Question: Why has PRWCX been so successful over the past decade?
- Can’t be the manager, since it’s had (by my count) 3 different ones over that time. (And I’d guess it’s pretty much team managed anyhow).
- Can’t be its nimbleness & small size, because it isn’t.
- Can’t be its expense ratio of .70%. While competitive, that’s substantially higher than either DODBX or an index fund and lags rival OAKBX by only .10%.
- Can’t be its great market timing, because Giroux’s been talking nothing but caution for the past 5,000 points of the Dow.
- Can’t be its broadly diversified approach. The fund world is loaded with such balanced, hybrid, moderate allocation (or whatever other name one wishes to attach) type funds.
Don’t mean to be disagreeable (comes naturally) - but you can’t invest looking in the rear view mirror. I know the results have been impressive (and own the fund), but desire some logical compelling reason to think that that performance should continue.

DSEEX + PONDX 50-50 beats PRWCX ... except for this year, hmm.

I'll stick with my PRWCX, despite @davidmoran choosing PONDX and DSEEX. His recipe works, "but not THIS year." OK. But I look and see "class D" PONDX. I truly don't care which CLASS of shares it might be. Because, how many frikkin' classes of shares do you (anyone) NEED? Answer: one. I just won't mess with menus full of different share classes. "See ya later."
And DSEEX, I understand, is deliberately filled with swaps. Is that not by definition a "synthetic" bet? I'm touchy about that stuff, after watching "The Big Short" again, recently. Also, check out the short-position in cash in PONDX. (-127%. "Net" -48%.) No, thanks. I think an "Average Joe" like me, who "knows just enough to know better" ought to steer clear of such stuff.
@bee: despite an overall "hold" recommendation, I continue to add to my PNM, in small doses. In terms of P/E it is no longer the bargain it was when I first bought-in at $25.41, but a necessary, regulated electric utility which is embracing solar, in the US Southwest, looks like a good bet to me. And I just got back from a visit in the Tucson, AZ burbs, went up to Sedona, too. Fabulous sightseeing helicopter ride, there.
"The Big Short."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1596363/?ref_=nv_sr_1
Sedona:
http://www.gatewaytosedona.com/images/cathedral-rock-sedona-arizona/cathedral-rock-from-lower-loop-sedona.jpg

Huh? Something may be off or I am misreading the graphs.
From Magellan inception to mid-May '72, M* shows $10k going to ~$123k. ~12x.
Ted's span from then to fall '96 shows $10k going to ~$589k, for like 59x.
No?

Ted invested in a fund that used to grow faster, but had slowed down by the time he invested with relatively lackluster managers "Dick Habermann, PETER LYNCH, Morris Smith, and Jeff Vinik".
I could invest in a MMF and if I waited long enough I would "outperform" Johnson as well. Of course, and with apologies to Keynes, by then I'd be dead.
My point was that the managers Ted invested with weren't quite the best that Magellan had offered over its lifetime. Of course they were still outstanding, and Ted did quite well, both in his choice of fund and by staying with the fund a long time. Much longer than the Johnson era lasted, but also far shorter that it would take me with my MMF to get the same total return. Perhaps I should have put a smiley after my comment?

My interest in posting this thread:
At some point in life one may have to make a decision to simplify their investments for the benefit of lovingly clueless relatives.
Even Warren Buffet has had to face this question:

Buffett describes advice he has left in his will as to how the trustee should invest money Buffett is leaving for his wife. Here’s Buffett’s advice:
“My advice to the trustee could not be more simple: Put 10 percent of the cash in short-term government bonds and 90 percent in a very low-cost S&P 500 index fund. (I suggest Vanguard’s.)”

the-warren-buffett-guide-to-retirement-investing

@bee, Very prescient of you: U.S. toymaker Hasbro makes takeover approach for Mattel: WSJ

@msf
Sure, but by the time you invested, Magellan's best days were behind it. After Ned Johnson put up annual returns averaging 30.3% you had to make do with Lynch's measly 29.2% average performance.
Huh? Something may be off or I am misreading the graphs.
From Magellan inception to mid-May '72, M* shows $10k going to ~$123k. ~12x.
Ted's span from then to fall '96 shows $10k going to ~$589k, for like 59x.
No?

BNY Mellon - https://www.bnymellon.com/_global-assets/pdf/bny-mellon-funds/2017-estimated-capital-gain-information.pdf
Guggenheim - https://www.guggenheiminvestments.com/etf/distributions
Pimco - https://www.pimco.com/handlers/displaydocument.ashx?wd=Portfolio Statistics Previous Month End&fn=2017 PIMCO Funds Capital Gain Estimates.pdf&id=zE6WqsNEZWDsMx51NM3gOJfszAc2O4VrWGwALYJwnNKhYEvqaedxJLzNi4M0hSUcDqBBbln2ZUlI4w00R2nuJDJkrBSyZLyu3TiOvW32buOwaulEdGjizDsfTa3caF+lPem43X9igYH2J/RlxqJcjW/CYm2sMaVkopD6E39f19VQcyl6x4iNeLMLgD4tAS2w3xOqBT2k1TiOl5mbO9Dc4UsbIYPzZHywBl1O4KVj6mcyv6MSRPqOMTV7WO/LTMvGKUgag6ZPguAPoog8f8SfvfYiYpdUwTswQY9hNxBr3bGv60wqL+dbbCmsKyCH8i0j

If I could only hold 1fund, it would be a fund I don't own today, a TRP Target Date Retirement fund. If it is one fund to hold for 10-15 years in a portfolio of funds - PRWCX.

Which SINGLE fund? My PRWCX is my call, but let me also mention my MAPOX, for the quarterly dividends--- which is going to mean more and more to me, going forward. These hypothetical answers to the original question are due to a naturally prudent approach, assuming all monies end-up in ONE fund. If I were also granted just one choice to add a foreign element to the portfolio, it would be PRIDX. And I suppose I'd go 70% domestic and 30% foreign. (Right now, though, I'm only 11% in foreign equities.)
My current equity allocation:
LCV 20.41
LCG30.55
Smid-value 20.44
Smid growth 28.60
My current foreign equity funds: SFGIX and PRIDX.

@ MFO Members: For those of you who go back to the Fundalarm days , Roy Weitz ask me what was the single best investment I ever made ? The answer was simple and is still true today, Fidelity Magellan. I invested in Magellan in the spring of 1972 and cashed out in October of 1996. Thank you, Dick Habermann, PETER LYNCH, Morris Smith, and Jeff Vinik.

Sure, but by the time you invested, Magellan's best days were behind it. After Ned Johnson put up annual returns averaging 30.3% you had to make do with Lynch's measly 29.2% average performance.
https://www.advisorperspectives.com/pdfs/newsltr08-2-4-3.pdf

Wow, 25 shares! When Met Life demutualized, I got 10 whole shares. So little that when they spun off Brighthouse Financial I would have gotten less than one share, so I was forced to accept cash in lieu.
I was notified about the shares when the demutualization occurred, and I was notified of the Brighthouse shares (well, cash) as well. So I'm a little surprised that you got no notifications. Perhaps the problem lies with your old insurer?
My MET shares were held in a trust (also via Computershare) that enabled me to buy and sell shares with no commission. The Brighthouse shares would have been held there also, had there been any shares to hold. These days, one can trade stocks for next to no commission, so I don't see much value in retaining the shares in the trust.
Be advised that the IRS has always asserted that your cost basis in the shares is zero. There is some disagreement across courts about this, but the IRS remains unmoved. https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/issues/2016/mar/basis-of-stock-in-insurance-demutualization.html
Given the fact that I'd owe taxes on 100% of the value, or could get a deduction on 100% of the value by donating them, I figure I'll donate this year, while I can still itemize. (If the tax "reform" legislation passes, then between loss of SILT deductions and higher standard deductions, I'll not likely itemize in 2018.)

If I was focused only on domestic and even if I wasn't I'd at least think hard about POAGX. I don't like nothing but the US but if I had to bet which funds of the ones I currently own that I'd still own 15 years from now that would be my bet.
I like the idea of go anywhere, do anything flexibility but there's just not many, if any, that I'd really trust with that. Since we wouldn't be able to know anything about the ups and downs along the way I wouldn't have a big issue with sticking to stocks and I'd probably go for something like Grandeur Peak's Global Opportunities or Global Stalwarts, neither of which I own.

Maybe its me, but I am an allocation guy when it come to paring down choices.
My H.S.A (@ Bruce Funds) will be BRUFX
My Roth IRA (@ TRP) will be PRWCX
My SD IRA (@Vanguard) will be VWINX or maybe even Global Wellesley, VGWIX
My Taxable account will be VTMFX
A 10-15 Year Trend Funds:
Health Care - PRHCX, VGHCX, FSMEX
Tech - PRGTX, FSITX,
Consumerism - FSRPX

@ MFO Members: For those of you who go back to the Fundalarm days , Roy Weitz ask me what was the single best investment I ever made ? The answer was simple and is still true today, Fidelity Magellan. I invested in Magellan in the spring of 1972 and cashed out in October of 1996. Thank you, Dick Habermann, PETER LYNCH, Morris Smith, and Jeff Vinik.
Regards,
Ted

FYI: It's wrong for people to think that they have to be wealthy to get rich investing in the stock market, famed buy-and-hold investor Ron Baron told CNBC in a Friday interview.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/10/billionaire-ron-baron-says-any-patient-investor-can-turn-5000-dollars-a-year-into-nearly-1-million-dollars.html
M*: Baron Family Of Funds:
http://quicktake.morningstar.com/fundfamily/baron-capital-group/0C00001YPS/fund-list.aspx

It's not a bad choice but he dismissed a lot of possibilities without much consideration. It sounds like he started with the answer and needed to write a 300 word article (or whatever it is) to get there. If you've got 15 years then Schiller's CAPE ratio is pretty much the best predictor that's been found and that wouldn't really lead you to US stocks at this point.

The linked article, though written in 2015, makes a case for the next 10-15 years.
What would be the one mutual fund to hold for the next 10-15 years? He gives the nod to VIMSX.
the-one-best-mutual-fund-to-hold-forever-naesx-vimsx

As the result of a "de-mutualization" of my insurer (NE Financial merged with MET Life) I received 25 shares of MET Stock. These shares, originally held at BNY Mellon, recently were transferred to Computershare which provide shareholder services for the shares. Nothing that I initiated. In fact, I stumbles upon this revelation after doing a yearly checkup on the BNY Mellon account. I never received an email nor a mailing of this change. It was hell finding the correct department at Computershares and then proving to Computershares who I was since I was using BNY Mellon Accont information that I had screenshots of (the account nor longer was accessible to me online).
Anyway, this year MET spun off BHF (Bright House Financial...an annuity service of MET) which provided me with 2 shares of BHF. I realize I am not going to get rich here, but these are the kinds of transactions (that even the owner has a hard time following let alone an heir). It happen all the time and these financial assets get lost in the shuffle of life.
I mention this because my parent (a physician and original member of the formation of Mutual Hospital Insurance later known as Anthem) dead very young. My remaining parent, now 94, discovered (by another family member 40 years later) that she was the beneficiary of over $100K of WLP stock (which bought Anthem at one point in time and now WLP is traded as ANTM..don't try to keep score here).
Here a brief history if you are interested:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthem_Inc.
My point is... Fast forward 40 years from today my MET/BHF stock could one day be a small fortune. The power of compounding over time.
So, organize these financial "loose" ends for yourself as well as your heirs. It may seem time consuming, but it is worth every penny of the time that you spend on it.
Also, has a Mutual Fund ever de-mutualized?

FYI: (I will link episode as soon as it becomes available, early Saturday morning.)
Regards,
Ted
November 9, 2017
Dear WEALTHTRACK Subscriber,
Question: what have been two of the most distinctive features of the recovery from the financial crisis of ‘08-‘09? Answer: historically low levels of inflation and interest rates. Despite years of numerous predictions to the contrary inflation has stayed stubbornly subdued and, with some help from central banks around the globe, so have interest rates. But is this nearly decade long pattern finally being broken? This week’s guest says yes and there is evidence to back her claim.
As a recent headline in The Wall Street Journal reads: “Inflation the slumbering giant begins to stir.” To illustrate the point the Journal showed a chart of year over year changes in consumer prices in the U.K., U.S. and Eurozone. They bottomed in 2015 and have slowly risen, with fits and starts ever since… Japan has shown a similar pattern.
Meanwhile interest rates on benchmark 10-year government bonds are rising. U.S. rates ticked higher recently and yields in Germany and Japan are off their mid-2016 lows.
There have been other episodes of rising inflation and interest rates before this which didn’t last. This week’s guest is betting this one is for real.
She is Kathleen Gaffney, Director of Diversified Fixed Income at Eaton Vance where she is also the lead portfolio manager of the Eaton Vance Multisector Income Fund which she launched as the Eaton Vance Bond Fund when she joined the firm in early 2013.
The fund is known for its flexibility to seek higher total return opportunities anywhere globally and throughout the capital structure of the companies chosen. As a result it can buy common and preferred stocks, convertible securities and bonds. It also invests in currencies. That approach however has also meant “significantly more volatility” than its peers in Morningstar’s Multisector Bond category. Case in point: the fund declined 17% in 2015 and rocketed up 22% in 2016.
Gaffney is also lead portfolio manager of the somewhat more traditional Eaton Vance Core Plus Bond Fund. It carries a 5-Star rating and has ranked in the top performance percentiles in its category for the last 1, 3 and 5 year periods, both under her leadership and that of former managers.
If you miss the show on television you can always watch it on our website at your convenience. If you’d like to see the show before it airs, it is available to our PREMIUM subscribers right now. We also have an EXTRA interview with Gaffney about how she finds "think time" in the midst of information overload. It will be available exclusively on our website.
If you would like to take WEALTHTRACK with you on your commute or travels, you can now find the WEALTHTRACK podcast on TuneIn, Stitcher, and SoundCloud, as well as iTunes. Find out more on the WEALTHTRACK Podcast page.
Saturday, November 11th is Veteran’s Day. Please take a moment to remember all of those past and present, who have sacrificed so much to give us the freedoms we enjoy today. I personally salute my Dad, Husband and Son. I am so grateful for their service.
Have a great weekend and make the week ahead a profitable and a productive one.
Best Regards,
Consuelo
Video Clip:

M* Snapshot EBABX:
http://www.morningstar.com/funds/XNAS/EBABX/quote.htmlutm_term=0_bf662fd9c0-2b02004c36-71656893
Lipper Snapshot: EBABX:
https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/fund/ebabx
EBABX Is Unranked In The (IB) Fund Category By U.S. News & World Report

FYI: Despite most investors’ belief that past performance matters, a large body of academic research has found little-to-no evidence that more managers than would be randomly expected persistently outperform the market on a risk-adjusted basis.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.etf.com/sections/index-investor-corner/swedroe-past-performance-deceives?nopaging=1