While I also have the impression that most (i.e. more than 50%) of fund families reopen funds through all channels, limited reopenings are not unusual. For example, Sequoia Fund SEQUX, T. Rowe Price Health Sciences PRHSX, Vanguard Capital Opportunity VHCOX.
Often funds do the reverse - go from being completely open to limiting new accounts to direct investments. American Century Midcap Value ACMVX, Wellington VWELX (since then completely closed), etc.

Click here
https://bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-30/the-amount-of-etf-shares-being-traded-has-eclipsed-u-s-gdp
Then click here:
sifma.org/factbook/
The amount of speculation--paper trading hands--versus the amount of actual capital raised to ostensibly grow business (or to buy back stock and not grow business) is staggering. Just the ETF volume alone is about nine times the total amount of capital raised and larger than the U.S. GDP, and that doesn't include volume on individual stocks and bonds. If one believes in buy and hold investing and that market timing is impossible as I believe folks like MJG have claimed this is not a productive use of resources. It is one trader selling an already existing share of Microsoft stock to another who then turns around and sells it to another and another ad infinitum without providing Microsoft any additional capital to grow its business. Speculation has become Wall Street's primary business, while raising new capital is secondary.

MJG writes about 1792, as if Wall Street served the same function today as it did then. Some part of it does, and if Wall Street kept to that knitting, you wouldn't be seeing some of the posts here. But let's not confuse that with the last four decades of financial "innovation".
We can start with Drexel Burnham Lambert.
http://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/financial-planning/junk-bond1.htm
Even the insurance industry prohibits insuring a life in which you're not related. This is called the insurable interest doctrine. But not Wall Street.
"When the British Parliament passed the Life Assurance Act in 1774, it acknowledged that the opportunity to insure a stranger would create a 'mischievous kind of gaming' that allowed one person to profit from the death of another." Just for those who like financial history going back to the 1700s.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2008/04/can_i_buy_life_insurance_on_a_stranger.html
But Wall Street in its infinite wisdom decided that trading credit default swaps that guaranteed bond payments was just fine, even if you have no interest in the income stream. CDSs as they became to be traded in the past couple of decades have no apparent use, at least in MJG's 1792 sense.
http://www.robinskaplan.com/resources/articles/credit-default-swaps-from-protection-to-speculation
See also, FT (2010): Call for ban on CDS speculation.
Rolling Stone pretty well wraped it up in one of its intro paragraphs on Bain Capital in 2012:
"Romney wants us to believe that critics of private equity are against capitalism. They’re not. They’re against a predatory system created and perpetuated by Wall Street solely to pump its own profits."
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/why-private-equity-firms-like-bain-really-are-the-worst-of-capitalism-20120523

From Ted's link:"The hypothetical employee in the study started working for $10,000 a year in 1975 and got annual raises equal to 1.5 percentage points above inflation.
It seems to me that might be hard to ingest for the year(s) where cds were paying 15 - 16 %. What kind of raise would that work out to ?
@Bee : Did you post some thoughts on this glide path idea last year? I looked at doing something like this , but never pulled the trigger.
After many bond beating years, this glide path may not work as well if interest rates keep rising !?
Thanks for your thoughts.
Derf

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1494928/000139834417004560/fp0025080_497.htm
497 1 fp0025080_497.htm
RiverPark Funds Trust
RiverPark Short Term High Yield Fund
Institutional Class (RPHIX)
Retail Class (RPHYX)
Supplement dated April 5, 2017 to the Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information (the “Disclosure Documents”) dated January 27, 2017.
This supplement provides new and additional information beyond that contained in the Disclosure Documents and should be read in conjunction with the Disclosure Documents.
IMPORTANT NOTICE ON PURCHASE OF FUND SHARES
Effective as of the close of business on April 5, 2017 (the “Re-Opening Date”), the RiverPark Short Term High Yield Fund (the “Fund”) will be publicly available for sale on a limited basis as set forth below.
The following groups will be permitted to purchase Fund shares after the Re-Opening Date:
1. Shareholders of record of the Fund as of the Re-Opening Date (although if a shareholder closes all accounts in the Fund, additional investment in the Fund from that shareholder may not be accepted) may continue to purchase additional shares in their existing Fund accounts either directly from the Fund or through a financial intermediary and may continue to reinvest dividends or capital gains distributions from shares owned in the Fund,
2. New shareholders may open Fund accounts and purchase directly from the Fund (i.e. not through a financial intermediary), and
3.Members of the Fund’s Board of Trustees, persons affiliated with RiverPark Advisors, LLC or Cohanzick Management, LLC and their immediate families will be able to purchase shares of the Fund and establish new accounts.
The Fund may from time to time, in its sole discretion, limit the types of investors permitted to open new accounts, limit new purchases or otherwise modify the above policy at any time on a case-by-case basis.
PLEASE RETAIN THIS SUPPLEMENT FOR FUTURE REFERENCE.

I believe Target Date Funds could be used in a totally different manner than they are typically advertised which usually means these funds "target a retirement date".
I propose using these funds to provide a glide path of risk that "targets income needs in retirement" over future 5 year time periods.
Let's say I am 57 years of age in 2017 and I see a need for my investments to provide me an income of $X/month (adjusted for inflation) starting in three years (age 60).
So, a 2020 Target Date Fund would be funded with 5 years of spending (for age 60-64). So in 2020, I would begin disbursements from this 2020 fund and spend this fund down over the next 5 years (2020-2024). A Target Date Fund remains invested very conservatively after it reaches its target date which is perfect for spend down.
At age 57, I also would fund a 2025 Target Date Fund to begin disbursement in 2025 (from age 65-69).
I also would fund a 2030 Target Date Fund to disburse in 2030 (from age 70-74)
and so on...
Beyond the first 15 years I would then use 10 year increments such as,
2040 Fund for years 75-84
2050 Fund for years 85 - older
5 Funds all done.
For emergencies I might conservatively fund an additional 3-5 years of spending and replenish as needed.
All other resources could be aggressively invested without the worry of spending these resources at the wrong time (a bear market).
The beauty of a Target Date Funds is that they glide away from risk as they approach the spend down date (target date) and remains low risk during the 5 year spend down period.
Longer dated funds have time to deal with the risk/reward of the market serving as the inflation hedge.

Hi Guys,
It's an American tradition to poke fun at many of our most treasured and useful institutions. Certainly criticizing and even challenging the need for Wall Street and the Wall Street Stock Exchange have been the easy targets of those random potshots almost since their formation. That's the American way.
In one sense, that constant criticism measures its importance. Simply put, Wall Street is one of the primary resources that facilitate the transfer of money from those who want to profit from lending money to those who need it for business expansion purposes. We all benefit from the function. That facilitating transfer mechanism is one reason why the USA is number One in GDP among the world's nations. Life is made better here when business opportunities are served.
The marketplace has made a judgement on the need for the functions performed by Wall Street. The Wall Street Stock Exchange was founded in 1792. It's almost the same age as our Country. If it were not a necessary function, it would have disappeared a long time ago. That's a very simplistic, but a powerful argument in defence of its existence.
Are the guys who earn their pay working on Wall Street overly compensated? Are the guys who play major league baseball overpaid? Many of us would answer those questions in the positive. I would not do so. I might not agree with their compensation, but I believe that marketplace competitive forces determine the proper pay scale. My assessment is irrelevant to the outcome.
Wall Street does a necessary job regardless of its shortcomings. Likewise, its participants, who likely shortstop too high a percentage of the money exchange, perform a necessary function. That's just an opinion from a very ill informed outsider without any intimate insights into how Wall Street actually accomplishes its duties,
"Remotely possible" probably misrepresents Wall Street's impact, but Wall Street certainly impacts our "way of life". It certainly has impacted my way of life.
Best Wishes

SPFPX outperformance the first three years was due to its miniscule assets under management. So miniscule that a couple of us on this forum held something like 15% of its total AUM. Since then AUM have skyrocketed and as Ted said it has been run of the mill, especially last year when it underperformed its peers.

@guilhermes: It appears that SPFPX 5* rating is predicated on it's 2013-15 performance. Since then I consider it to be a run-of-mill bank loan fund.
Regards,
Ted
M*: SPFPX Performance:
http://performance.morningstar.com/fund/performance-return.action?t=SPFPX&region=usa&culture=en_US

Rephrasing my original request for feedback.
SPFPX is a Bank Loan Fund with a short history (2013 onwards), however when compared with its pears it seems to have significantly outperformed.
There have been a few discussions related to SPFPX, one had to do with its high Sortino Ratio.
The performance data is very impressive (see below from Morningstar)
3 -Year Trailing Standard Deviation Return Sharpe Ratio Sortino Ratio
03/31/2017
OOSAX 3.54 3.63 0.98 1.92
SAMBX 3.50 3.49 0.95 1.84
SPFPX 1.71 5.33 2.95 11.99
Category: BL 3.13 2.78 0.90 1.88
However, I do not believe in free lunch. I am worrying about risks derived from the investment strategy.
In the original post, I was requesting feedback from anyone has analyzed the investment process of the fund in detail.

FYI: Contribute more money and keep your investing strategy open to change.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/these-tools-help-you-hit-the-mark-with-target-date-funds-2017-04-05/print

This is good news for existing shareholders. Assets in QMNIX have gone from $1 million to more than $1 billion in less than 3 years. I commend AQR for closing the door and not allow the fund to get bloated. Remember what fate befell MFLDX.

I think this is all much ado about nothing. In case folks didn't know, Schwab, Vanguard and Fidelity are currently in a pricing war, each one lowering its fees on funds and ETFs, sometimes on the same day. I don't know about you, but every hundredth of a percent is a boon for investors. Schwab's funds have always been competitive with Vanguard from a cost standpoint, as recently as a couple of years being even lower than Vanguard. Obviously Vanguard doesn't like this, since it's ALWAYS bragged about low-cost index funds. And here come Fidelity and Schwab calling Vanguard's bluff, resulting in a race to see who can offer these funds for the lowest cost. Ted is right that Dan is a shill for Vanguard. But my point is that none of this matters. Whether you choose the S&P 500, the 1000, some kind of Total Market, or something in between, it all comes out pretty much the same. Long-term investors would have been served well in ANY of these over the last 10 years, all of them returning between 7.2% and 7.4% annually. So Dan, the add was accurate as far as it went. I wouldn't get my knickers in a twist over Schwab stepping into Vanguard's low-cost turf. As for MFO investors, lower index fund fees are a positive change.

Funny, just two days ago I wrote the following email to my daughter (at her request):
"Here's my summary of financial planning. Or, you could read a 300 page book and get the same information with more details.
1) Have an emergency account. Ideally, it should have three months cost of living in it. At a minimum, have a couple of thousand dollars so you can fix a broken car, etc. without panic.
2) Plan a budget. Specifically, you should know your weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual spending requirements in advance for the most part. Make sure you have the money set into "buckets" for those expenses. Examples: rent, insurance, food, loan payments, vacations, etc. Also, there should be a bucket for allowances for each of you. Just because you have money left over doesn't mean that it is "allowance". Actually plan in advance how much "fun money" seems reasonable. Left-over money should go into savings for #3 or #4.
3) Save for retirement.
4) Save for a house or condo.
The easiest way to save for retirement is through a work 401k plan if they offer one. For most folks starting in their 20s, plan to save about 12% of your gross income. The company match if there is one is added on to this. If there is no company match, plan to save 15%. If you don't have access to a 401k, or if you want to save more, just open an IRA for each of you. Invest it 80% or more in the stock market (see details below). This will probably get you retired around age 60. If you save more, you can retire sooner.
The stock market is the best place for long term investing. The reason is stocks go up and down in the short run, but in the long run the market has always gone up. One easy way to invest is to just put 100% of your money into the Vanguard VTI exchange traded fund (ETF). Just add more money every month or every quarter or every year or whatever. If you want to "smooth out the bumps" some, you can get a little more complicated. Invest some of it in a fund that invests internationally instead of just the US. Some years that will be better, some years worse, but you'll get similar results with a smoother ride. An example ETF for this is VXUS. Another option is to invest some money in the bond market (usually slightly lower returns in the long run but definitely smooths the bumps). Finally, to probably increase your results in the long run, invest in small companies (fund VBR) more than large ones.
Keep in mind that the dips the stock market goes through don't really hurt you in the long run and actually help a little. If you are investing a certain amount every month (say $1000) to buy stocks, when the stock price goes down you get to buy more of them. Then when it goes back up, you gain faster than if it just went up the same amount every month.
The way to use the multiple funds is to:
- set target percentages
- each time you add money to the investments add to the ones that are trailing your targets
Example targets you could use:
40% VTI (total US stock market)
20% VXUS (international stocks)
20% VBR (small company stocks)
20% BND (total US bond market)
Saving for a house/condo is different. It should be in some pretty secure investment, like a credit union savings account or CDs, but not the stock market. You'll probably want to actually spend the money in just a few years, so you don't want to have a down stock market right when you need the money. Most folks living in a high cost-of-living area like Seattle probably spend about 30% of their gross income on housing. So for you, if you make a combined $130,000, 30% is 39,000. If you currently pay rent of $22,000 per year, save the other 17,000.
OK, where/how to open an account. I use Vanguard and Schwab for my retirement accounts and like both of them. You can open the accounts online and they both have good phone support, and Schwab has a Seattle office if you want to talk with a human being. The steps are:
- open the account (an IRA or a Roth IRA or a regular investment account)
- make an initial deposit (usually by an ACH transfer from your credit union savings or checking); this goes to a basic money market fund (kind of like a checking account)
- move the money into your chosen ETF investments
IRA and Roth IRA accounts are called "tax advantaged". The government wants people to save for retirement so they try to make it enticing. An IRA (like a 401k) lets you not pay income tax on the money you save. Instead, you pay income taxes when you take the money out 40 years from now. This is called "tax deferred".
A Roth IRA or a Roth 401k is different. You do pay income tax now on the money that you save. But when you take the money out later you do not pay any taxes then.
If the income tax rate now and 40 years from now is the same, it makes no mathematical difference which approach you use. If you expect your tax rate to be higher in the future, use the Roth approach. If you expect your tax rate to be lower in the future, use a regular IRA. Or you can do some of each to hedge your bets. Use a Roth 401k at work and a regular IRA, or a regular 401k at work and a Roth IRA.
I've got some good books if you want more details, but this is the basics."

Don't see this helping. $10 M in assets. Not available load waived / NTF at brokerages. Who's going to push this sucker?

Agree with @dstone42 about advantages of 529 investing. TIAA manages Michigan's plan about which I have no complaints. There's a state income tax credit on up to 10k per year, but only in years you put in and don't take out. As to the issue of how hard the money is to get out, I do know this. Accustomed as I am to rapid wire transfers, I was caught short and paid a $30 late fee this semester because it takes 3-5 business days to do an electronic transfer. At tax time, be prepared to show your proofs (textbook receipts, classroom or lab clickers, tuition bills, evidence of scholarships, etc). Don't know how it may work in other states and especially for a small college that the plan may not have in its database.

There's the tax advantage of a 529 fund -- the gains are not taxed (as long as the withdrawals are used for college education).
I opened an account for each grandchild -- two of them with T Rowe Price (Alaska state plan) and three with Nebraska state plan. I don't use their target date funds -- there are some regular mutual fund choices (that's what I looked for when starting). It's mostly on automatic pilot -- $100 per kid per month out of my checking account. With an extra contribution at birthday and Christmas. It's hard to find time to examine the results closely, but the total has grown nicely and the individual funds' numbers stack up pretty well with S&P 500. The two older boys are in the sixth grade now, so in a few years I'll see how complicated it is to get the money out.

Do I love BBALX? Nope. I respect it as a well-designed tool. it's cheap, disciplined and less subject to manager risk than a purely active fund. Is it the right tool for your project? Don't know. But I have faith that you'll figure it out.
I didn't read the write up of this fund. It appears to be a fund of funds. I know that many here look at all sort of metrics in evaluating mutual funds. Color me stupid but I thought the whole purpose in buying mutual funds was to accumulate wealth - at least when we are in the accumulation phase. Based on this fund's performance over the past 1, 3, 5, 10, and 15 years it can't hold a candle to a simple passive investment in an S&P index fund.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1444822/000119312517110128/d350531d497.htm
497 1 d350531d497.htm AQR FUNDS PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT
AQR FUNDS
Supplement dated April 4, 2017 (“Supplement”)
to the Class I Shares and Class N Shares Prospectus dated May 1, 2016, as amended (“Prospectus”), of the AQR Diversified Arbitrage Fund, AQR Long-Short Equity Fund, AQR Equity Market Neutral Fund, AQR Multi-Strategy Alternative Fund, AQR Style Premia Alternative Fund and AQR Style Premia Alternative LV Fund (the “Funds”)
This Supplement updates certain information contained in the Prospectus. Please review this important information carefully. You may obtain copies of the Funds’ Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information free of charge, upon request, by calling (866) 290-2688, or by writing to AQR Funds, P.O. Box 2248, Denver, CO 80201-2248.
Effective at the close of business on June 30, 2017, the AQR Long-Short Equity Fund and AQR Equity Market Neutral Fund will be closed to new investors, subject to certain exceptions as set out below under the heading “Closed Fund Policies.”
Additionally, effective April 5, 2017, the section entitled “Closed Fund Policies” beginning on page 165 of the Prospectus is hereby deleted and replaced in its entirety with the following:
Closed Fund Policies
Effective at the close of business of the below dates (each, a “Closing Date”), the following Funds (each, as of its Closing Date, a “Closed Fund”) were or will be closed to new investors, subject to certain exceptions.
Closed Fund Closing Date
AQR Diversified Arbitrage Fund June 29, 2012
AQR Multi-Strategy Alternative Fund September 30, 2013
AQR Style Premia Alternative Fund March 31, 2016
AQR Style Premia Alternative LV Fund March 31, 2016
AQR Long-Short Equity Fund June 30, 2017
AQR Equity Market Neutral Fund June 30, 2017
Existing shareholders of a Closed Fund as of the applicable Closing Date are permitted to make additional investments in that Closed Fund and reinvest dividends and capital gains after the Closing Date in any account that held shares of the Closed Fund as of the Closing Date.
Notwithstanding the closing of a Closed Fund, you may open a new account in the Closed Fund (including through an exchange from another series of the Trust (each, a “Series”)) and thereafter reinvest dividends and capital gains in the Closed Fund if you meet the Closed Fund’s eligibility requirements and are:
● A current shareholder of the applicable Closed Fund as of the Closing Date—either (a) in your own name or jointly with another or as trustee for another, or (b) as beneficial owner of shares held in another name—opening a (i) new individual account or IRA account in your own name, (ii) trust account, (iii) joint account with another party or (iv) account on behalf of an immediate family member;
1
● A qualified defined contribution retirement plan that offers the applicable Closed Fund as an investment option of the plan (or another plan sponsored by the same employer), as of the Closing Date purchasing shares on behalf of new and existing participants;
● A financial advisor, wrap-fee program or model portfolio who as of the Closing Date has included the applicable Closed Fund as part of a discretionary fee-based program or model portfolio purchasing shares on behalf of a new or existing client;
● An investor opening a new account at a financial institution and/or financial intermediary firm or a client of an investment consultant that (i) has clients currently invested in the applicable Closed Fund or clients for whom the Adviser provides advisory services implementing a similar principal investment strategy and (ii) the new account to be opened has been pre-approved by the Adviser to purchase shares of the applicable Closed Fund. Investors should contact the firm through which they invest to determine whether new accounts are permitted;
● Clients of a financial institution, financial intermediary or consultant that submitted a letter of intent to invest in the Closed Fund that was accepted by the Adviser on or prior to the Closing Date;
● A shareholder of a Fund (including a Closed Fund) or another account or fund managed by the Adviser transferring, either by exchange or redemption and subsequent purchase, into a Closed Fund with a similar principal investment strategy where the Adviser concludes, in its judgment, that the transfer will not adversely affect the applicable Closed Fund;
● A participant in a tax-exempt retirement plan of the Adviser and its affiliates and rollover accounts from those plans, as well as employees of the Adviser and its affiliates, trustees and officers of the Trust and members of their immediate families; or
● A current shareholder of the AQR Diversified Arbitrage Fund transferring, either by exchange or redemption and subsequent purchase, into AQR Multi-Strategy Alternative Fund where the Adviser concludes, in its judgment, that the transfer will not adversely affect AQR Multi-Strategy Alternative Fund.
● A current shareholder of the AQR Long-Short Equity Fund transferring, either by exchange or redemption and subsequent purchase, into the AQR Equity Market Neutral Fund where the Adviser concludes, in its judgment, that the transfer will not adversely affect the AQR Equity Market Neutral Fund.
● A current shareholder of the AQR Equity Market Neutral Fund transferring, either by exchange or redemption and subsequent purchase, into the AQR Long-Short Equity Fund where the Adviser concludes, in its judgment, that the transfer will not adversely affect the AQR Long-Short Equity Fund.
The ability to permit, limit or decline investments in accordance with the eligibility requirements set out above relating to accounts held by financial institutions and/or financial intermediaries may vary depending upon systems capabilities, applicable contractual and legal restrictions and cooperation of those institutions and/or intermediaries.
Investors may be required to demonstrate eligibility to purchase shares of a Closed Fund before an investment is accepted.
Each Closed Fund reserves the right to (i) allow investments in Closed Funds that do not fit within the eligibility requirements above pursuant to guidelines approved by the Funds’ Board of Trustees, (ii) reject any investment, including those pursuant to eligibility requirements detailed above, and (iii) close and re-open the Closed Fund to new or existing shareholders at any time.
PLEASE RETAIN THIS SUPPLEMENT FOR YOUR FUTURE REFERENCE...
2

FYI: Dan Ivascyn’s Pimco Income Fund keeps raking in money.
The fund, co-managed by Ivascyn and Alfred Murata, celebrates its 10th anniversary this week by becoming the largest actively managed fixed-income mutual fund with $79.1 billion, according to Pimco’s website Tuesday. Pimco Income passed Metropolitan West Total Return Bond Fund as investors added approximately $3 billion in March, a monthly record, according to estimates by Bloomberg.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-04/pimco-income-grows-to-largest-actively-managed-bond-mutual-fund
M* Snapshot PONAX:
http://www.morningstar.com/funds/xnas/ponax/quote.html
Lipper Snapshot PONAX:
http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/fund/ponax
PONAX Is Ranked #4 In The (MSB) Fund Category By U.S. News & World Report:
http://money.usnews.com/funds/mutual-funds/multisector-bond/pimco-income-fund/ponax