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.
I like OEFs because it's easier to reinvest fractional shares. I also like the point @hank made about not being tempted to jump in and out of a position when the market does what it does.
Hey, @all -- I confused RiverNorth with RiverPark (I thought it was RiverPark that was moving an OEF to an ETF; the bloom seems to be off R/N and much of R/P for some time now after "Mitch" blew up the R/P Long/Short Opportunity Fund);
Editoring c…
These ETF conversions don't make sense to me. Are these (low volume) products supposed to be something asset management firms double-dip on? You pay for the trade, as well as the management fee, or etc? Are they cheaper to manage / service than an…
Not for nothing, but I have a neighbor, nice family, male head of household works in finance. They bought their home a hear or two before my wife and I. Listed their home several months ago for way above market. The thing has sat for quite some t…
Long-term investor with Oakmark here (OAKIX, OAKWX, OAKEX, and sometimes OAKBX). I am still with Oakmark, though I don't know why. They really seemed to have lost a lot of their mojo over the past 5+ years. I saw it first with OAKBX; OAKEX has lo…
Many European leaders and member of the commentariate have noted that, indeed, the US was subsidizing their defense so that they could focus on welfare state issues. And, a couple of US commentators have noted that Europe has not made much of a mov…
Have a Hopkins grad on my team. Whip smart and really good researcher. Damned if they aren't the best overall researcher and manager on my team. With luck, I'll be hiring another one in short order.
Hopkins, along with Chicago, MIT, Caltech, and…
I"m in risk-off mode. Increasing cash stake to 15% in various accounts. I sold out of many International stock funds a week ago (actually, I was a bit overweight international and smid's, moving some of that to cash); keeping cash in asset allocat…
Vanguard's service is still abysmal, however. I wish they'd just go ahead and charge me the extra $2.28 per year and have halfway-decent customer service.
@all -- I do not use online accounts for security reasons.
I receive my regular Vanguard statements via USPS.
There is no brokerage or fund family I deal with that gives me a hassle for doing all my business via USPS; none. Except Vanguard.
A little story about Vanguard friendliness. Several weeks ago, I mailed in an application for a taxable account. I had actually called Vanguard sometime back to get a mail-in application, because I couldn't find one online. I received the applica…
@yogibearbull - I would consider Vanguard, but absolutely loath dealing with them. They have to be among the most customer unfriendly fund families out there.
@yogibearbull -- thanks for chiming in. I hear you. The constraint is that the holding must be a legit closed-end fund; it can't be an ETF, ETN, or CEF.
Jamie Dimon, and now Gatch, have routinely come out against crypto.
"Stay invested" but "have dry powder"....I guess "stay invested" is vs. "getting totally out of the market".
"Large caps look good; mid caps look good....".
@FD1000 - everything you say makes sense, but the sheer volume of data that is capable of being managed by companies (of all sorts) is increasing exponentially. And, I have to imagine that in short order the types of data that do much of the heavy …
@FD1000 - what if all market participants have AIs that converge (say, 98%) on the same trades / stock picks? Does the market become perfectly efficient and the market trend go flat?
I've wondered for some time if active management will die out pretty rapidly or be replaced by a smaller number of active managers driven by AI wars. Perhaps the major quant hedgies are already doing this. Perhaps it really is time to go all-in on…
Everyone is rolling over and getting into the act. Perhaps a sign of the apocalypse?
I doubt that many of these ETFs, even those from respected shops (such as Harris, but see also Leuthold, First Eagle, FPA, Tweedy, GMO, a sort-of PRWCX ETF) will …
Tweedy has never been cheap. My wife is in TWEBX for it's (one-time) ability to avoid losses and deliver a smooth ride; for that we were willing to pay the above average ER. Its been an underperformer for a long time, however, and we're ready to m…
@Sven - First Eagle funds are of interest to me in part because they are (in principle) flexible and hold physical gold. Doesn't seem that will be case with ETFs. I'll be sticking with standard mutual funds for a good long while yet.
The main concern i have with many of these ETFs coming out of fund shows is trading volume. LCR looks cool and has decent AUM, but trading volume is a bit thin. Numerous other examples from respected funds shops and advisors abound.
A secondary c…
@Charles - point taken re: Buffett. And for clarity, I guess I should have been clearer - I'm wary of boutique funds managed by a team of 1, 2 or 3; not enough. FAIRX had a team of 3 at one point, and two left. Heebner was great until he wasn't.…
What people are thinking: "Bruce is going to get his old magic back...".
(I say this as a former long-term holder of FAIRX; who bailed after a couple of years of watching Bruce do a lot of weird stuff)
Used to love Vanguard. Not no more. They are just a massive hassle to deal with.
I called them up a short while ago about opening up a new taxable account. I didn't want to open an account online, but couldn't find a form on their website. Th…
@Derf - no, was something that I had thought about for some time, since one of my taxable fund holdings (FESGX) has a position in gold, and I respect them as a conservative value manager.
Of note, FESGX has gold / gold exposure at ~15% last I check…
I've looked at CEFs for a while, but they would seem to require more expertise than I have. I'd rather in vest in a mutual fund or ETF that invests in CEFs. Even those rather specialized types of funds seem to underperform their associated indices…
