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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.
  • S&P 500 Bear Markets of 20% Or More
    Predictably, several of "the Bears" on the link were in the 1920s & '30s..
    Was the S&P 500 around in the 1930's? I thought that index was started in the mid/late 1950s.
  • Here's Another: WSJ, Barron's Hacked
    Here's how the WSJ "self reported" the incident.
    http://www.wsj.com/articles/dow-jones-discloses-customer-data-breach-1444406517
    "Data breaches have become increasingly common among private companies and government organizations. Last year, 43% of the 567 executives surveyed by the Ponemon Institute said they experienced a data breach in the past year."
    Yet all these institutions continue to pretend that your SSN is "secret" and provides "security".
  • AllianzGI Global Managed Volatility Fund to liquidate
    http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1423227/000119312515341145/d45141d497.htm
    497 1 d45141d497.htm ALLIANZ FUNDS MULTI-STRATEGY TRUST
    Filed pursuant to Rule 497(e)
    File Nos. 333-148624 and 811-22167
    ALLIANZ FUNDS MULTI-STRATEGY TRUST
    Supplement Dated October 9, 2015 to the
    Statutory Prospectus for Class A, Class B, Class C, Class R, Class R6,
    Institutional Class, Class P, Administrative Class and Class D Shares of
    Allianz Funds Multi-Strategy Trust,
    Dated April 1, 2015 (as supplemented thereafter)
    Disclosure Relating to AllianzGI Global Managed Volatility Fund (for purposes of this section only, the “Fund”)
    Liquidation of the Fund
    Effective on or about December 11, 2015 (the “Liquidation Date”), the Fund will be liquidated and dissolved. Any shares of the Fund outstanding on the Liquidation Date will be automatically redeemed on the Liquidation Date. The proceeds of any such redemption will be equal to the net asset value of such shares after dividend distributions required to eliminate any Fund-level taxes are made and the expenses and liabilities of the Fund have been paid or otherwise provided for. Allianz Global Investors Distributors LLC, the Fund’s distributor (the “Distributor”), will waive contingent deferred sales charges applicable to redemptions beginning five (5) business days prior to the Liquidation Date, including such Liquidation Date.
    At any time prior to the Liquidation Date, shareholders may redeem their shares of the Fund and receive the net asset value thereof, pursuant to the procedures set forth under “How to Buy and Sell Shares” in the Prospectus. Shareholders may also exchange their shares of the Fund for shares of the same class of any other series of Allianz Funds Multi-Strategy Trust (the “Trust”) or Allianz Funds that offers that class, as described under “How to Buy and Sell Shares—Exchanging Shares” in the Prospectus. Such exchanges will be taxable transactions for shareholders who hold shares in taxable accounts.
    Redemptions on the Liquidation Date will generally be treated like any other redemption of shares and may result in a gain or loss for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Any gain or loss will be a capital gain or loss for shareholders who hold their shares as capital assets. Capital gains or losses will be short- or long-term depending on how long a shareholder has held his or her Fund shares. Shareholders should consult their own tax advisors regarding their particular situation and the possible application of state, local or non-U.S. tax laws.
    Restrictions on New Purchases and Exchanges for Shares of the Fund
    The Board of Trustees (“Board”) of the Trust has imposed the following restrictions on new purchases of, and exchanges for, shares of the Fund:
    Effective as of the close of business on December 4, 2015, shares of the Fund will no longer be available for purchase by current or new investors in the Fund, other than through the automatic reinvestment of distributions by current shareholders, and shareholders of other series of the Trust and shareholders of series of Allianz Funds will no longer be permitted to exchange any of their shares for shares of the Fund, as described in the Prospectus under “How to Buy and Sell Shares—Exchanging Shares.”
    The Board and the Distributor each reserves the right at any time to modify or eliminate the terms described above, including on a case-by-case basis.
    Disclosure Relating to AllianzGI Global Allocation Fund (for purposes of this section only, the “Fund”)
    On October 8, 2015, the Board of the Trust approved the elimination of all Class B shares of the Fund, to be accomplished through the accelerated conversion of Class B shares into Class A shares of the Fund (the “Class B Conversion”). Class B shares have not been available for purchase since November 1, 2009, other than through the reinvestment of distributions by current Class B shareholders.
    The Class B Conversion will be effected on the basis of the relative net asset values of the Class B and Class A shares involved and, following the conversion, the Fund will cease to have any Class B shares authorized or outstanding. The Class B Conversion will take place pursuant to the Tenth Amended and Restated Multi-Class Plan of the Trust, which was approved by the Board at its October 8, 2015 meeting, and is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2015. After the Class B Conversion, the Fund will cease to offer Class B shares.
    Please retain this Supplement for future reference.
  • Why invest internationally?
    Hmmmmm..... don't know what the advisers are doing with "other peoples money".
    --- U.S. started and kept the QE money machine running from late 2008. So, U.S. was the best of the breed at that time.
    --- Europe was in the restrictive mode as I recall and there were a series of equity "fits", mostly during the springtime months (May). Greece was a concern and then Mr. Draghi did the "whatever it takes" thing with the European QE.
    --- China got rolling again after the melt and bought every commodity in sight. That was good for a few years and of benefit to the Aussies (iron) and some folks in South America for awhile.
    --- Japan began (again and/or still) their version of QE.
    --- Some central banks continue to reduce rates here and there; I suspect, with the aspect of slow spending and the thought of deflation.
    So, there was a strong dollar (commodity pricing globally), fracking finally started to produce changes in this countries energy reserves. The Euro and Japan QE provided a positive boost for investors, especially with tools like HEDJ and DXJ type funds. Recalling that the Euro/dollar was just about $1.60:$1 in 2008 and now runs around $1.14, more or less.
    Don't know that anything disrupting has been provided. Just a few trinkets from the past several years that have shaped where some money travels and why.
    Not included is anything that is military, social or the particular changes of status in many middle eastern countries.
    Lots of stuff going on that we know about, and as much that we don't know about.
    The U.S. is likely still the best of the economic turd piles for investing, but there are always investment gems here and there that come to life for a period of time.
    Take care,
    Catch
  • How much do you have in your savings account?
    At age 81 I am through saving but doing some spending. We do have a cash/checking account at Schwab.
  • Diversifiers
    Anyone use preferreds? They seem to be less volatile than REITs.
    Yes, I'm new to preferreds, but owned PPSAX (lw at Fido) in 2014-early 2015 and now have a stake in a preferred cef. Good income, not all that volatile, but all the preferred funds I've looked at are at a high price to par now. They seem to do well about every other year and lag some in the off years, and they did great in 2014. Most of the funds I've considered are hybrids, with some straight corporate debt, so they act more like bonds than a REIT fund would. Make sure you check the credit exposure if you go shopping; the credit quality varies quite a bit.
    The etf PFF is a quick & easy way to get exposure, but I "prefer" active management in preferreds.
  • How much do you have in your savings account?
    @Dex,
    Correct. It was not your own question.
    OJ, as a longterm layout editor, I know filler (also pig latin). Do check out better modern ones (cupcakes, bacon, Pulp Fiction ....):
    http://mashable.com/2013/07/11/lorem-ipsum/#ZcVH4Mit_qqy
  • 2015 Capital gains distribution estimates
    Hi Mona. Right, I used the 2014 distributions to show that equity ETFs don't seem to pay cap gains. In case of Vanguard, some of their ETFs are actually share classes of the mutual funds, so portfolio is essentially same (eg., VHT and VCVLX). Now, perhaps it's just because these mutual funds and ETFs are index funds. But, I believe the active EtF folks are touting they enjoy capital gain advantages that traditional mutual funds do not.
  • 2015 Capital gains distribution estimates
    Only bond ETFs, which are hard to get around. No cap gains on any of the equity ETFs, looks like, even though some are literally another share class of their mutual funds. Correct?
    Charles,
    To my understanding, Vanguard has not announced any of their 2015 year-end capital gains distributions yet.
    Mona
  • 2015 Capital gains distribution estimates
    No Capital Gains on the ETFs!
    It looks like they've just rolled this page forward for 2015... the link you have shows Q3 2015 distributions. Actually, Vanguard paid out on a number of their ETFs last year (see the bottom of the page for the estimates here: https://personal.vanguard.com/us/insights/article/update-prelimcapgains-112014).
    They've even already paid out on one of their ETFs (BND) in 2015! See the April distribution for the Total Bond Market fund.
    https://personal.vanguard.com/us/funds/snapshot?FundId=0928&FundIntExt=INT#tab=4
  • Yep. Insider ownership counts.
    frankly it really depends on the fund. Why would I care if manager of my index fund owns share in the fund. I would care if he owned a different index fund against the same index, but that's something else.
    If I'm buying a "mid cap value" fund not just in the name of the fund, but also the stated goal of the fund, I need the managers to own that fund in their equity portfolios for the corresponding sleeve of their portfolio. I don't care if manager is in his 20s and decides 100% of his equity portfolio can be in micro caps because it is appropriate for his age. If he is doing that, he is not focusing on "mid cap value" and if he has no ownership in the fund, THAT is a problem. The more he owns the better I feel. This is just common sense.
    I also hear about managers turning 60/whatever and then because of their age they sell all their shares in the equity fund(s) they manage. Fine. Manager is not a bad person. However, WTF do I care? I need my manager focused on managing "mid cap value". So I will go and buy another fund where manager has ownership.
    So there! If I have to bear tax consequences, I will do so. Maybe periodically sell a little and then roll it over to other fund. Whatever makes sense. Manager does not get to earn 1%/whatever on my assets if he does not have skin in the game. Period.
    So once again, if someone knows I own a fund and realizes manager not holding shares of that fund anymore, please do tell me. You will be doing me a huge favor.
  • What do folks here make of the First Eagle acquisition ?
    More Blackstone ( BX )
    By LISA BEILFUSS WSJ
    Updated Oct. 8, 2015 8:36 a.m. ET
    0 COMMENTS
    Blackstone Group L.P. will acquire BioMed Realty Trust in an $4.84 billion cash deal, adding more office buildings and laboratory-capable facilities to its real estate portfolio.
    The $23.75 per share price tag represents a 10% premium over Wednesday’s closing price. Blackstone valued the deal at $8 billion, which may include debt. A representative wasn’t immediately available for comment.
    Shares in Biomed Realty gained 8.6% in premarket trading. Blackstone shares were inactive.
    Blackstone, the world’s largest private-equity firm, has been raising cash to make deals in the space, last quarter closing a $15.8 billion distressed and opportunistic real-estate funds
    http://www.wsj.com/articles/blackstone-to-buy-biomed-realty-trust-for-4-84-billion-1444300840
    More on @Scott mentioned stocks here:(Blackstone,Starwood Capital, Brookfield Asset
    Management )(This ain't "Mainstreet "finance! )
    3Q15
    CAPITAL MARKETS REPORT
    FOR THE INTELLIGENT INVESTOR
    Overview

    International capital
    has accounted
    for nearly
    16.0%
    of all United States sales activity, year to date, up from 10.0% from 2011-2014.

    Capital investment from China to the United States has exceeded $5 billion in 2015, yet United States investment to China has been cut to $1.5 billion, year to date.

    Of the ten foreign countries that have invested the most capital in the United States in the past 12 months, all have
    purchased assets in Manhattan.
    Canada and Singapore have invested in each of the 11 largest United States markets over the past 12 months.

    Per square foot averages of institutional quality office buildings in major markets have exceeded the prior peak in 2008.

    New York City sale prices are currently 14.6%
    above the 2Q08 previous high, averaging $973 per square foot.

    Asking rents in Manhattan remain 6.9% below the market peak in 2008, and 14.3% below the Midtown 2008 peak.

    Investors
    are seeking higher yields in secondary markets and nontraditional property types as gateway cities have become over saturated.

    Current commercial and multihousing yields remain significantly higher than the 10
    year treasury.

    C M B S debt has experienced the most growth in 2015, expanding from 12.6% to 19.9% of all outstanding debt.
    Concurrently, banks have cut their outstanding debt by 25.8% since 2014
    http://www.ngkf.com/Uploads/FileManager/3Q15-Capital-Markets-Report.pdf
  • Yep. Insider ownership counts.
    Most fund groups that push for insider ownership allow a little wiggle room. Managers might be required to place "substantially all of their investable assets" in the firm's products, or "all of their equity exposure" in their own fund, or invest their year-end bonuses in them. That allows them to put their kids' 529 money in target-date funds or to maintain age-appropriate income exposure and so on.
    The rub is that the SEC does not require disclosure of a firm's policy, if any, and the SEC investment bands are badly out-of-date. The top band for fund directors is "over $100,000" and the top band for managers is "over $1,000,000." As stunning as I find the phrase "over $1,000,000," apparently large financial services firms compensate key personnel pretty generously. Who knew? For many, investments in the millions are routine and in the tens of millions are not unusual.
    As ever,
    David
  • 2015 Capital gains distribution estimates
    the distribution is precisely due to the fact that you (and many others) have bailed and caused forced selling.
    If YAFFX (+12% distribution) is any indication, this year the tax man cometh.

    Glad I bailed out of this fund earlier this year. Its supposed to do well in down years, but that hasn't been the case this year (-12% YTD). And now it's paying a hefty distribution? No, thanks.
    Actually, the cause of the "forced" selling is poor performance. That happens when a fund doesn't live up to expectations.