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' I have $1 Million In 33 Funds, Is That Too Many ? '

Comments

  • Not enough info to make a straight forward call upon this portfolio, as the list of holdings and reasons is not available. I would agree with what is known; that 33 may be a bit much.
    Lastly, how is the advisor paid for the service provided? Is the advisor receiving fees for fully front loaded or back loaded funds. Is the mix active managed funds or indexes or etfs?
    Thanks for the link, Ted; but the article writer could have provided an inclusive write, versus a few tidbits of "what-if", eh? Not unlike my reporting to an auto mechanic that there is a strange noise coming from my car and what might be the cause. With the brief phone conversation, I won't disclose whether I know the sound is from the motor, the suspension or the transmission.
    Oh, well.
    Regards,
    Catch
  • Hi Catch- in fairness, the writer may not have had access to the detailed information, but may have been in the position of your mechanic trying to give the best answer he could with the information at hand. If so, I thought that his answer was about the best possible under those conditions.
  • Hi OJ,
    I will not disagree with that fairness view. However, if the portfolio holdings were not known, this fact should have been indicated by the writer. Though not a scholar by any measure, am I; this article would have had my "re-do" stamp affixed. The article violates too many areas of good writing.
    Other than this..............I am in a "kick butt" and take names later, mood today..............:):):) I am sure the big block chocolate bar I just finished will kick in any time now and I will be just fine.
    Take care of yourselves,
    Catch
  • Personally, I doubt the question was real. The author just wanted to discuss the topic of how many funds a person should have, and things to think about related to the topic.

    Question. Author says that 5-10 funds should be enough. Do y'all agree? What about for a younger person?

  • Reply to @StevieG2: Even though having more funds of a similar type can lead to overlap, still the management diversity can be a mitigating factor. For a younger person, with perhaps less to invest, probably five would be plenty. For larger positions, I see no problem with 10 to 20, as long as you have the time, interest and resources to closely monitor the whole thing. The larger number of funds does allow a greater degree of diversification into sector and specialty areas.
  • Thanks, Old Joe
  • I dunno ... Sounds like a hard working advisor.
  • edited June 2012
    Reply to @StevieG2: Excuse the double-dipping here - missed your excellent question earlier. I don't think there's a right number. More important is staying within your known risk tolerance. So, if having 30 or 40 funds allows you to sleep better & keeps you from puling out at precisely the wrong time (when stocks are cheapest) than I guess it serves its purpose - this community could easily identify 40 outstanding funds with strong management and great long term records. Keeping track is another question. I have to prune some out occasionally to get back under 20, including money market funds. Don't think amount of $$ makes much difference. If you're using asset allocation and rebalancing occasionally, 50k should work as well as a million. Am hesitant to put all the eggs in one basket, so use about half-dozen firms with none having 50%. This of course tends to increase total number of funds held. (Example: hold international bond funds at both Oppenheimer & T Rowe Price) Probably not necessary - but hey, whatever floats your boat.
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