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.
As folks have pointed out, there are a number of ways to have exposure to China, both directly and indirectly. Another way would be to consider how China grows, which has a lot to do with natural resources, infrastructure, etc. So an option could …
The "best" records are moving targets. While the article talks about REALLY long-term records, such as Oakmark Select, it also implies that shorter time frames for newer funds are just as valid in assessing manager quality. That's a little hard to…
This year has seen a reversal of what occurred in the foreign bond arena last year. In 2011, funds that held foreign bonds in dollars did well, especially when the spooks hit the fan in the third quarter. This year to-date, non-dollar bonds are ou…
Managed futures do indeed protect on the downside. They were one of the few positive investment options in 2008 and early 2009. The problem is that very few of the managed futures FUNDS have been around that long. Add to that the fact that fluctu…
The SEC and FINRA could do investors a great service by completely doing away with Class B and C shares, as well as all those other marketing-created share classes fund companies have concocted. I personally don't put annual expenses as the first s…
We have used OAKBX for years as a conservative way to get stock exposure in lower-risk portfolios. It does not disappoint. M* stuffs it in a made-up asset class that includes hundreds of funds, many of which have no similarities. I would ignore c…
I am one of those who does not get excited about style drift, since I am hiring managers, not buying funds. If the managers I hire stick to their overall investment philosophy and strategies, I really don't care whether they drift from small to mid…
I have always found it interesting to see how the worst-performing asset classes do from year to year. The first few weeks of 2012 is a pretty darned good example of why it is not always smart to follow the winners.
Last year, some of the worst as…
There is often no one right answer to this question. We often read the most recent semi-annual report for a fund to see what the management is using for comparison. Often there are two indexes, and the S&P 500 is usually one of them. But keep…
I tend to agree with rono. First Eagle Overseas management always has some cash set aside. And when the earthquake/tsunami hit on a Friday (I think) last year, they had the weekend to look at the numbers and the companies in Japan. When the marke…
Very concentrated portfolio of only about 30-35 stocks, pretty low turnover. What's hurt TORYX has been the downside numbers. The fund prided itself on relatively low downside risk for years, but it got hammered in 2008. Traditionally owns a heav…
One of the mantras we have used over the last few years is that it is never a bad time to capture profits. By this I mean that if you invested $10,000 in ABC Fund, and it is now worth $12,500, why not capture the $2,500 gain and move that money to …
Since inception would seem to be a very long and not-so-useful list. But a list of the previous day's funds, or even previous week's funds, might be helpful. Just my two cents worth.
Of the two former Thornburg people, Mr. Kinkelaar probably had more direct input on the Thornburg Income Builder fund. He was there 6 years. And Mr. Remily was there only a year. But I would say that Brian McMahon was and is the real team leader …
Reply to @WallStreetRanter: First, good to have you here at the Observer! I am a principal in a fee-only RIA firm in Columbus. Our client portfolios include mutual funds, ETFs, and individual stocks. Over the years, we have tracked anywhere from …
One thing you can count on from M* is that they do not make decisions without much thought. Just as the star ratings have become a marketing tool, not only for M* but also for the funds that receive 4 and 5 stars, it's hard to imagine the new analy…
I would suggest that the "rule of thumb" that uses your age as a determinate of how much to put in stocks and bonds is, on the surface, shortsighted. As rono said, there are a lot of factors that will influence investment decisions. The most import…
First of all, both funds are pretty good. They have top-notch 3 and 5-year records compared to their peers. But, yes, they do carry some risk. Since you did not indicate how much of your IRA these two holdings are, let's assume they are your tota…
Reply to @msf:
The fee waiver you mention is a non-issue for me, since we could liquidate holdings at any time. Sure, they could withdraw the waiver, but my discussions with them indicate that is not even remote at this time. I agree that cash is…
The key, as you stated, is not worry about losing a LOT. If it is not FDIC insured, you can lose value. (And FDIC does not breed a lot of confidence, either. But for now, at least, it is a guarantor of safety.) We use NEARX for taxable accounts a…
It could be that GNMA funds will continue to do well. We have followed Federated GNMA for more than 15 years, and it has been a decent place to have some dollars. At some point, however, the 30-year bull market for bonds will end. I don't know wh…
It's darned hard to judge any strategy over a short time period. That's why we give the managers we hire a pretty long leash. Three years minimum, unless there are really unusual circumstances. The funds in the MMLL strategy have pretty good 5-ye…
As others have already said, do not assume that the comparison indexes or comparison funds used by these sites is at all accurate. Many funds now have pretty broad mandates, so while M* might classify a fund as a Global Equity fund, it may not at a…
Yield is certainly part of the decision, but it can sometimes come with more risk than you will want. All things being equal, we would all like to have a 6-7% yield with a stable NAV, but that just does not exist in today's low-yield environment (u…
The Chinese government is always going to look out for China's best interest. I believe that a major goal for them is to have their currency be one of the world's reserve currencies at some point. It will happen, maybe not in the next 5-10 years, …
Good one, Hank. When interest rates rise, and they will, the principle on the 1.9% could lose 10% or more. Just figure how much longer it will take...to REGAIN your principle, forget about doubling it. The sad thing is that it will be the "little…
For sure there have been a few managers we fired that have come back to put up great numbers. But there are some that we should have fired sooner than we did. There were signals that were pretty evident (at least in hindsight) that indicated the m…
I think investors should consider these as a way to participate in the potentially enormous growth in EM economies. But care should be given to the process of selecting the most appropriate fund. For most folks, a fund that is diversified geograph…
My nominees would include the team at Artisan Mid Cap Value ARTQX (M* got that one right!), Sam Stewart at Wasatch Strategic Income WASIX, and Kris Jenner of T. Rowe Health Sciences PRHSX. And for my money, the team at BlackRock Equity Dividend MDD…
There is no best fund, but there are a lot of great managers. All of them will have periods of underperformance, so you need to accept this fact of investing. PRPFX is certainly an intriguing option. I disagree that it is a heavy bet against the …
This is so backward. My guess is that the majority of folks pulling money from this fund have not been in it very long. Those of us who have been with Hasenstab for 6-7 years understand that this fund will have periods of underperformance. Assets …
His economic outlook is bleak, perhaps even moreso than Gross. With so many commentators suggesting investors hide in the bullrushes, pile up cash, be very afraid, etc., maybe it's time to consider being more aggressive? I'm not saying there are n…
Hi Kevin. What David did not tell you is that the reporter had us limit our funds to those who are under $100 million in size. Even if I had wanted to include your two funds, they would have been excluded since they are both over $1 billion in tot…
Short term is anyone's guess. Every time a little panic sets in, folks rush to the dollar. Long term, unless Washington really gets its act together (probably not until after the 2012 election), the dollar looks weak to me. That may be inevitable…
It is a rather bold stretch of the imagination to think that Michael Hasenstab has suddenly taken dumb pills. He has guided this fund to top-notch numbers since he took the reins, largely by doing exactly the kind of sometimes unorthodox things tha…
Firs, I agree that a person's investment goals, risk tolerance, and time horizon are the most important factors in deciding how much one should allocate to stocks. But I also think it is important to remember that we are near the end of a 30-year b…
If you already have quality domestic stock funds, I would go with GPIOX for the foreign exposure. In the last day and week, they are about average in terms of the numbers they are putting up.
This is pretty easy. Use a mix of funds that give you a broad spectrum of fixed-income holdings, investment styles, and opportunities. LSBDX, OSTIX, TGBAX, GSDIX, BSIIX, and JBGIX might be a good start. With these you get domestic government, cor…
