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.
Thanks everyone for your feedback. We tell our clients that what we do is not rocket science, but that we do it all day, five days a week. For those who either have no interest in doing it themselves, or for those who realize they do not have the …
There have been some good suggestions for you Bob. We often refer to these kinds of funds as Dynamic Allocation, which simply means the managers can pretty much go anywhere they find value. Frankly I like the concept a lot. Unfortunately not many…
Most alternative investments that come in mutual fund wrappers have not met expectations. There are a few that have done exactly what was supposed to have happened. The point of alternatives is to reduce portfolio volatility. If that is not accom…
Just a suggestion, but why not allocate something to precious metals on a permanent basis? Consider, perhaps, a 3% position in something like CEF. This closed-end fund is treated like a mutual fund for capital gains purposes, unlike GLD that is tr…
Fidelity, Schwab, Vanguard, PIMCO...the companies are each in the ETF arena to capture as many of the current mutual fund clients as they can. While ETFs are and probably will be a small part of these companies' total assets under management, they …
Reply to @Charles: Thanks, Charles. I look at market-open headlines today..."China gives stocks a lift". Yesterday the headline was "Investors pull back over China data". No wonder the average investor is paranoid.
Hi CathyG. It's good to hear from you. I hope your situation has improved and wish you the best. As you note so well, this has indeed been a strange year for investors (and us advisors, too).
Hussman's Strategic Total Return HSTRX has lost 2/3 of its assets in the last 3 years. And his Strategic Growth HSGFX has lost almost 3/4 of its assets. I wonder who will be crazy enough to be the last shareholder. Yes, he will be right at some p…
Thanks, Charles. Your answer is what I thought you might say, but your offer to consider the more erroneous mis-classifications is very generous. I would be glad to work with you in any way I am able on this. It is one of the more frustrating asp…
Charles, you do a great job. Thanks so much for the time you put in, not only to create and monitor the GO system, but also to respond to MFO Discussion Board members.
You may have addressed this already, so excuse me if I ask a redundant questi…
All hail Grand Poobah Gundlach! While I tend to agree that rates will probably not rise much in the year ahead, you can bet your sweet bippy that the poobah is betting his life on this. REAL inflation is there, whether or not the government's mani…
Re Cash, be aware that M* dumps all hedging instruments used by funds in its cash category. This has always been a frustration, but that is the way they do it. With PIMCO, this is a regular occurrence, since many of their funds have historically u…
Reply to @bilvihur: As my post indicated, there are problems with all of these comparison ranking sites when it comes to funds that do not fit the standard asset classes. This could be multi-cap funds, global allocation funds, numerous kinds of alt…
Like other 'ranking' and 'comparison' studies, the WSJ report is full of strange listings. The problem lies in what category (investment objective) they put a fund. These are limited and just a quick glance caused me to shudder. So I caution folks…
For a fund that has been around since 1997, DREGX has very high expenses. While I subscribe to higher expenses should = higher returns, and DREGX has strong numbers, a 278% turnover with only 100 stocks seems more than a bit much. Despite its rela…
I recall the wisdom of Charles Schultz, who said "The world is not going to end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia." I think the fools on network and cable should take a heavy dose of that philosophy. But, of course, that would not scare …
Infrastructure was supposed to be the big play in 2006-07, then 2008 happened. My observation is that, unlike health care, materials, tech, and a few others, infrastructure is just too narrow a sleeve. I would avoid this specific sector, in favor …
In the end, the cause is to be a successful business. That means more revenue every year from advertising, to selling their products, to promoting their latest 'discovery', to continuing to sell their star ratings, style boxes, and analyst predicti…
Reply to @MJG: Hi MJG. Your commentary on Sharpe ratio is good. One of the most important things for investors is to determine what return they need to be able to accomplish their goals. For most investors, their long-term goal is knowing what r…
This drum is getting old, but I will beat it again. Whether a fund beats its index is not as important as HOW it goes about getting the returns it does. I will gladly consider a fund that achieves 85% of its 'benchmark' with only 80% of the risk. …
Yeah, we really need another EM fund. There just are not enough good options now? The two managers of this new fund have almost no EM experience. One is a former Harvard finance professor, and the other has a total of 2 months EM experience, acco…
Brick-and-mortar does not mean much any more. Schwab has great online options, a lot of no-load, NTF, and load-waived funds, good pricing, and good service if you need it. Vanguard would be my fourth choice: Schwab, Fidelity, Price, Vanguard. Sco…
No recession, unless Washington (BOTH executive and legislative branches) do not work out a deal of some kind. I seem the president says he is willing to accept a short-term solution. That may be the best we can expect right now. Otherwise, the e…
None of this is surprising. U.S. Global specializes in niche products, and their long-term records are fair to very good. CEO Frank Holmes cut his teeth in Canada's natural resources and gold markets and is a truly smart guy. When Art Bonnell lef…
Mona, thanks for waking me up. I re-read my post, and now I see I was clear as mud.
OSTIX - Strategic Income, managed by Kaufman and team
OSTFX - Osterweis Fund, managed by Osterweis and team
OSTVX - Strategic Investment, managed by Kaufman, Oster…
With John Osterweis and Carl Kaufman leading this fund, it is no wonder it has done well. M* pans its fees, and I understand that. But they know that as assets increase, Osterweis will reduce fees. It has a record of that in their other two funds…
Ding dong, ding dong, ding dong. I used to think this fellow was very smart. I am not so sure any more. There is a big difference between academic research/theories/numbers and successfully managing money. I realize that even the best managers h…
It has everything to do with risk/volatility tolerance, goals, and time horizon. As Investor noted, the best allocation is the one you can live with. Or, as we say, the one that allows you to sleep at night. While I see a chart that includes a hi…
American Funds is a quality company. But unlike 15 years ago, when they were the only firm in town, so to speak, with the larger broker-dealer community, there are many other options that have done as well or better. Assets are down big time with …
This video should be mandatory for all MFO Discussion Board members, posters and lurkers alike. It does over-simplify some things, but it is really well done.
I think when funds employ a non-traditional or "unique" approach, it's much harder to understand and evaluate them than with more "plain vanilla" offerings.
That is so true. For many investors in this fund, the attraction was the outsized return i…
Seeing that fund on the list was maybe the main reason I quit looking. I mean, come on Russ. A negative average return for the last three years? No doubt John Hussman is a very intelligent person. But that does not make him a great money manager…
A few of other BIG mistakes that were not included:
1. Failing to read the prospectus description of what the manager can and cannot do, what the fund will usually invest in. It amazes me how many people do not read fund prospectuses, even the now…
Hank, I agree with what you say. I have always had trouble benchmarking accounts and portfolios, since returns alone do not tell the complete story. And I agree with your suggestion that people start with a 'risk budget' (my term, not yours) and t…
The more important quiestion might be, "Do your funds reap 70-80% of their benchmark gains with 30% less volatility?" Whether it's 20% or 30% is not the reall issue. I am perfectly happy with a fund that captures a lot of the upside if it does so …
We do not include SS benefits as part of a client's portfolio. But they are a very important part of determining the level of risk the client might need to accept to achieve their lifetime cash flow goals. Some people have a pension AND SS benefit…
All hail the grand poobah! Let us kiss the ring of the all-knowing poobah! Of course, his comments have NOTHING to do with his fund's asset base shrinking. A little more than a year ago, I heard the him say, rather matter-of-factly, the 'Fed shou…
