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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.
  • Changes involving Stuart Rigby and Grandeur Peak Global Advisors
    @MikeM and @InformalEconomist: Wasatch does have WAGOX, a global SCG fund, but it's really volatile and holds 57% US stocks. I also left GP, so obviously no suggestions for that firm. As for a more measured approach to global SC, I prefer either Pear Tree Polaris or Artisan. QUSOX, a foreign SCV, with 4% in US, mostly developed countries, <1% in China. My preference is for the new, thus untested over a complete market cycle, ARDBX, Artisan International Explorer. It has 8% in the US, quite a bit in Canada and Mexico, as well as large allocations to developed markets. It's slotted as a foreign SMID blend. Artisan is a really solid firm with a strong commitment to global investing. To say that they do not hire analysts right out of the nearby colleges and universities would be a polite way stating that they don't have the same culture as Grandeur Peak. Take a look at how long Artisan spent hiring the seasoned managers for ARDBX and getting the team acclimated before launching the new fund. There is ample documentation available on their professional website. From my experience, Artisan Partners do not regularly find themselves explaining why a disaster beset one or more of their funds.
    BenWP BenWP in Fund Discussions
  • Anybody Investing in bond funds?
    I hope to exit FFRHX soon. Bought it during rebalancing in December 2018. Return since then has been 4.3%. However, the unrealized loss is still in the red at 2.43. I don't like to sell anything in the IRA till it's out of the red. Proceeds will likely go into an allocation fund. Let those people worry about the bonds.
    WABAC WABAC in Fund Discussions
  • Anybody Investing in bond funds?
    Excerpted from M* Q2 2023 fixed income retrospective.
    "It was a mixed second quarter for bond fund investors. Funds sensitive to interest rates, like long government and intermediate core bonds, were once again beaten down. These funds, which invest sizable stakes in U.S. Treasuries, saw bond prices slip while U.S. Treasury yields rose during the period."

    "Credit-sensitive funds also felt some pain, mostly in May. Still, lower-quality fixed-income assets, such as leveraged loans and high-yield corporate bonds, eked out gains for the full quarter amid interest-rate volatility thanks to their shorter-duration profiles. As such, the average bank loan and high-yield bond funds posted solid returns of 2.7% and 1.5%, respectively."
    Link
    Observant1 in Fund Discussions
  • Anybody Investing in bond funds?
    I’ve had my eyes on ICEM - a new multi-asset ETF from Franklin Templeton with an ER of .38%. That helps explain why I jumped (unfairly perhaps) on @Crash’s post.
    The fund is new (June 6) and there’s very little about how it actually invests either in the prospectus or other F/T literature. (Kind of a “trust us” portrait). By prospectus it can own up to 25% high yield. Yet, M* seems to show it with more than that if you include the around 25% “unrated.” Anyway, it’s heavily weighted towards junk and unrated paper. So that has given me pause. And it held up well yesterday but is off close to 1% today. Looks like it buys an equity based option index as part of its strategy to harvest gains in the S&P and still protect principal on the downside. That also gives me pause and might help explain why it’s falling today.
    This link might pull it up. https://www.morningstar.com/etfs/arcx/incm/portfolio
    @Junkster knows so much about junk. Wish he’d weigh in sometime on spreads and relative valuation vs equities or high grade bonds. Probably hiking the Blue Ridge.
    PS / All you “Giroux-Heads” - What can say? PRWCX held up exceptionally well yesterday, falling only .15% compared to 3X that much for VWINX. Keep this up and somebody will nominate him for Prez.
    hank in Fund Discussions
  • Memoriam: Robert Bruce (Bruce Fund)
    Few star managers can make the transition to a team much less assume it will be your kid.
    Michael Price is another example of a one man show that became problematic after he left.
    Another example is Albert Nicholas who ran the Nicholas Fund.
    According to Bloomberg Markets in 2015, "The Nicholas Fund, which he has run since 1969, has topped the Standard & Poor's 500 Index by an average of 2 percentage points a year for the past 40 years and [beat] it every year since 2008 [through 2014]."
    His son David was in and out of the family company and finally back in, but a quick look shows that he hasn't done nearly as well as Pops.
    sma3 in Fund Discussions
  • Larry Summers and the Crisis of Economic Orthodoxy
    The cost of a new car should matter less than this, but we have a Congress unwilling to let it continue, and people obviously measure economic success in different ways: https://npr.org/2022/01/27/1075299510/the-expanded-child-tax-credit-briefly-slashed-child-poverty-heres-what-else-it-d
    LewisBraham in Other Investing
  • Larry Summers and the Crisis of Economic Orthodoxy
    Hi @Mark Thanks for the info links. I was looking at Chamber of Commerce data last night.
    As to C.O.C. : Positions taken. Politically, the US Chamber of Commerce is considered to be on the political right, but is known to take positions that many Republicans, particularly populists, do not support. The US Chamber is often associated with the establishment wing of the Republican Party. I can't imagine they fiddle with data too much and are in line with B.L.S. data.
    With the U.S. population at about 335 million, @Baseball_Fan presents a 100 million unemployed number that is well, hard to believe. I'm sure we'll receive a valid data point link from him regarding this 100 million number.
    I know of about 45,000 at Michigan State University who are of employment age and not working, as most of them are busy otherwise. :)
    Remain curious,
    Catch
    catch22 catch22 in Other Investing
  • Memoriam: Robert Bruce (Bruce Fund)
    Eponymous funds are hard investments. Muhlenkamp was bequeathed to Ron's son, and has been vastly better without him. Akre Focus was the outgrowth of one betrayal of Chuck Akre by his analysts; he intensely prepped their successors. By MFO Premium's and Morningstar's reckoning, they've outperformed their peers by a healthy margin since but have seen huge outflows. Walthausen's team gave up. Bill Miller's successors at Miller Opportunity are top 1% this year, but the fund was also top 1% in 2020 and bottom 1% in 2021 and 2022. Cook & Bynum is five-star after Dowe's passing, but most of that comes from being reclassified by Morningstar, perhaps fairly, as a diversified EM fund.
    And Bruce? The Younger Mr. Bruce will persevere, I suspect. His dad was more and more a voice in the background, I suspect. And I'm certainly willing to ask them, if you'd like.
    The prudent course for active investors is usually a functional team or a firm (T Rowe Price, Mairs & Power) that has a really good record for manager replacement. The prudent course for skeptics might be a passive strategy that's not purely market-cap or debt weighted.
    David_Snowball in Fund Discussions
  • Larry Summers and the Crisis of Economic Orthodoxy
    Is it true that just under 100 million Americans of working age are not in the work force? How can that be with this great economy and 4% unemployment?
    Good discussion about that can be found here.
    Another - Who's Not Working
    Mark Mark in Other Investing
  • AAII Sentiment Survey, 7/5/23
    AAII Sentiment Survey, 7/5/23
    Bullish remained the top sentiment (48.4%; high) & bearish remained the bottom sentiment (24.5%; below average); neutral remained the middle sentiment (29.1%; below average); Bull-Bear Spread was +23.9% (above average). Investor concerns: Inflation (moderating but high); economy; the Fed; dollar; crypto regulations; market volatility (VIX, VXN, MOVE); Russia-Ukraine war (71+ weeks, 2/24/22- ); geopolitical. For the Survey week (Th-Wed), stocks were up, bonds down, oil up, gold up, dollar up. #AAII #Sentiment #Markets
    https://ybbpersonalfinance.proboards.com/post/1100/thread
    yogibearbull yogibearbull in Other Investing
  • Larry Summers and the Crisis of Economic Orthodoxy
    Is it true that just under 100 million Americans of working age are not in the work force? How can that be with this great economy and 4% unemployment?
    I'll answer for the class. Govt BLS stats are pure bullshit. Proceed at your own risk.
    I don't mind looking at other peoples' numbers. Who do you get your numbers from?
    WABAC WABAC in Other Investing
  • CD Renewals
    Hey Old_Joe. +1
    larryB in Fund Discussions
  • Larry Summers and the Crisis of Economic Orthodoxy
    Is it true that just under 100 million Americans of working age are not in the work force? How can that be with this great economy and 4% unemployment?
    I'll answer for the class. Govt BLS stats are pure bullshit. Proceed at your own risk.
    Baseball_Fan in Other Investing
  • Portfolio X-Ray Alternatives
    I haven't used subscription-PV. But when it allowed storing portfolios with free-PV, I recall that the stored portfolio could be edited (%) and resaved. But there wasn't any portfolio transactional capability.
    On the other hand, SR has transactional capabilities - one can enter buys/sells; as I mentioned before, dividends/distributions have to be entered manually also. I now do this every month and it takes 1-2 hours (this is automatic in M* Portfolio).
    yogibearbull yogibearbull in Other Investing
  • Portfolio X-Ray Alternatives
    @Observant1 may be referring to free PV runs that are limited to 3 portfolios + 1 benchmark, so 4 total.
    I keep several PV portfolios in Excel that I load 3 at a time to save data entry. PV subscription may store them - a while ago, even free PV used to store portfolios, but now everybody wants money.
    PV Pricing https://www.portfoliovisualizer.com/pricing
    yogibearbull yogibearbull in Other Investing
  • Portfolio X-Ray Alternatives

    I use the free Portfolio Visualizer Backtest Portfolio feature, but it has some major shortcomings:
    Allows only 4 funds to be included in portfolio.
    Doesn't list asset weights (US stocks, foreign stocks, bonds, cash).
    Doesn't list equity styles (small value, large growth, etc.).
    Doesn't list sector weights.
    Doesn't list stock intersection.

    I can't speak to all of these points off the top of my head, but I have never been limited to four funds in the free backtest tool. I was just looking at six today for my oldest child's new Roth IRA.
    But I think all of those things, except stock intersection, are there under various tabs
    WABAC WABAC in Other Investing
  • Portfolio X-Ray Alternatives
    One of the reasons why I consolidated all of our retirement accounts at Fidelity is its account analysis feature. I used to use M* X-Ray often to review and and analyze our various accounts. Once M* started stripping away features, I started looking for alternatives and realized Fidelity had what I needed all along. I moved all of our IRAs and former 401Ks to Fidelity and haven’t looked back. And it’s FREE for customers.
    Tarwheel in Other Investing
  • Changes involving Stuart Rigby and Grandeur Peak Global Advisors
    Ok, here's a question. I've owned GPGOX since inception, close to 12 years. The last few years are not stellar, but over all I've always thought of it as a buy-and-hold fund and no need to be concerned. The M* ratings don't really agree with my view. The fund is 5* for 10 years, 4* for 5 and 3* over the past 3 years, indicating maybe the best years are behind it.
    So, my question, is there a better global small-mid cap management house or specific S/M global fund than Gradeur Peak? Wasatch maybe? I've been loyal to this team from the start, but I don't want to be married through thick and thin. The last few years have been rocky.
    MikeM MikeM in Fund Discussions
  • Portfolio X-Ray Alternatives

    [snip]
    I don't know of another portfolio manager that combines industry sector, allocations, country region and stock intersection.
    I have looked around several times but don't find anything else as comprehensive. The brokerages will give u asset allocation and sectors but I am not sure they use % cash in the mutual funds for example.
    [snip]

    @sma3,
    Same here - that's what prompted the OP.
    I use the free version of Portfolio Manager only to track prices and returns for holdings / watch lists.
    Portfolio X-Ray is accessed via the library for detailed portfolio analysis.
    I use the free Portfolio Visualizer Backtest Portfolio feature, but it has some major shortcomings:
    Allows only 4 funds to be included in portfolio.
    Doesn't list asset weights (US stocks, foreign stocks, bonds, cash).
    Doesn't list equity styles (small value, large growth, etc.).
    Doesn't list sector weights.
    Doesn't list stock intersection.
    I've also tried the free version of Personal Capital (added investments manually, didn't aggregate).
    It has a bit more functionality:
    Lists asset weights.
    Lists equity styles for US stocks.
    Lists sector weights for US stocks.
    However, equity styles / sector weights for foreign stocks are omitted.
    Performance data is only available for the following time periods: 90 days, 1 Year, this year, last year.
    Stock intersection data is not provided.
    I'm willing to pay a reasonable amount for a good tool with functionality similar to Portfolio X-Ray.
    Edit: Added strike-through for most PV Backtest Portfolio shortcomings. See my post below.
    Observant1 in Other Investing
  • Larry Summers and the Crisis of Economic Orthodoxy
    First, Biden was not president on 1/20, not for another year. Second, your repeating qualified subjective statements regarding what’s most important to people economically over and over again doesn’t make them true. Third, the whole fascism bit and attempted coup by the previous administration bothers some folks.
    LewisBraham in Other Investing