :)
1-Wk. 65 Percentile
1-Mo. 97 " "
3-Mo. 90 " "
YTD. 86 " "
1-Yr. 72 " "

@sea: Fund doesn't interest me even if were open to new investors. Since inception, 10/20/15, the funds performance is in the 72 percentile for one year, and 86 percentile YTD. The Linkster is not impressed with Grandeur Peak Funds. I doing just fine without them.
Regards,
Ted

@Graust: Afraid your confused, K-1's are tax forms associated with private equity firms such as KKR and BX , not preferred stocks, and for the record ALLY-A is a preferred trust security. A trust-preferred security is a security possessing characteristics of both equity and debt. A company creates trust-preferred securities by creating a trust, issuing debt to it, and then having it issue preferred stock to investors. Trust-preferred securities are generally issued by bank holding companies. Thanks for the suggestion on NSS, I'll look at it
Regards,
Ted

Old_Skeet currently been building cash in one of my money market funds (GBAXX) with all my mutual fund distributions. Another Morningstar quirk as at the time of this post I checked to see if I could pull GBAXX's fund report at Morningstar ... You guessed it ... the fund report would not pull. And, I gave it three chances to load.
An update. As of 7:12 pm EST the Morningstar report on GBAXX still will not load.

@Ted for a little “higher on the risk spectrum” floating rate preferred (actually a note...it’s debt, not a preferred stock, so no K-1 issues to deal with) to add to something like ALLY-A, maybe look at NSS (NuStar Logistics 7.625% fixed-to-floating subordinated note). It’s yielding approx 9%. Holding about 2% position and not looking to add, but would if it was smaller or I didn’t own it.

@johnN
Why did your friend sugguest MNK? This is a pharma company one would be buying/selling involved with the British Pound, too.
Now if your friend purchased this on April 30 of this year, they have a great return so far.
If I had purchased on April 30, I'd be taking the money and running....right now.
MNK looks like a traders paradise to me.
NOTE: perhaps there is a special news.........you'd better check first.
Here is MNK versus plain jane pharma etf.

This starts by saying "choose the manager not the fund", but goes on to explain how you can struggle to buy the fund. Why not simply follow this advice and consider other funds run by the same manger?
"Whoever you give a fund share to then becomes an existing investor who can also make additional investments and give away fund shares."
That might work for a fund like EISMX, where the prospectus reads:

The Fund has discontinued all sales of its shares, except shares purchased by: (1) existing shareholders (including shares acquired through the reinvestment of dividends and distributions and those who received Fund shares in connection with a reorganization);

but will it work with a fund like BCSIX? For some funds, in order to buy more shares you not only need to be an existing shareholder now, but also as of the date the fund closed. The prospectus for BCSIX reads:

Existing shareholders as of October 18, 2013, the Fund’s closing date, are permitted to make additional investments in any account that held shares of the Fund on that date

But not into a younger account.
The article says that 17 out of 23 funds that "passed muster" were open. Then goes on to say that the five managers listed here are the ones running the closed funds.
I always wonder about anonymous financial writers who say that 23 - 17 = 5 :-)
Maybe these five managers ran all six closed funds? (So what's the sixth fund?) Is it saying that Fried (Primecap) is the only manager of POAGX that "passed muster"? Seems it is really listing funds (five of the six), not managers.

With today's lower expected return environment, potential for rising interest rates, inflationary pressures and increasing volatility, it is critical for investors to maintain a well-designed allocation to alternatives that can help their portfolios weather uncertain markets," said Matthew Bass, head of global product strategy and alternatives business development at AllianceBernstein.
PRODUCTS
Assetmark launches 12 new portfolios
AssetMark announced 12 new portfolios coming to its platform, which the firm expects will drive higher returns.
"Dimensional Fund Advisors' robust investment process addresses a growing advisor need for low-cost, tax-efficient strategies," said David McNatt, senior vice president of product management and development at AssetMark.
The portfolios, known as AssetMark MarketDimensions, are aligned with six risk profiles to target investors in different life stages, says the firm.
Global X introduces new ETF family
Global X is releasing two new ETFs aimed at helping investors achieve a specific income level: the Global X TargetIncome 5 ETF (TFIV) and the Global X TargetIncome Plus 2 ETF (TFLT). They have expense ratios of 0.77% and 0.78%, respectively, according to Morningstar.
The funds were developed by Wilshire Associates. "We've structured indexes that aim to target specific yield objectives while mitigating risks," Jason Schwarz, president of Wilshire Analytics and Wilshire Funds Management, said in a statement.
TFIV will seek a 5% yield, net of fees, and TFLT will seek the current 10-year US Treasury note plus 2%, according to the firm, which expects the funds to pay distributions monthly.
Innovator launches ETF with structured outcomes
Innovator Capital Management listed the Innovator S&P 500 Defined Outcome ETF, which offers protection levels of 9%, 15% or 30% over a near one-year period, the firm said.
"No other ETFs in the market today seek to offer investors defined exposures to the S&P 500, where the downside protection level, upside growth potential and outcome period can all be known, prior to investing," said Innovator CEO Bruce Bond.

Sorry... that's funny... Got it in my email just fine probably already subscribed
Vanguard proposes global credit bond fund
Vanguard filed preliminary registration for a global credit bond fund, which the firm expects to launch in November.
The fund will be actively managed and aim to invest in corporate and non-corporate obligations, excluding government-guaranteed issues, the firm said. The fund, a portion of which will be hedged to the U.S. dollar, will offer investors two share classes: Investor Shares (VFINX), with an expense ratio of 0.35%, and Admiral Shares (VFIAX), with an expense ratio of 0.25%, Vanguard said.
Vanguard is cutting commissions for 15 mutual fund shares.
“Our clients are increasingly looking to reduce their home bias and harness the return potential and diversification benefits offered by the international equity and fixed income markets,” said John Hollyer, global head of Vanguard’s fixed income group, adding that the fund’s “wide range of security selection opportunities and regional and sector exposures, combined with the flexibility of active management, will make it an attractive core or satellite portfolio holding.”
Alts made available to more clients at AllianceBernstein
AllianceBernstein announced it has reached an agreement to provide iCapital Network's alternative investment platform to high-net-worth investors, RIAs and multi-family offices.
The partnership will simplify access and streamline the subscription process and performance reporting, improving the advisor and investor experience, the firm said.

https://www.financial-planning.com/news/vanguard-files-paperwork-to-launch-a-global-credit-fund-news-scan?feed=00000153-9f90-d098-a37b-dfb9d93c0000
August 15
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Vanguard proposes global credit bond fund
Vanguard filed preliminary registration for a global credit bond fund, which the firm expects to launch in November.

https://www.thewealthadvisor.com/article/how-invest-mutual-fund-closed-new-investors
August 15, 2018
Two weeks ago I published a list of 17 mutual funds whose managers have been at the helm for 10 years, outperforming the S&P 500's 10 year return of 10.61% and their category benchmark by enough of a margin to make a difference to investors.

A new Vanguard multi-factor ETF, VFMF, was introduced in Feb 2018. It is an all cap domestic fund with a low ER at 0.18%.

The author seems to have a different notion of risk aversion than I would, especially when he equates financial decisions with sports choices, or draws any conclusion about a $10 gain/loss.
What I'd consider as risk aversion, he dismisses as rational behavior. Well, yeah -- that's why I'm averse to that risk.
The author is a professor of marketing, not a psychologist. He could be very knowledgeable on this subject, but this blog entry is not very convincing. I think it's very difficult to know what motivates people.
David

I like that Spencer trades in/out of TSLA the way he does. He's done okay with it thus far, though I didn't like that it was 12% of the portfolio at one point -- when I began to trim my PRGTX holding.
PRGTX is a great fund and I like it b/c it doesn't hold the usual suspects - FAANGS, etc. It marches to its own drummer, is globally diversifed and isn't market weighted. It's still a keeper in my book.
By contrat, QQQ is market-cap weighted and is not exclusively focused on technology.

Personally, I didn't like that he traded in and out of Tesla, especially since it was his largest holding at one point. To me, that indicated high conviction. Suddenly, it was dumped. Now, it's Tencent Holdings. His semiconductor picks have been less than stellar as well. I guess I wouldn't be as concerned if his picks had panned out. As we all know, Tesla has been a rollercoaster ride. Now with the SEC making inquiries, it could continue to be a very volatile stock.

All 11 Baillie Gifford funds have outperformed their peers since launch in US. YTD, however, its international/EM funds have followed their categories down ... now in 6th month of drawdown. And, last month its two growth funds dipped with FB. Still, impressive numbers so far.
Here are numbers since launch ...

Past 12 months ...

Multiple period returns ...

It is my largest equity fund holding, a bit larger than my VDIGX, but because it is so concentrated with 33 stocks, I also hold CMTFX (CTCAX is the retail version load free and ntf at Fido) in another portfolio which is a bit more traditional in its holdings, a bit less volatile, has a solid history and holds 128 stocks. I agree with RForno as to the trp fund being less traditional, and its why I bought it too. Im hanging in there too unless over a longer period of time it deteriorates and fails to correct within a reasonable time frame.

@rforno: Beg to differ with you on PRGTX being a great fund. It's perfromance over the last fifteen years doesn't match what I consider to be a great fund. You are right on QQQ's sector allocation only 56% technology, about 25% in Consumer Staples/Discretionary and 9% in Healthcare, that's what makes it a great fund.
Regards,
Ted :)
PRGTX:
15yrs. 1st Percentile
10yrs. 4th Percentile
5yrs. 7th Percentile
3yrs. 46th Percentile
1yr. 89th Percentile
YTD: 91st Percentile
QQQ:
15yrs. 2nd Percentile
10yrs. 1st Percentile
5yrs. 1st Percentile
3yrs. 2nd Percentile
1yr. 19th Percentile
YTD: 13th Percentile

I like that Spencer trades in/out of TSLA the way he does. He's done okay with it thus far, though I didn't like that it was 12% of the portfolio at one point -- when I began to trim my PRGTX holding.
PRGTX is a great fund and I like it b/c it doesn't hold the usual suspects - FAANGS, etc. It marches to its own drummer, is globally diversifed and isn't market weighted. It's still a keeper in my book.
By contrat, QQQ is market-cap weighted and is not exclusively focused on technology.

FYI: The case for multifactor funds is essentially the case for diversification, which Nobel Prize winning economist Harry Markowitz has described as the only “free lunch” in investing. Investors shouldn’t put all their “eggs” in one factor. But just because the argument for factor diversification is simple doesn’t mean that selecting and sticking with a multifactor strategy is easy. In fact, in light of the proliferation of multifactor funds, choosing from the now-expansive menu is becoming more difficult by the day.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.morningstar.com/articles/879106/the-case-for-multifactor-funds.html

If his fund is down 19% YTD and S&P index is up 7.2%, this means his fund is lagging the broader market by 26.2%.