the March update - featuring you (!) - has been posted

David_Snowball

Dear friends,

Just a quick reminder that we've updated the site. Chip revamped the navigation system a bit (check the blue bar atop this screen). We added our new Best of the Web feature. Profiled two funds - an update on Matthews Asia Strategic Income based on a long exchange with Teresa Kong and a "star" profile of GRT Value. And a long conversation with Andrew Foster, driven almost exclusively by the questions that folks had posted on the board. Andrew did read through the discussion threads, and characterized your responses as "tough but fair." We talked them through, one by one, and he gave, I think, serious and thoughtful attention to them.

Take great care,

David

AndyJ

That's great, David. Your interview and Andrew's responses are much appreciated. I'm really interested to see what will be in the first published portfolio.

The investment web site reviews are a nice new feature, too.

Gracias - AJ

tgeno

Great commentary. Particularly appreciated the insight on the gold/bond bubble. Thanks for the Seafarer interview; I didn't see anything compelling that would motivate me to invest in the funds. However, I did revisit your review of MAINX and doubled my position in it today.

Accipiter

First things first. Since Junior lives in Trinidad, has he ever seen an oilbird (native to Trinidad). ... only nocturnal fruit eating birds in the world. They forage at night, navigating by echolocation in the same way as bats. They used to be harvested and rendered for oil, hence the name "oilbird".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oilbird

Next. Any chance of keeping the link formats in html or having an html option without having the need to use a pdf reader or extension. re: "read the full profile" links for Morningtar and the other two sites reviewed that are seen from this page http://www.mutualfundobserver.com/2012/02/march-2012-mutual-fund-rating-sites/

Also, I missed the review on the first go around because the link on the page was not readily apparent to me. Any way of making the "March 2012 - Mutual Fund Rating Sites" standout as a link rather than possibly just a Heading.

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snippet....

March 2012 – Mutual Fund Rating Sites ( <---- didn't occur to me this was a link right away)

With 6700 U.S.-registered mutual funds to choose from, the Holy Grail of sites is one that answers the simple question: which of these damned things is going to give me the information I need to make money without making me sick! A bunch of sites promise answers. Almost none of them deliver. While we thought [...]
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As usual, thanks for the great commentary and the new "The Best" category.

AndyJ

Speaking of Mainx, the note David included that the E.R. has been reduced to 1.0% is good news.

The news, however, is expressed a little oddly on the Matthews site. The E.R.s are shown as 1% for institutional shares and still 1.40 % for investor shares. But then there's a footnote, which applies to both share classes, that says, in part:

"Matthews has also agreed to waive fees and reimburse additional (!) (my emphasis) expenses for the Institutional Class of the Fund on a voluntary basis. Any amounts voluntarily waived by Matthews in respect of the Institutional Class, excluding any voluntary waiver of class-specific shareholder servicing fees, will also be waived for the Investor Class."

So the note does appear to say the investor class is down to 1% too, though it's not simply stated, but much more technically/lawyerly expressed.

By the way, the full holdings as of EOY-11 are listed. It's 32% US$, the rest local currency. It remains high on this house's watchlist, but no $ committed yet.

tgeno

Reply to @AndyJ: I'm investing in it as getting in on the relative ground floor of a new fund in a fund family I have a lot of confidence in. I would expect it to have a lot of cash in the beginning while the manager waits for the right opportunities. I have never sold any of my Matthews funds in the years that I've owned them, only periodically adding to my positions.

AndyJ

Reply to @tgeno: In the last 'graph of my post, I meant the currency denomination of the bonds the fund holds. The fund's actually only ~ 8% cash as I recall. Not looking again, from memory, I think the figures were ~ $15 mm total assets with $1-2 mm cash.

I think it would be a good fit for the portfolio here; the other dedicated EM exposure I have is DLENX, which is largely Latin America, and apparently will usually be fairly heavy in L.A. The first ACH into MAINX from this address may be headed that way any day now.

Now that you mention it, I've never sold a single share of Matthews either - just exchanged on occasion.

Junior

Reply to @Accipiter: I have never actually seen one myself but my sister reports that she has. I will have to do some checking into their numbers. A few of the rarer species have been dwindling in recent times, the Ocelot is now hardly ever seen in the wild but when I was a child they were fairly populous.

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

David_Snowball

Reply to @Maurice: Watching a bit makes all the sense in the world to me. Mr. Foster has agreed to a follow-up piece once he's had a few months of operation, a portfolio in place and all that.

Thanks, too, for the kind words. We're trying hard for ya. David

Sven

Thank you David. Each month I look forward reading your commentary. I particularly like your profile on Matthews Asia Strategic Income fund, MAINX.

MikeM

Hi David. Another great commentary. From your writings, Mr. Fosters words and his history with MACSX, I would be willing to set a toe-hold in his new fund today. But alas, it seems TRP, whom I have my 401k with, does not carry the fund at this time. So I will have to view from afar.

A comment on your income alternatives piece; I response to the fear of bond funds heading for troubles, I've recently purchased RPSIX, which I believe is a fund you said you owned, and a newer fund I heard about from another poster here, PGDIX. I really like the diversified approach PGDIX takes on producing steady income. It's a bit more then 3 years old with great returns so far. I wish it had been around in 2008 to see how it would have held up in that crazy market, but it came after that (maybe in response to that terrible year?). I traded in a portion of my more traditional total return bond funds, MWTRX and LSBRX, for this fund. Somewhat higher volatility, but I like it's chances of higher returns (then typical bond funds) as inflation takes off.

Have you looked at PGDIX at all? I'd be interested in your impressions of this fund.

NickF

The site is getting a little more notice:

http://abnormalreturns.com/friday-links-a-good-thing/

David_Snowball

Reply to @NickF: Cool. Thanks for the heads-up. David