Wintergreen Fund I like Winters and a number of the fund's holdings, but I really don't get his strong like of Swatch. Canadian Nat Resources (which I also think is undervalued) is another WGRNX top holding that was really down significantly over the last month due to the move lower in oil. Lastly, he's been continually long the Macau/Asian gaming names (the two Gentings, Wynn Macau, SJM, etc), which have not done well this year as traffic has come in under expectations.
Still, Swatch: while Winters said on CNBC that the iWatch wasn't a concern, how is it not? And the fact that so many people check the time by looking at their phone? I mean, if you look at their website, some of their watches are $150-200. At that point, why would I not buy a smartwatch (whether the more expensive iWatch or one of the cheaper Android options) that has a number of different functions?
Winters has continually emphasized the longer/long term in interviews. People know what they think about his investment themes, which have been gone over in interviews and whether they agree or not. The one thing that I disagree with Winters on is that the fund has a higher expense ratio and minimum because of the tools that he has available. The fund has I think rarely ever (once or twice that I'm aware of) been short something, only rarely has engaged in activism and, by all appearances, has always seemed a normal long-only fund aside from the thematic nature of the fund. The fund does use currency hedging, which can be good or bad (" The Fund continued to utilize forward currency contracts, which had an overall negative impact on performance during the period." - from last shareholder report.)
Overall, I like a number of holdings but don't own the fund and don't agree with the way that the fund really kind of presents itself as something its not (or something that it's minimally, I suppose.) That said, Winters is long-term oriented and the themes are visible in the fund's holdings and have been discussed in interviews. If you don't agree with them, Winters probably isn't changing anytime soon.
Also, maybe it's just me, but I do think Wintergreen has grown noticeably more concentrated over the last year or two.
Wintergreen Fund Wintergreen Fund's recent performance has been particularly poor. Was it the European equities (Swatch?) that caused the problem?
Wintergreen has 60% of its equities outside the U.S.
Ex-U.S. equities are performing quite poorly.
Here's a look at Wintergreen compared to the ex-U.S. equities, and the World Stock category.
It's beating 90% of its category over the past month. Not doing well over 3 months. YTD so-so but not horrible.......
Help with Rollover IRA at Price Thanks folks,
All great suggestions that I will heed. PRWCX has been great for years. Core type fund.
As mentioned, wifey has her rollover there and I had a traditional IRA there for about 10 years.
Whence I get it set up, I'll share with you good people.
and so it goes,
peace,
rono
2014 estimated (preliminary) year end distributions
Sorry, Mr. Bogle, But I Respectfully Disagree. Strongly. Hi John Chisum,
Thank you for the PIMCO generated reference. The author makes some very valid points why an investor might select an actively managed Bond fund.
I recently examined a Vanguard generated paper that purportedly demonstrated the almost universal underperformance of these funds relative to appropriate Indices.
Both agencies have incentives to reach their divergent opinions.
When I locate it, I'll post the Vanguard reference.
That task didn't take much effort. The Vanguard document is titled "The Case for Index Fund nvesting". Here is the Link:
https://pressroom.vanguard.com/content/nonindexed/Updated_The_Case_for_Index_Fund_Investing_4.9.2014.pdfThese divergent viewpoints should always be welcomed by MFOers. We get to choose our own poison.
Best Wishes.
2014 estimated (preliminary) year end distributions
Behind Private Equity's Curtain FYI: From New York to California, Wisconsin to Texas, hundreds of thousands of teachers, firefighters, police officers and other public employees are relying on their pensions for financial security.
Private equity firms are relying on their pensions, too. Over the last
10 years, pension funds have piled into private equity buyout funds. But in exchange for what they hope will be hefty returns, many pension funds have signed onto a kind of omerta, or code of silence, about the terms of the funds’ investments.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/19/business/retirement/behind-private-equitys-curtain.html?ref=businessI hold a position in KKR: M* Snapshot Of KKR:
http://quotes.morningstar.com/stock/kkr/s?t=kkr
3 Reason To Avoid ETFs
Funds For A Volatile Market
Market Volatility Gives Liquid Alts First Real Test
Funds For A Volatile Market
Fund Focus: Franklin Discovery Fund FYI: When markets are turbulent, as they’ve been lately, there’s something to be said for sticking with funds that have a long history of downside protection. Franklin Mutual Global Discovery (ticker: TEDIX), which has $26 billion in assets and a 22-year history of buying undervalued stocks, is one such fund. “Obviously, the names change, and the world changes, but our fundamental approach is very consistent,” says co-manager Peter Langerman, who is also Franklin Mutual Advisors’ CEO.
Regards,
Ted
http://online.barrons.com/articles/franklin-global-discovery-shelter-from-the-storm-1413608097#printModeM* Snapshot Of TEDIX:
http://quotes.morningstar.com/fund/tedix/f?t=tedixLipper Snapshot Of TEDIX:
http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/fund/tedixTEDIX Is Ranked #57 In The (WS) Fund Category By U.S. News & World Report:
http://money.usnews.com/funds/mutual-funds/world-stock/franklin-mutual-global-discovery-fund/tedix
