LG should rename it the 'Alternative Balanced Fund.'
I was a long-time follower of the (former) Litman-Gregory No Load Fund Analyst, and respected their process. Since I was philosophically aligned with how they conducted due diligence on a range of money managers, I checked out their Alternative Strategies fund.
MASNX/MASFX has an enviable stable of "highly experienced managers" that provide "complementary, low-correlation investment approaches." The fund has demonstrated downside protection and alpha generating returns (check out its standard deviation, Sharpe and Sortino ratios).
It is a compelling fund - EXCEPT for its expense ratio.
I like these guys, but find it ludicrous that they claim its expense ratio is "highly competitive." They would do themselves a favor by reducing the fund's expense ratio (currently 1.49/1.74% net).
Now, THAT would add value!

FYI: The U.S. stock market is not behaving well and now might be a good time to cut exposure to equities to avoid losses down the road, a leading mutual fund manager tells USA TODAY.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/markets/2015/08/13/fearing-market-top-fund-group-slashes-/31626551/

BenWP: 10:39AM
Wow! Thanks to Lewis, I was able to view the colorful, but muted, pie charts. Now that's adding value

NOW THAT'S UNFAIR! Their bar charts are pretty, too... LINK: pretty charts

FYI: First ETF to offer equal-weighted exposure to a REIT index.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20150813/FREE/150819954?template=printart
M* Snapshot EWRE: http://www.morningstar.com/etfs/ARCX/EWRE/quote.html

FYI: It’s been a tough month for investors. As of yesterday, roughly half of the stocks in the S&P 500 have fallen into bear markets, with declines greater than 20%. International stock markets have fallen dramatically, with the losses accelerating on the heels of the latest Asian currency “event”.
Regards,
Ted
http://thereformedbroker.com/2015/08/13/how-two-of-historys-greatest-investors-deal-with-losses/

Thanks, Ted, I knew you'd come to my aid. I was abroad and not able to log in very much over the last 10 days.

Saturday's Barron's piece on the L-G Alternative Strategies Fund, "Managing the Managers," [http://online.barrons.com/articles/litman-gregory-manages-the-managers-1439013175] led me to take a look at the line-up of multi-manager funds that L-G has been running for a couple of decades (Equity, International, Smaller Companies). The basic idea is to hire the best managers, give each a slice of the fund, and give them the freedom to perform. Over the years, in my recollection, the line-ups have changed, but I recognize old-timers such as David Herro and Dick Weiss who are still on board. You'd think the funds would out perform because L-G can cherry pick good managers. However, my amateurish analysis of the long-term performance of the equity funds shows they barely keep up with their benchmarks. Small-cap managers are supposed to be able to add value: L-G's guys don't keep up with the Russell 2000. My conclusion is that a stable of well-known managers is no better than the nearest index fund.

51 stocks, but 42% cash.
About 37% of the invested portion is in firms headquartered in developed markets, his peers run about 10 points lower. Domestic names in the portfolio: Visa, Facebook, and Kansas City Southern. Lesser-known names include First Cash Financial (pawn shops in the US and Mexico) and EPAM Systems (small software firm). The former has one analyst covering it, the latter has none. Other developed stocks include Diageo and Delphi Automotive.
On whole, a somewhat higher-priced portfolio than its peers.
And it's seven weeks old, so that's all just for curiosity and fun.
David

FYI: Today's column is going to wax a bit philosophical. Stay with Barry; I think it will be worth your effort.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-08-13/time-is-an-investing-ally

Here is a first look at the portfolio of the new Artisan Developing World Fund from Lewis Kaufman. It appears similar in style to his previous fund at Thornburg, namely, large-cap growth. See link below.
http://portfolios.morningstar.com/fund/summary?t=ARTYX&region=usa&culture=en-US

I have no desire to sell, but I haven't gotten the urge to put my 401K rollover to work in equities at this point either. Sitting on a pretty good slug of cash doing nothing in the rollover account. I did buy an additional tranche of VTR since reits are doing well, but that's about it.
We are well beyond due for a pullback of AT LEAST 10%, and there are red flags all over the place.
I have sufficient equities in a taxable account and the rollover such that I won't feel the least bit nervous about missing the next move up.
But, I'm not sure that's the direction we'll be heading over the next few months.

FYI: China’s currency devaluation is roiling global markets for the second day in a row.
Strategas Research Partners put together a handy cheat sheet for evaluating which assets in your portfolio are likely to register gains or losses as long as China stays in the news. It even includes a cheeky line about the U.S. Presidential election.
Regards,
Ted
http://blogs.barrons.com/focusonfunds/2015/08/12/chinas-devaluation-and-your-portfolio-a-cheat-sheet/tab/print/

Ran across this video of Hasenstab from May that gives a fair glimpse into his thinking about both interest rates (e.g. having a negative duration in US - consistent with what David wrote) and currencies.

Not able to access that link.
Do you have another link to access it?

The link should work (even if you're not logged in to M*), but a quick search turned up the same video at NASDAQ (but without the transcript or reader comments):
http://www.nasdaq.com/video/hasenstab--flexibility-key-in-global-bonds-518842820

@rjb112- That link should take you to an M* page, with both the video and a print transcript of the interview.

Ran across this video of Hasenstab from May that gives a fair glimpse into his thinking about both interest rates (e.g. having a negative duration in US - consistent with what David wrote) and currencies.

Not able to access that link.
Do you have another link to access it?

TGBAX also hasn't had much outside of EM for a long time. But as it's called Global, it satisfies the SEC's 80% rule. It can't hold more than 20% outside the globe - which it seems to be satisfying - I didn't see any Martian or even Lunar bonds in its portfolio :-)
Ran across this video of Hasenstab from May that gives a fair glimpse into his thinking about both interest rates (e.g. having a negative duration in US - consistent with what David wrote) and currencies.
Also from today (Aug 12): Bloomberg video (and written report): Ukraine Bonds Jump Before Templeton Talks Amid Debt Deal Bets.

Here is the initial WAIOX prospectus with the subscription requirements.
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/806633/000095013505000011/b52978jte497.txt
Also, here is a previously posted link for an article regarding initial offering for WAIOX when Gardiner and Blake were at Wasatch .
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2004-11-07/business/0411060187_1_mutual-funds-closed-funds-international-opportunities

There doesn't seem to be much panic here in light of a very ugly market. Meanwhile, junk bonds (sometimes a precursor to the equity markets) have been down, down, and down since 5/31. I can't predict any better than the man in the moon. But a real meltdown in junkland would have real negative reverberations in equityland. Energy could be the key as if energy prices keep dropping that puts even more burden on junk bonds.

I'll sidestep your question Skeet. But I do think it points to the wide divergence of views on investment philosophies among contributors. All of course are "correct" in their own way. Short on time. But quickly, there are the "timers", the "buy and die" types, "momentum players", "technical analysts" , "risk-takers" and we conservative "slog-it-out" types.
I'd worry if all my funds were going up at the same time. I figure upon having some dogs every year along with the gems. I don't mind losing 2 or 3 or even 5% in one year - If over 5-6 year spans our $$ is growing at an acceptable rate. I think the fact that in the early days my (commission based) advisor had me 100% in aggressive global growth funds probably helped me become immune to these types of ups and downs. One the other hand, some get very concerned if the DJ is up 3% while they're down 3% at any point in a year.