Hi guys!
Hope all is well with you and yours.
So, what a run since 23, no?
Finally, healthcare rises this year. Fido numbers say FSMEX 6.39%, FSPHX 5.49%. These funds I wanted to sell but they were so bad. So now they rise in a bad time....the election.....but this time, I hope it's different....lol. Bigger things to worry about.
All I hear about is AI. So tired of it, really. Have we nothing else but the 7? Really, I guess not since we're back to the 2020 election. Have we no one else??? Anyway, back to topic...have any of you kept your holdings in healthcare??? I know some sold. I understand that. I stand at 11% in the space, so I hope for a turn. It's something that I thought was core to hold to the end with the aging boomers and all. Saying that, does anyone know any retirement home REITs?
The Brown One on our walks is very pro health, saying, "You people will spend what it takes to stay alive." Yes, I said, it would stand to reason. No one wants someone to die. At that point, money is not important.
What the Dukester said next stunned me. "Would you spend money on me to save me to live longer, Pudd?" Being out in the cold and having 2 cups of coffee, I said, "Yes" right away. With a smile looking back at me, he said, "Now, tell me why healthcare is not core forever?"
I hate long cold walks in the morning with Brown. It tends to not end well. Drats! Drats! and double Drats!!!!
God bless
the Pudd

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/889284/000139834424004960/fp0087395-1_497.htm
STERLING CAPITAL FUNDS
SUPPLEMENT DATED FEBRUARY 29, 2024
TO THE
CLASS A AND CLASS C SHARES PROSPECTUS AND THE
INSTITUTIONAL AND CLASS R6 SHARES PROSPECTUS,
EACH DATED FEBRUARY 1, 2024
This Supplement provides new and additional information beyond that contained in the Class A and Class C Shares Prospectus (the “Retail Prospectus”) and the Institutional and Class R6 Shares Prospectus (the “Institutional Prospectus”), each dated February 1, 2024:
On February 2, 2024, Guardian Capital Group Limited (“Guardian”) announced that it had entered into a unit purchase agreement under which Guardian’s wholly owned subsidiary, Guardian Capital LLC, will acquire 100% of the ownership interests of Sterling Capital Management LLC (“Sterling Capital”) from Truist Financial Corporation (“Truist”) (the “Acquisition”). The closing of the Acquisition (the “Closing”) is subject to certain conditions and is expected to take place in the second quarter of 2024.
Guardian has indicated that, following the Closing, it plans to operate Sterling Capital as a standalone entity, led by the current team of management and senior professionals, providing continuity, stability and continued excellence for Sterling clients.
The Acquisition will result in a change of control of Sterling Capital effective as of the Closing. Pursuant to the terms of the current investment advisory agreement between Sterling Capital and Sterling Capital Funds, on behalf of each of its series (the “Funds”), the Acquisition may be deemed an assignment of the investment advisory agreement and result in its automatic termination. In anticipation of the termination of the existing investment advisory agreement, it is expected that the Board will consider a new investment advisory agreement containing substantially similar terms as the current investment advisory agreement with Sterling, including identical advisory fees.
At a special meeting of shareholders of the Funds expected to be held prior to the Closing, shareholders will be asked to consider and approve the new investment advisory agreement. Shareholders of record of each Fund as of the record date will be entitled to vote at the meeting and should expect to receive a proxy statement providing more information about the Acquisition and the new investment advisory agreement.
SHAREHOLDERS SHOULD RETAIN THIS SUPPLEMENT
WITH THE PROSPECTUS FOR FUTURE REFERENCE.

@Crash, you are right. My patience bordered on stubbornness, hoping that a professionally run portfolio was the way to go. I did make the move today to move that remaining robo money to my self managed account. Takes 5 business days for the transfer to complete. I will then, once again, be flush with cash to distribute to existing funds.

Dipped my toe into China. Just a little bit. India is getting all the attention but seems pretty expensive, and when 40% of investors in a survey believe China is "uninvestable" sentiment seems like it can hardly get worse.
Sentiment is so negative and BABA is trading at 8 times free cash flow and it's ratio of free cash to market cap is 35%. Of course this assumes the Commies learned their lesson in the last few years that to run a modern economy you have to lighten up on market manipulation.

SOLD entire NVDA position that was BOT last week for a 20% gain.
Coulda had BOT more shares. Shoulda SOLD last week at a wee bit higher. But hard to feel too bad about a 20% trade.
Gonna miss holding the BIG fella individually, but still have a 5% portfolio allocation to it in funds, mostly via FSELX.
SOLD position loosely based on IBD's concept of re-evaluating positions when UP ~25%. Would you BUY it again at the current price? To that we answered "No" as we believe NVDA, Big Tech, and in effect then, the overall market is inching closer to an overdue Correction.
Right or wrong, what's done is done. Onto the next opportunity as IBD suggests!

My overall is up around +2.3% YTD, slowly creeping up. Can't complain (but I will in the next paragraph :) ). Schwab says their 'moderately conservative' benchmark portfolio is up +1.3% YTD. Another bench mark I compare to is the TRP 45% equity retirement fund (TRRAX), up +1.9% YTD.
I'm going to give up totally on the Schwab Intelligent Portfolio, the robo. It has made 0% YTD after many years of lack luster return. At one time I split about 50:50 between the robo and self managed. I reduced the robo to ~15% by the end of 2023. It's high cash allowance, ~12%, makes fractions of a percent while the Schwab MM, which they don't use in the robo, has consistently made ~5%+ the past year. This cash allotment is an anchor. Also, it has consistently been heavy International and emerging markets which also hasn't worked out. I gave it time. I've had it for ~7 years and it hasn't performed any better than a target date fund. Worst in fact.

5:16 a.m. March 1: pre-Market. Down -1.11%.
ORK!!!!!
I'm still going to grow this beast, gradually, despite all my grousing---- AFTER all of my previous rejoicing. The dividend yield on TS is at my bare minimum requirement at the moment: 3%.
But they are wanting to pay just ANNUALLY, going forward. ADR shares receive double the normal share dividend. ADR= twice the size of the other. Logical. Pending div = .80 cents/ADR share.
Glad I unloaded Norsk Hydro. A company with solid roots, reliable history. Bad stuff going on. Lots of current headwinds these days.
EDIT to add: End-of-day, 01 March, 2024: TS was up on the day by 0.99%. I'll gladly take it.

Crash, When I look at BRUFX it is easy to see why the under performance of late. No TECH and overweight Utilities and healthcare. The former doing great and the latter not so. Don't be surprised if you see a turnaround in the near future.

Thanks, Art. Yet I've also recently uncovered the fact that BRUFX is mostly Smid-caps. I am not liking the volatility of small and mid-caps. I'm in possession of quite enough of those, already--- regardless of which industry we look at. I suppose it is the SMALL-caps I particularly want to eschew.
Portf. X-Ray shows me at 15% of total stocks in small caps. BRUFX is 4+ percent of that. well, 4+ percent of total portfolio. BRUFX carries a nice 3+ percent YIELD, but no one is in that fund for the YIELD, eh? .....Another look shows BRUFX just 26% in SMIDs. Very well. And I appreciate it if BRUFX is not heavy (or at all) into the TECH names which I love to hate. But I'm impatient with the underperformance. By the same token, I dropped PRNEX because of its utter unwillingness to go anywhere. I think BRUFX has served its purpose by now. Time to move on from there. :)

Crash, did you come to a final decision regarding WBALX?

Yes. We are moving (T-IRA) BRUFX under Schwab's umbrella, along with the taxable brokerage account and my own IRA. That was not going to be what we originally had decided to do. BRUFX is wife's IRA. After the move, we'll exchange BRUFX for shares of WBALX. It's not going to shoot the lights out, by design. But that's OK. It's about 50/50 stocks/bonds. More tame. That prospects might serve to counteract the volatility of the single stocks in the portfolio. Single stocks = 14% of portfolio now.
Also looking for a seat at the table for (bonds) Weitz WCPNX.

AAII Sentiment Survey, 2/28/24
BULLISH remained the top sentiment (46.5%; above average) & bearish remained the bottom sentiment (21.3%, low); neutral remained the middle sentiment (32.2%, above average); Bull-Bear Spread was +25.2% (high). Investor concerns: Elections, budget, inflation, economy, the Fed, dollar, Russia-Ukraine (105+ weeks), Israel-Hamas (20+ weeks), geopolitical. For the Survey week (Th-Wed), stocks were up, bonds up, oil up, gold up, dollar flat. Sentiments remain good & stable. Markets may digest gains since 10/2023. #AAII #Sentiment #Markets
https://ybbpersonalfinance.proboards.com/post/1370/thread

Link to the annual report.
https://prospectus-express.broadridge.com/summary.asp?doctype=ann&clientid=trowepll&fundid=77954M105
Giroux discusses AI and utilities.
Sees value in:
1) GARP stocks.
2) Utilities
3) High quality high yield and loans.
4) Software.
5) Healthcare.
6) Energy. (Unusual for the fund)
Does not see value in:
1) Growth & tech that does not benefit from AI.
2) Staples. He REALLY dislikes staples.

Fund Allocations (Cumulative), 1/31/24
Only minor shifts. The changes for OEFs + ETFs were based on a total AUM of about $33.60 trillion in the previous month, so +/- 1% change was about +/- $336.0 billion. Also note that these changes were from both fund inflows/outflows & price changes. #ICI #Funds #OEFs #ETFs
OEFs & ETFs: Stocks 58.93%, Hybrids 4.68%, Bonds 18.63%, M-Mkt 17.76%
https://ybbpersonalfinance.proboards.com/post/1368/thread

NOTE: This fund (PRCFX & PRCHX) was only recently available in December, 2023.
PDF Report

I think TIAA has a department that comes up with the most unintuitive & complicated ways of doing things.
CREF Stock goes back to 07/1952 & was the 1st VA in the US (world?). TIAA kept it as single class with ER that applied to all - tiny to giant institutions. Lots of small institutions were happy, but not the big ones.
So, TIAA changed CREF to multi-classes in 04/2015: R1 (highest ER), R2 (ER similar to the old single-class ER), R3 (lowest ER).
Soon after 2015, only CREF R1 displayed the history to 1952, a bad decision IMO. So, as your bold-text shows, the old history was later attached to CREF R3.
As you can imagine, all sorts of assumptions go into using old history data when ERs differ.
If all along, TIAA just attached the old history to R2, that would have been the simple & clean YBB solution.
However, since 2015, CREF R1 has been the highest ER class, R3 the lowest ER class. There have not been any changes to this. I don't know how long Lipper has had it backwards - my guess is since 04/2015. Somebody at Lipper should have notices the error as standard retirement fund practice is that R1 have the highest ERs, and higher numbered R3 or R6, etc have the lowest ERs.
Fixing this may not be the highest priority for Lipper that has gone through its many lives: LSEG-Refinitiv-Thomson-Reuters-LIPPER.
I don't bother with the newest CREF R4 as they are mostly through advisory channels.

Very well captured by Victor Haghani. Must read on BOXX.
https://elmwealth.com/thinking-outside-the-boxx/?utm_campaign=Blog Sendouts&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=296057847&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--AeL-c4GwpBcZuv-rg6YtEuhfFQNn20odig53zZLKgRHTF2nuh1iDd68UhWH1OIQR61kPxuuINlP0Eo4mX5peeMzvbMA&utm_content=296057847&utm_source=hs_email

BOT more shares of GOOGL while down slightly in pre-market trading to bring position to intended level. Avg share price just under $138 (a wee bit lower than the $140+ on our first BUY/SELL). Will either be another ST trade. if we get a bounce, or will ADD to position as LT HOLD. All yet TBD.
EDIT: Decided to dbl the position. BOT more shares during early market action as price kept falling. Snagged next batch at just under $136. Fun stuff!
EDIT_2: Closed out the position with some BUYs later in the day in the $135's, to end at an avg purchase price of $137, less than 1/2% below today's Close. Seems to be about where we were when we took the first ride on GOOGL. Lot of negativity towards it now but thinking we should be just about done with this round of punishment. We'll see!

@Charles, R1 & R3 classes were/are flipped. R1 is the oldest and the highest ER class, R3 is newer and the lowest ER class. R2 is also newer but it is correct - nothing to flip it with.
Lipper may have just "assumed" that the oldest classes were institutional - I am guessing.
Compare
My List
CREF Stock R1 QCSTRX; MFO IF-CBMF,
CREF Stock R2 QCSTPX; MFO IF-CMP5,
CREF Stock R3 QCSTIX; MFO IF-CMP6
Your List
CREF Stock Account;R1 (CMP6)
CREF Stock Account;R2 (CMP5)
CREF Stock Account;R3 (CBMF)
MFO Premium Run - see flip from the ERs shown. Correct ERs are R1 0.48%, R2 0.32%, R3 0.25%.
https://i.ibb.co/DQqxz1D/Screenshot-2024-02-27-20-06-45.png

@yogibearbull.
"Unfortunately, the MFO/Lipper naming of R1 and R3 classes is wrong."
I just ran these ... for the stock account ... R1 and R3s look right to me ... CUSIPs match.
Are you still seeing the discrepancy?
I do have inquiry into Lipp re: listed tickers.
I submitted all the TIFF-CREF Insurance Funds ... below are names (lipper sym):
CREF Core Bond Account;R1 (CMR2)
CREF Core Bond Account;R2 (CMQ9)
CREF Core Bond Account;R3 (MTJQ)
CREF Core Bond Account;R4 (F89J)
CREF Equity Index Accoun;R1 (CMQ8)
CREF Equity Index Account;R2 (CMQ7)
CREF Equity Index Account;R3 (MDMF)
CREF Equity Index Account;R4 (F896)
CREF Global Equity Account;R1 (CMQ6)
CREF Global Equity Account;R2 (CMQ5)
CREF Global Equity Account;R3 (SKRL)
CREF Global Equity Account;R4 (F7Z9)
CREF Growth Account;R1 (CMQ4)
CREF Growth Account;R2 (CMQ3)
CREF Growth Account;R3 (FDWD)
CREF Growth Account;R4 (F895)
CREF Inflation-Linked Bond Account;R1 (CMQ2)
CREF Inflation-Linked Bond Account;R2 (CMP9)
CREF Inflation-Linked Bond Account;R3 (WPZK)
CREF Inflation-Linked Bond Account;R4 (F82K)
CREF Money Market Account;R1 (CMP8)
CREF Money Market Account;R2 (CMP7)
CREF Money Market Account;R3 (RWDV)
CREF Money Market Account;R4 (F82J)
CREF Social Choice Account;R1 (CMP4)
CREF Social Choice Account;R2 (CMP3)
CREF Social Choice Account;R3 (THMV)
CREF Social Choice Account;R4 (F7Z8)
CREF Stock Account;R1 (CMP6)
CREF Stock Account;R2 (CMP5)
CREF Stock Account;R3 (CBMF)
CREF Stock Account;R4 (F7Z3)
c

If there is a listed ticker in Lipper's database, that takes priority and we do not assign our own.
Here are the four classes of fund in Lipper's most recent database:
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AmF1g-5ef-jI1-4Css7MfmghR-z3sg?e=ZG9voU
I will contact lipper to see if these listed tickers can be added to their database.

Repeat Post
I can confirm that portfolios with insurance funds IF-TICKERS are now running normally. My saved MFO Premium portfolios are now unstuck.
So, if your portfolio has a mix of mutual funds/OEFs, ETFs, CEFs, IF-TICKERS, the MFO Premium can run it. This may be a work 401k/403b/457 plan or a variable-annuity/insurance portfolio that you may have.
Moreover, the MFO Premium has longer histories of IF-TICKERS than the insurance firms may provide at their websites.
I don't know of any other portfolio analytics software that can do that. I am familiar with M* Portfolio, M* Investor, Portfolio Visualizer, Stock Rover - even have primers for their use.
Of course, MFO has its limitations too - it won't handle stocks, and it isn't for portfolio transactions, just portfolio analytics.
Thanks @Charles.