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 heard James management speak to a group of RIAs in late 2007. The person told us they (James) were fairly confident a massive selloff was in the offing. Interesting that he said they were doing nothing to the portfolio despite their strong convi…
I hesitate to wade back into a discussion on TIAA, since some folks obviously have had good experiences with them. The reason for my earlier comments are simply that, based on our experiences over the last 30 years, working with clients who have ac…
Right now, as we re-balance client portfolios, we are taking gains from domestic stocks and increasing international stocks. This is something we have been doing for about a year, and we have discussed our views in client communications and webcast…
Making decisions on what possibly might happen is a mistake, since virtually anything MIGHT happen. As MJG notes, without having some idea of what is very likely to happen, making investment decisions based on what-if is useless.
As David Snowball…
Oh, lordy. Another frickin tweeter. One more reason for me to avoid DoubleLine. Fortunately there are a lot of other options that don't come with an accompanying windbag. JMHO, of course.
Hi, Simon. I would not get terribly hung up on whether a fund is style-box pure. We use Scout UMBMX. Long-time manager Pat Dunkerley. Great 1, 3, 5, and 10-yr rankings. Strong Sortino. You might also look at Parnassus PARMX. This ESG fund is r…
This is not anything new. Most of our retired clients do something besides golf, fishing, knitting, or watching cable news. Many do volunteer work, others use their retirement to work part-time in what they call a "fun retirement job".
We have used Schwab (almost) exclusively for our client accounts for 20+ years. No company is perfect, but the combination of technology, pricing, and service has been darned good over the years. My view is that Vanguard and Fidelity (to some exte…
This is as plausible as any prediction backed up by technicals. It is certainly a contrary outlook compared to most today. I for one hope he is right, but I won't bet the farm on it. I do agree that all the talk about screaming high valuation may…
I hope your bonds a short-duration and/or short-maturity. There is no imaginable reward for owning long-term bonds, especially long-term U.S. government bonds.
The amount of dollars you should have in cash/CDs/short-term bonds depends on what you need to withdraw from your portfolio. We advocate 4-6 years, some folks use longer time frames. Let's assume a person needs $1,250 per month from their investme…
Very few leading indicators are signaling a market top at this time. There is not much exuberance, and a lot of former investors are still in that category. I can tell you that we have had NO clients or potential clients tell us they want to put m…
I can remember Mr. Know-All Gross and a lot of other self-appointed poobahs predicting low, single-digit returns for the last decade (2000-2010), then just about every year thereafter. Mr. Gloom, Jeremy Grantham has certainly been forecasting simil…
David, I am curious to know why folks like Deshpande think it is necessary to open a new fund that includes class A shares that carry a 5% commission. Especially given the emphasis on the role of fiduciaries, I am surprised he went this route, rath…
I confess that I do not see anything attractive about this offering or DSENX. It is based on a ton of derivatives, futures, swaps, cash, U.S. govt and corporate bonds, all squished together to beat a created index, MSCI Europe Net Return USD. Ther…
For pure international, you might consider ICEIX if you can purchase it somewhere. We custody at Schwab. It is a core hold for many clients. Other non-index options include OAKIX, SGOVX, and QFVIX. For one that is more EM than Developed, SIGIX w…
Ben, your point is well taken. While there are valid reasons to hold off SS retirement benefits until age 70, there are many valid reasons for starting benefits earlier. Yours is a great example. Thanks for sharing, and for reminding us that each…
This is good news for existing shareholders. Assets in QMNIX have gone from $1 million to more than $1 billion in less than 3 years. I commend AQR for closing the door and not allow the fund to get bloated. Remember what fate befell MFLDX.
I think this is all much ado about nothing. In case folks didn't know, Schwab, Vanguard and Fidelity are currently in a pricing war, each one lowering its fees on funds and ETFs, sometimes on the same day. I don't know about you, but every hundred…
As I said in another thread on this topic, a good balanced fund is an ok option. BBALX is probably ok, but it doesn't set my heart a-flutter. Other options might be VWELX, RPGAX, TIBIX, MALOX, DODBX. If we are in a period of rising interest rates…
I can tell you over the years that I have seen a lot of truly smart people make truly dumb investment decisions. They tend to analyze and think through every issue, convinced if they just study the issue, they will make the right decision. As we a…
It's good to see my post generating some discussion, since that was my intent. Timing of when to start withdrawals from a retirement account is a big decision. Some folks have no option...they must start distributions at 59.5 years of age. For so…
I would compare BBALX with MALOX, RPGAX, and TIBIX. They are all a bit different. RPGAX has the shortest history. The others have a 10-year record. If I were considering BBALX, I would want to see what management experience each of the current t…
You are correct, Catch. What I meant to say and what I said were not exactly the same. Virtually all of the clients we have who receive pension plan retirement benefits have federal and state taxes withheld from their monthly distributions. Sorry…
Among the international funds we use, depending on risk target of the account: SFNNX, ACWX for Index/ETF core, then ICEIX, SGOVX, OAKIX. Might also take a look at SFILX for small cap. We have some additional international exposure with TIBIX, RPG…
I tend to agree with Ted on this. Three or four fixed-income funds should be plenty, unless your account is all bonds. In my own retirement account, I own three bond funds: OSTIX, FFRHX, and THIIX. They are each very straight forward, very low vo…
A look at current world GDP numbers would suggest at least half, if not more of a person's equity investments should be invested outside the U.S. But because of the multi-national nature of many large companies throughout the world, it is difficult…
The industry is so out of touch with trends in this area. Fees and expenses are going down industry-wide. Clients who never asked us about this before are now doing so, wondering why most of the wire houses, banks, and insurance companies want a d…
All good ideas, Ted. The one about legal documents, however, is especially good. I cannot tell you how many people think if they have a will, they are all set. THEY ARE NOT! Yes, a will is important. But perhaps even more so are Powers of Attor…
Right on, Vintage! The soft drink companies saw a future of lower sales, so they quickly branched out to "safer" and "cleaner" water. As with most things, it's all about money. On the other hand, there are some who believe the next world crisis (…
Columbia Strategic Income is one of these funds that has a share class for every possible selling opportunity, 10 classes that I count. I put NO store in where it ranks in the Non-Traditional Bond category, since that is a garbage bin created to st…
If there is a way to make money, rest assured M* will do it. Sadly, I believe that is the most important thing for them. We should accept this fact, whether or not there is a conflict of interest. It's always about money. They are not going to e…
Disappointing, to say the least. There has been PLENTY of time to digest the rule and get ready for its implementation. A number of companies already implemented on January 1. There is NO non-political or fair reason for delay. It simply allows …
Seafarer Overseas Gr & Inc would be my choice. Great management, concentrated portfolio, benchmark agnostic, focused on risk. It captures much of the EM upside with only about 70% of the downside. All the things you should look for in active m…