Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

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.
  • Server Maintenance
    Our hosting provider has informed us that the will be performing maintenance on our server. They expect the server to be offline for about 30 minutes, beginning ... oh very soon (Between 10:00 pm and 1:00 am Eastern on 5/22).
    Thanks for your patience!
    chip
  • Broadview Opportunity Fund to be reorganized into Madison Small Cap Fund
    https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1040612/000104061219000058/madisonsmallcapprospsupple.htm
    Madison Funds
    Supplement dated May 22, 2019
    This Supplement amends the Prospectus of the Madison Funds and the Summary Prospectus
    for the Madison Small Cap Fund dated February 28, 2019
    Small Cap Fund
    Madison Asset Management, LLC (“Madison”), the investment adviser (the “Adviser”) to the Madison Funds (the “Funds”), has entered into an asset purchase agreement with Broadview Advisors, LLC (“Broadview”) pursuant to which Madison has agreed to purchase certain assets relating to Broadview’s advisory business (the “Transaction”). As part of the Transaction, Madison will assume the assets of the Broadview Opportunity Fund (the “Broadview Fund”), the sole series of Broadview Funds Trust, by reorganizing it with and into the Madison Small Cap Fund (the “Small Cap Fund”), a series of the Madison Funds (the “Reorganization”).
    On May 8, 2019, the Board of Trustees of the Madison Funds, including a majority of the independent trustees, approved the Reorganization and determined that the Reorganization was in the best interests of the Small Cap Fund and its shareholders and that the interests of shareholders would not be diluted as a result thereof. The Board of Trustees of the Broadview Fund approved the Reorganization on May 13, 2019.
    The Reorganization shall be effective as soon as practicable following notice to Broadview Fund shareholders pursuant to a combined information statement/prospectus, currently anticipated July 26, 2019 (the “Effective Date”). Shareholder approval is not required to effect the Reorganization, and shareholder approval is not being sought.
    In connection with the Effective Date of the Reorganization, the Board of Trustees of the Funds approved the following:
    1. Madison will continue to manage the Small Cap Fund, which is currently subadvised by Wellington Capital Management LLP (“Wellington”). Wellington will cease to be the sub-adviser as of the Effective Date. Three of the four existing portfolio managers of the Broadview Fund, Rick Lane, Faraz Farzam and Aaron Garcia, will become employees of Madison and will manage the Small Cap Fund. Rick Whiting, the remaining portfolio manager of the Broadview Fund has elected to retire and will not be joining Madison. Biographical information regarding the portfolio managers is provided below.
    •Mr. Richard E. Lane, CFA, currently serves as the President and a Member of Broadview, which he founded in 2001. He has served as a portfolio manager to the Broadview Fund since November 29, 2013, and to the FMI Focus Fund (the Broadview Fund “Predecessor Fund”) from October 1, 1997 until its reorganization into the Broadview Fund on November 29, 2013 (the “Reorganization”). Mr. Lane has worked in the financial services industry since 1982 and has a BA in Economics and an MS in Finance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
    •Mr. Faraz Farzam, CFA, has been with the Broadview since 2001 and is currently a Portfolio Manager and a Member of Broadview. Mr. Farzam has served as a portfolio manager to the Broadview Fund since November 29, 2013, and to the Predecessor Fund from January 2010 until the Reorganization. Mr. Farzam has worked in the financial services industry since 1999 and has a BS from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
    • Mr. Aaron J. Garcia, CFA, has been with Broadview since 2003 and is currently a Portfolio Manager and a Member of Broadview. Mr. Garcia has served as a portfolio manager to the Broadview Fund since November 29, 2013, and to the Predecessor Fund from January 2010 until the Reorganization. Mr. Garcia has worked in the financial services industry since 2002 and has a BA from Rice University.
    2. An amendment to the Services Agreement between the Adviser and Madison Funds to reduce the service fee with respect to the Small Cap Fund from an annual rate of 0.25% to 0.21%, and cap total annual operating expenses for a two-year period to 1.21% for Class Y (which is the current expense ratio of the Broadview Fund share class, excluding acquired fund fees and expenses), and to 1.46% and 2.21% for Class A and Class B, respectively (excluding acquired fund fees and expenses).
    3. The legal survivor of the Reorganization will be the Madison Small Cap Fund, however, the accounting survivor will be the Broadview Fund therefore its performance and financial history will survive the Reorganization.
    Please keep this Supplement with your records.
  • Vanguard Global ESG Select Stock Fund subscription period
    https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/734383/000093247119007103/ps2247.htm
    497 1 ps2247.htm GLOBAL ESG SELECT STOCK FUND SUPPLEMENT
    Vanguard Global ESG Select Stock Fund
    Supplement Dated May 21, 2019, to the Prospectus and
    Summary Prospectus Dated May 21, 2019
    Subscription Period
    Vanguard Global ESG Select Stock Fund will hold a subscription period from
    May 21, 2019, through June 4, 2019. During this period, the Fund will invest in
    money market instruments or hold its assets in cash rather than seek to achieve
    its investment objective. This strategy should allow the Fund to accumulate
    sufficient assets to construct a complete portfolio within a single day and is
    expected to reduce initial trading costs.
    The Fund reserves the right to terminate or extend its subscription period prior
    to June 4, 2019.
    During the subscription period, you may invest in the Fund online (if you are
    registered for online access) or you may contact Vanguard by telephone or by
    mail to complete a transaction. Please see the Investing With Vanguard
    section of the prospectus for more details about requesting transactions.
    © 2019 The Vanguard Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
    Vanguard Marketing Corporation, Distributor.
    PS 2247 052019
  • Broadview Opportunity Fund to be reorganized into Madison Small Cap Fund
    (Formerly the FMI Focus Fund)
    https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1586281/000139834419009205/fp0042550_497.htm
    497 1 fp0042550_497.htm
    Broadview Opportunity Fund
    Supplement to Prospectus and Summary Prospectus dated January 28, 2019
    On May 13, 2019, the Board of Trustees of Broadview Funds Trust (the “Trust”) approved the reorganization (the “Reorganization”) of the Broadview Opportunity Fund (the “Broadview Fund”), the sole series of the Trust, into the Madison Small Cap Fund (the “Madison Fund”), a series of Madison Funds. The Board of Trustees of Madison Funds approved the Reorganization on May 8, 2019.
    Broadview Advisors, LLC (“Broadview”) serves as the investment adviser to the Broadview Fund and Madison Asset Management, LLC (“Madison”) serves as the investment adviser to the Madison Fund. The Broadview Fund and the Madison Fund are collectively referred to as the “Funds.”
    In approving the Reorganization, the Board of Trustees of the Trust considered, among other things, the similarities between the Funds’ investment objectives and policies, the fact that the Funds’ investment management fees at the time of the Reorganization will be the same, that the costs of the Reorganization will be borne by Broadview and Madison and not the Funds, the continuity of portfolio management (as three of the four portfolio managers of the Broadview Fund will manage the reorganized Madison Fund), the distribution capabilities of Madison, and the anticipated tax-free nature of the Reorganization.
    Under the terms of the Agreement and Plan of Reorganization and Liquidation approved by the Board of Trustees of each of the Trust and Madison Funds, shares held by Broadview Fund shareholders will be exchanged for shares of the Madison Fund at the closing of the Reorganization. At the same time assets held by, and liabilities of, the Broadview Fund will be transferred to the Madison Fund.
    Broadview Fund shareholders may purchase and redeem shares of the Broadview Fund in the ordinary course until the last business day before the closing of the Reorganization, which is expected to occur on or about July 19, 2019 (the “Closing”). Purchase and redemption requests received after the Closing will be treated as purchase and redemption requests for shares of the Madison Fund received in connection with the Reorganization. Prior to the Closing of the Reorganization, Broadview will continue to manage the Broadview Fund in the ordinary course.
    As a result of the Reorganization, each shareholder of the Broadview Fund will become a shareholder of the Madison Fund and will receive Class Y shares of the Madison Fund of equal value to their shares in the Broadview Fund. It is expected that the Reorganization will be treated as a tax-free reorganization for federal tax purposes.
    The Madison Fund will file a Registration Statement on Form N-14, which will include a combination information statement/prospectus (the “Information Statement/Prospectus”), with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the Reorganization. When available, the definitive Information Statement/Prospectus will be sent to shareholders of the Broadview Fund. Shareholders of the Broadview Fund are urged to read the Information Statement/Prospectus when it becomes available, because it will contain important information about the Reorganization. Shareholder approval is not required to effect the Reorganization, and shareholder approval is not being sought.
    Please retain this Supplement for future reference.
    The date of this Supplement is May 21, 2019.
    ______________________________________________________________________________________________________
    (Madison Funds "Y" class requires $25K minimum for taxable and non-taxable accounts)
    https://www.madisonfunds.com/individual/find-a-fund
    https://www.madisonfunds.com/proxy/files/Funds/FactsSheets/SmallCap.pdf?ctgv=554.0
  • M*: Recent Rating Downgrades Signal Uncertainty
    FYI: A flurry of manager changes in 2019 has triggered downgrades to several Morningstar Medalist fund ratings. New managers often bring less experience to the table. There's usually a period of uncertainty about how the fund's approach, portfolio, and performance pattern will change since it can take a few months to see what moves the new manager has made. Even if a fund company says the strategy will remain the same, a new manager always puts his stamp on the fund, and there's always the question of whether he'll execute as well as his predecessor. Below are some funds that were downgraded due to manager changes.
    Regards,
    Ted
    https://www.morningstar.com/articles/929707/recent-rating-downgrades-signal-uncertainty.html
  • Broken Homes Produce More Cautious Fund Managers
    FYI: Research shows that traumatic childhood experiences can shape people for the rest of their lives — including how they behave as professional investors.
    A new study examines how early-life family disruption — specifically, the death or divorce of a parent — affects the professional investment decisions of mutual fund managers. It finds that fund managers who experienced loss or divorce at a young age were significantly more risk-averse as investors, taking about 17 percent less risk in the funds they manage.
    Regards,
    Ted
    https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/b1fhb6b555gjlq/Broken-Homes-Produce-More-Cautious-Fund-Managers
  • M*: Price Continues To Rule the Target-Date Fund Landscape
    FYI: Following another year of strong flows from investors, assets in target-date mutual funds and target-date collective investment trusts totaled more than $1.7 trillion at the end of 2018. The persistent growth and massive amount of assets mean that target-date funds play a key role in helping more and more investors meet their retirement goals.
    Here's a few highlights on the competitive landscape from Morningstar's recently released 2019 Target-Date Fund Landscape report.
    Regards,
    Ted
    https://www.morningstar.com/articles/929906/price-continues-to-rule-the-targetdate-fund-landsc.html
  • Heating Up: Investors' Green Targets Go Beyond Oil Patch
    FYI: It’s not just big oil and power companies that investors are pushing to do better on the environment.
    In the next few weeks, Amazon investors will vote on a proposal made by shareholders and workers to push the company to describe how it’s curbing its use of fossil fuels. In California, investors of Ross Stores are asking the retailer of off-price clothing to set goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. And in Kentucky, Yum Brands shareholders are pushing for an annual report on what the parent of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell is doing about deforestation caused by its suppliers.
    As the earth gets warmer, shareholders with the environment in mind are widening their focus and increasingly targeting consumer businesses, internet companies and others that don’t first come to mind as big polluters.
    Regards,
    Ted
    http://www.telegraphherald.com/news/business/article_9be8b6d1-072b-5dbc-a82f-9cdad3f923ba.html
  • How Does A Ponzi Scheme Lure So Many Victims?
    FYI: It’s a shocking statistic. According to industrial psychologist, Paul Babiak and criminal psychologist, Robert D. Hare, about one percent of men are bona fide psychopaths.* The authors of Snakes in Suits, When Psychopaths Go to Work say most psychopaths aren’t Hannibal Lecter-types. Unlike the killer in Silence of the Lambs, most of them don’t stuff people in their freezers. But they lack empathy for other people.
    Some leave social carnage in their wake. They might be married, yet sleep with multiple women without feelings of remorse. Others scale corporate ladders without caring about the hands they crush while climbing to the top. Others steal people’s money–without a shred of guilt.
    In 2017, Maria Konnikova published the New York Times bestseller, The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It…Every Time. It’s one of the most fascinating books I’ve ever read, showing (among other things) how almost anyone can fall for a Ponzi scheme. These are fraudulent investment schemes that promise high investment returns for little or no risk. But such profits aren’t real.
    Regards,
    Ted
    https://assetbuilder.com/knowledge-center/articles/how-does-a-ponzi-scheme-lure-so-many-victims
  • Is Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF a Buy?
    https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/vanguard-dividend-appreciation-etf-buy-161700271.html
    Is Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF a Buy?
    Motley Fool
    Motley FoolMay 18, 2019, 11:17 AM CDT
    Dividend stocks can be a great way to generate excellent total returns in your portfolio over time, and to create a nice income stream after you retire. However, dividend stocks that raise their payout year after year are even better. One exchange-traded fund, or ETF, that allows you to invest in a diverse portfolio of dividend growth stocks without high fees is the Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (NYSEMKT: VIG).
  • 50-70% Allocation funds...

    If he is 18 he may have the Roth in his name and the account monitored by whomever.
    Many details have been provided in this thread for this topic.
    I have nothing remaining to offer.
  • 50-70% Allocation funds...
    @msf
    You noted: "If this would be a joint account, it couldn't be an IRA."
    My inclusion information for the Roth IRA or a custodial account for a minor is that this would be my preferred path for someone just graduating from high school. If they are not 18, then the "minor" account, which would then have to be transitioned to their stand alone Roth at age 18 (most states).
    Fidelity's Roth for kids write
    This is the large discussion here in April, 2017 revolving around Roth IRA's for minors.
  • 50-70% Allocation funds...
    I agree in theory that someone just out of high school would be best served by investing long term in pure equity. But I also remember starting out and being spooked by the idea of investing, period. You mean I could lose money?
    While pure equity is better, a hybrid fund might be a reasonable compromise, especially for someone watching his first investment going up and down.
    I like the idea of going global. So no "total" stock market where "total" means US. Rather something like VTWAX/VT. In the 50-70% allocation arena, davfor and hank mentioned RPGAX which seems like a good choice. Vanguard Star VGSTX would seem to be a good candidate as well, especially given the interest in a low minimum balance. It would take $1K to start, but then one can add $1/investment.
    If this would be a joint account, it couldn't be an IRA. Still, taxes would likely not be a consideration for some time. Further, it might make sense to sell before earning "real" money, to recognize the gains with no taxes and reset the basis. Contributions to an IRA would be limited to compensation. Though the money could come from someone else as a gift.
    (Financial institutions are funny in the ways they accept money. I recently lent a friend cash for a couple of days which she repaid by depositing a check to my Fidelity account. No problems. On the other hand, to bootstrap a BofA checking account I deposited $100 cash which I took directly from their ATM to their teller. I was required to show two forms of ID. Perhaps they thought the bills they were handing out were counterfeit?)
    @catch22 I've never seen Fidelity (or most brokerages) offer to sell fractional shares of ETFs or stocks. (There are a few brokerages that offer "curated" baskets of securities where you can own fractional shares.) At Fidelity, when I go to buy a security like ITOT, there's a "calculate quantity" button. When I use that and input $100, it calculates 1 share; it doesn't offer me the option of buying 1.3 shares, give or take. Are you talking about buying fractional shares or reinvesting divs?
  • 50-70% Allocation funds...
    You stated: "Could or should it be an IRA? Yes"
    A Roth IRA??????
    No taxation............
    I set the recurring investment at $1,000/year; thus the $83/month entry.
    Please look at the calculator link I provided above.
    If she/he has worked or will be working this year, there is not a rush to set the account before your trip?
  • 50-70% Allocation funds...
    Okay, so let us look at this.
    The power of compounding and not paying taxes via a Roth IRA. Look at the total return number at the top of the data entry section, relative to the data placed.
    At the linked page, also scroll down to read the "rate of return" info section.
    Agree about using an etf. Example: I-shares, ITOT cost today is $65/share. At Fidelity, if one makes a purchase of a traditional mutual fund, you will also receive fractional shares for the full dollar amount of the purchase. VTI cost is about $146/share, so this obviously wouldn't be available with $100 initial investment. However, there are other etf's that are growth oriented that may have a lower price entry point. And the expense ratio is far below the .88 of the mentioned Brown fund......ITOT e.r. is .03%.
    I also agree that there is no need for bonds at this young age. Ride the cycles, and stay calm.
  • 50-70% Allocation funds...
    I recall the money you're dealing with in this question is all traditional IRA, correct?
    I'm confused about your portfolio.
    You noted recently, that: "PRWCX = 32.35% of my stuff. I'm now bond-heavy, in retirement. It's my favorite, too, and my only balanced fund. I'm 61% bonds, 25% US equities, and 7% foreign equities. The rest is cash and cash equivalents and "other," according to Morningstar.
    You also noted in this thread that PRWCX is closed to new investors. This is correct, I can not purchase. But, if you already hold PRWCX at TRPrice; are you not able to add to this fund?
    Hi @Catch22,
    That was my first thought. And, of course @Crash may add to PRWCX since he currently owns it, unless it’s a different type plan. In my own case, I own it in my traditional but not my Roth - both directly at TRP. The thought has occurred to me that I might do a Roth conversion on a small portion and hence also have capability to move money into the fund inside my Roth there. I haven’t checked with Price, but have every confidence that would work.
    Personally, I sleep better spreading management risk around, even with a fund as fine as PRWCX. So I have roughly equal amounts in PRWCX and DODBX. As Crash mentioned, DODBX is probably a bit more volatile and subject to larger drawdowns in some markets. Another I hold is RPGAX. Don’t know if that would fit what Crash is looking for, but I happen to like it a lot.
    Added: I understand how one can get google-eyed staring at the impressive returns of PRWCX. But be careful what you wish for. The fund’s had 3 or 4 managerial changes since inception. There will be more. Also, different funds perform better in different investing climates. No guarantee the fund will continue to perform so well in the future. Giroux is doing a lot of fancy footwork using puts, calls, options and other derivatives that, frankly, I don’t fully understand. Some of this success, such as his plays on utilities, has been a result of the extraordinary low rate environment we’ve been in. That will change someday. While I’m sure he knows what he’s doing, in investing certain styles come in and go out of favor.