US is falling behind when it comes to Innovation:

south-korea-leads-world-in-innovation-u-s-drops-out-of-top-10

Comparison with VFINX since 1987...mission accomplished...

As he said the fund is aimed to deliver good return (S&P500 like) with a lower risk over a market cycle.

Comparison to the S&P 500

I have invested with him since the inception. Giroux was very generous with his time that revealed his stock picking process. Having close to 20% cash in Feb 2020 allowed him to pick up good companies at low prices. Also took lots of guts too. As he said the fund is aimed to deliver good return (S&P500 like) with a lower risk over a market cycle.

New York-based hedge fund Senvest Management started investing in GameStop before it caught fire with much of the r/WallStreetBets crowd, and by October 2020, it owned more than 5% of the company.....after GameStop stock peaked at more than $400, the hedge fund walked away with a $700 million profit...."Given what was going on, it was hard to imagine it getting crazier," Senvest CEO and fund manager Robert Mashaal told The Journal.

Link: A hedge fund made $700 million

I agree with msf. MALOX has a longer decent past performance but started to fall apart beginning in 2014, vs the SP500. I don't know, but have to suspect more faith was placed into or kept in place outside of the U.S. This has not worked so well during the time frame.
Are you able to provide all of the 401k choices available to him and place the tickers here, AND what organization (Fidelity, etc.) is the vendor for the 401k?
Not much can be offered for comment without knowing other choices.

A couple of thoughts.
1) Since you stated that his investment is held within a 401K what other funds are available to him or is he looking to move out of the 401K?
2) Warren Buffett is on record recommending a S&P 500 index fund for most people and there certainly are a number of options with far less than a 1.4% ER. I'd start there.

MALOX is a solid world allocation fund. For over two decades (until about a decade ago), it paced PRWCX (a domestic allocation fund) nicely. It returned less over the past decade, likely because international investments generally returned less. For example, VGTSX returned 5.10% over the past decade (ending Feb 3) vs. VTSMX's 13.55%.
Depending on how long he intends to continue working, its roughly 65/35 allocation could be quite reasonable. So a first question is why consider a 100/0 allocation going forward as he edges toward retirement? (Your aversion to target date funds reinforces the impression that you prefer equity funds.) After that one could get into global vs. domestic.
There's also a question of mechanics. Generally in-service withdrawals of 401(k)s are not allowed until one is 59½; even then only if the plan allows it. So that part of his retirement assets would seem to have limited options until he's nearly 60. It likely could not be turned over to a brokerage to manage. This also means that we can only talk in generalities (types of funds).
I also notice that he's invested in a a fund with a 0.50% 12b-1 fee. That is considered a load and adds up to way more than 5% or so that one might have paid instead with a front end load. (It charges 0.34%/year more than the A shares that are generally available NTF.) This suggests that most or all of his 401(k) investment options come with high fees. Outside of suggesting doing a rollover into cheaper funds as soon as he is able, I don't know what else could be done about this.

Ok, so I have a close friend and he’s in his 50’s. We were discussing investing in general for the first time today. He doesn’t know much about investing. It turns out his entire 401k or retirement is invested in one fund - MRLOX. He’s not even sure how he ended up in the fund but he’s there.
So I looked it up and researched it a bit out of genuine concern but knowing I will never give advice without also asking him to run it by a fiduciary ... so in my quick analysis it seems like he’s better off in a S&P 500 Index or Total Market Index. It’s not that MRLOX is a terrible fund but it hasn’t beaten the 500 Index consistently. It’s been fine recently.
What would you recommend? A 500 Index or total market index, a target fund (uggh), stay with MRLOX or pay a brokerage a 1% fee to invest for him (not that he would go for that)... Again, any recommendation will be followed with -run it by an investing professional or fiduciary. Just wanted the community’s opinion. Is there a better option for him? Oh and he’s asking for my advice. It’s not unsolicited.

Well worth spending an hour to listen to the podcast or skim the transcript. (This longtime PRWCX holder remains very pleased and comfortable with Giroux's investing philosophies & performance.)
David Giroux: 'What Are the Market Inefficiencies We Can Exploit?'
A two-time Morningstar Fund Manager of the Year winner on the benefits of concentration, the attractions of utilities and BB bonds, and his team's focus on "return on time spent."
https://www.morningstar.com/podcasts/the-long-view/95

https://www.baronfunds.com/sites/default/files/Baron-Funds-Quarterly-Report-12.31.20.pdf
The above report includes a fair amount of self-promotion from Ron Baron, but it is hard to argue with the numbers his funds have put up over the long and short hauls. My only experience with the company has been via BGAFX, the global all-cap growth entry. While I have not compared Baron’s apples with Morgan Stanley’s apples in a systematic manner, my initial conclusion is that both outfits have enviable records in growth mutual funds. Baron has even made a pile of dough for shareholders in Real Estate. I know that MS has its fans on MFO (I own a big slice of MGGPX) and the comment has been made that the MS growth funds deserve more attention. The same might be said for Baron. TSLA is a major holding in several of the funds and especially in the Partners Fund where it’s the 47% elephant in the living room. Some of the Baron funds were previously partnerships (hedge funds?) whose performance is included in the tabulations.
One Baron vehicle I just learned about is the WealthBuilder Fund (BWBIX/BWBFX), a fund of Baron funds that is said to charge no ER above and beyond the ERs of the constituents. This fund dates to 2017 and has profited handsomely from the mania for growth funds, but it has outshone all comers in the 85% and up allocation category. It could be a good choice for child or younger investor with a long horizon.

I own WATFX only in IRA. Desire Income, Diversity and don't own any other bond funds. I am 87 with 85 year old wife. Now renting in Four Seasons Apt in Beachwood, Ohio. Have Schwab accounts. Only have one taxable joint account, rest IRA and Roth.

NY Times opinion piece By David Leonhardt
G.D.P., jobs and other indicators have all risen faster under Democrats for nearly the past century.
ARTICLE

Good weekly conversation with Josh Brown and Micheal Batnick:

MERFX will now by owned by Virtus Investment Partners based on the other post.
https://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/57672/westchester-capital-management-llc-merger-with-virtus-investment-partners-inc

Paul Krugman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist was obviously wrong (2016)

"Highland Capital Management LP, once a giant in high-yield debt markets, filed for bankruptcy protection Wednesday as investors and former employees seek more than $200 million from the firm for alleged improprieties."
...
If anybody has more up to date information on the fund advisor's bankruptcy status, I would appreciate hearing from you.

The fund advisor is Highland Capital Management Fund Advisors LP. As the WSJ later wrote:

Highland [Capital Management LP] is one of several investment platforms under the same ownership, including Highland Capital Management Fund Advisors LP and NexPoint Advisors LP, which didn’t file for bankruptcy.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/highland-capital-management-lp-co-founder-out-under-deal-with-creditors-11577738959

I have not checked other firms; but the following is a standard footnote for other information at Fidelity, aside from what may be in a prospectus for a particular investment.

Free commission offer applies to online purchases select ETFs in a Fidelity brokerage account. The sale of ETFs is subject to an activity assessment fee (from $0.01 to $0.03 per $1,000 of principal).

The lawyers got sloppy with that marketing material. The actual Fidelity fee schedule reads: "The Additional Assessment ... typically ranges from $0.01 to $0.03 per $1,000 of principal".
This fee is often referred to as the SEC Section 31 fee. More or less, it is a pass through of a fee charged to brokers on sales of securities (stocks, ETFs). The fee charged to brokers is currently $0.0221 (2.21¢) per $1,000, but will be dropping to $0.0051 (0.51¢) per $1,000 on February 25th.
https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2021-8

"the groundhog just saw his shadow which means six more weeks of winter. "
THE groundhog? If we're talking prognosticators, shouldn't we go with the better track record?

It turns out Staten Island Chuck is, on the whole, more reliable than Phil of Punxsutawny, if you look at the past years data:
How Often Are Our Local Groundhogs Right?
Based on 24 predictions since 1992, as measured against data from the National Climate Data Center
[Bar Chart]      Punxsutawney Phil 43%      Staten Island Chuck 65%

https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/data-staten-island-chuck-or-punxsutawny-phil-which-groundhog-is-historically-more-accurate
"Staten Island Chuck claimed that spring is imminent." But there are allegations of fake news: "Chuck's prognostication was suspiciously made in a pre-taped Staten Island Zoo video."
Since this is an investing site and predictions seem to be the subject, one must consider the Super Bowl indicator. Clearly the Chiefs represent the AFC. But what about the Buccaneers? For its first season the team was in the AFC. Does that mean it's a sure bet that the market will fall this year (since there's arguably no team originally from the NFC)?
Not so fast. The accuracy of this indicator goes down as attendance declines. With the pandemic, attendance (excluding cutouts) will be the lowest ever.
https://www.thestreet.com/investing/does-the-super-bowl-indicator-work
Lies, darn lies, and statistics.

GME was DOWN a whopping 60% today BUT MSSMX was UP 2.05%.
So GME could have been part of the cause of yesterday's fractionally DOWN day. If it was though, it would seem likely then that GME was sold yesterday as MSSMX did not have the same price action today on an even steeper GME drop.
That's a WAG at best given the dated port holdings and that alone causing me to NOT take a deep dive under the hood. For me at least, it is what it is on this one.
I did tip off my allocation today so I am strapped in for at least a couple of months while planning to hold LT. Either way, expecting a WILD ride.
Elwood: It's 106 miles to Chicago, we've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses.
Jake: Hit it!