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The N Y Times has a few good columns today on the stock and bond markets. As for bonds, there's a front-page article reporting that mutual funds are engaging in a selling spree of emerging-market bonds, and this is contributing to a sharp decline in global markets. They are selling for good reason: their investors are withdrawing money from these funds. Last week alone, investors withdrew $2.5 billion from emerging-market bond funds.
And Gretchen Morgenson writes a column in which she questions the vague disclosures made by highflying mutual funds. She warns that these funds put investors in peril.
Thanks for posting as I enjoyed the read. I have much the same posture as you in that I have a certain level of trust in my fund managers. Should concerns elevate to the point where I come to have good doubt in this trust then I have an option, at my will, to leave and sell the security.
To the article's question: No one really knows. While both T. Rowe Price and Dodge and Cox (my major holdings) do a nice job breaking down their income fund components, I'd venture to guess they also include a few derivative instruments and also some "unrated" bonds in these funds. So you need to have a bit of faith in their in-house analysis. With these two houses my faith is considerable. But, buyer beware.
EMs have always been prone to dramatic swings between euphoria and pessimism. The really big downturns (30%+ losses) seem to happen roughly once a decade. These big setbacks, like we're witnessing now, almost invariably affect global developed markets - especially on the equity side.
EMs have their place in some people's portfolios. But I'm a bit bemused that some who would not consider mailing off a check to be deposited in some financial institution or invested in some company located in Russia, Romania or Thailand, think nothing of buying a fund with assets in these countries..
Comments
EMs have always been prone to dramatic swings between euphoria and pessimism. The really big downturns (30%+ losses) seem to happen roughly once a decade. These big setbacks, like we're witnessing now, almost invariably affect global developed markets - especially on the equity side.
EMs have their place in some people's portfolios. But I'm a bit bemused that some who would not consider mailing off a check to be deposited in some financial institution or invested in some company located in Russia, Romania or Thailand, think nothing of buying a fund with assets in these countries..