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Joe Bradley, Towle's head of client relationships and my contact with the adviser, writes: "Thanks for asking. We take pride in having a true team effort, meaning all five guys are viewed as portfolio managers rather than having an analyst/PM hierar…
Hi, Alex.
In general, we describe our coverage universe as "all those funds that are off Morningstar's radar." In general, we're willing to initiate coverage of a way cool fund if it is: (1) less than three years old or (2) has less than $150 mill…
I suspect that I'm one of his favorite fill-ins. In the normal course of things, Chuck might have me on once or twice a year but sometimes someone further up the food chain cancels (as apparently happened this week) and I sort of pinch hit.
The tal…
Thanks. I'm sure Charles will help talk us through the rankings. I also noticed the Turner anomaly, it sometimes seems more like a ship of the damned than a luxury liner. I have no doubt that the ranking is consistent with the data. The only questio…
Jerry Boyer: "I was a paid CNBC contributor for two years, 2008 and 2009. And my job was principally to appear on Kudlow’s show. I appeared as a guest well over a hundred times ..." Matt Goldwater, a former "news associate" at CNBC wrote in 2014: "…
Let's see: active share provides a model contrary to AQR's business model. AQR's researchers re-run analyses of the A/S data which (surprise!) shows that AQR's business model is the right one. Fidelity, with a regrettable number of closet index fund…
From the SEC, Microcap Stock: A Guide for Investors (2013):
The term "microcap stock" applies to companies with low or "micro" capitalizations, meaning the total value of the company's stock. A typical definition would be companies with a market cap…
In general, I share your preference that at least the investment professionals and trustees invest. As part of a series trust, Seafarer has an external board and such trustees rarely invest in the funds they're overseeing. Internally, Seafarer only …
Hi, VF.
I don't know the answer to the first. I do know that there have been managers who put every penny they have in their firm and in their funds at start-up to help get the fund to a viable level. As the years pass and things stabilize, they tr…
(blushes) Well, yes, but I don't post too often.
Being curious, I did a quick scan of 50 or so recent posts. While it's clear that a fair number of long-tenured members have posted textless links of late, it's also clear that everyone has been work…
Uhhh ...
Working on figuring out why this research isn't, well, stupid. The basic argument is this: if an "institutional investor" owns shares in two companies in the same industry, it's in the manager's best interest for both of the firms to over…
My concern, with students, journalists, fund managers or editors, arises when folks start with the conclusion and work backward to the facts. Almost any conclusion, thoughtfully and honestly reached, is worthy of respect; all the more so when the co…
Hi, Hank.
We have no demographic data on you folks. On adamant principle, we've disabled the tracking functions of Google Analytics. We know aggregate onsite behavior (for example, how long the average visit is and how many folks are on-site) and s…
Sort of a curiously written article. If you go to Goldman's own site, here's their take on their research:
Investors see growing overvaluations in both bonds and equities and have signaled concern about a valuation bubble forming, according to the B…
Howdy.
No, sorry, clueless. (Both generically and with reference to your post.)
In theory, five entities have the ability to delete posts: the four of us with Administrator privileges and the Intersnet. I didn't do anything with this thread excep…
Update #1: talked with Morty Schaja. The TCW fund is a shell. The RiverPark shareholders will likely receive a proxy asking if they'll approve reorganization of the RiverPark fund into the TCW one. If that goes forward and they approve, the change …
Here's all I've got so far: TCW Gargoyle Hedged Value (TFHIX/TFHVX).
The identity section writes in the future tense but gives no effective date:
The following performance information relates to the Institutional Class shares of the RiverPark/Gar…
If you read Jason's column you can track back to Bob Seawright's essay on how advisors can make better decisions, then back again to Seawright'sessay of the same name in Research Magazine. Both make thoughtful arguments.
In the Research Magazine pi…
Two of my former students wrote a dissection on one of Descartes' arguments. They included the aside, "He is French, therefore wrong."
The key seems to be the norms of French academic discourse: all French historians write from the assumption that …
Eric describes the change as having "no significance," doesn't particularly recall a discussion of it and attributes it to a lawyer looking to align the phrasing used in two different sections of the prospectus.
David
Uhhh ... no.
GPIOX was permitted and is permitted to invest 10-60%. GPGOX was permitted and is permitted to do 5-50%.
I've written president Eric Huefner to comment but, based on a side-by-side reading of the September 2014 language and the new Ma…
Most of the folks I've spoken with talk about two sorts of expenses: "hard expenses" which represents money you've absolutely got to pay to other people, and "soft expenses" which is compensation to the manager for running the fund. I've been told …
Hey, they held bravely on (for six whole months!) waiting for investors to discover them. Surely that qualifies as evidence of brilliant business planning and persistence, doesn't it?
David
Hmmm ... it delivers a 7.4% yield with a 6.45% total return, annualized over five years. Negative alpha and high beta against its "best fit" index over the past three years; Morningstar doesn't provide the five-year best fit data.
In a move that o…
Dear friends,
You have to remember that we're writing for two different audiences. The "Briefly Noted" stuff generally isn't news to folks who spend time at the board, so I sort of assume that you'll skim or skip that section if you do choose to re…
An alternate possibility: investors won't tolerate real value investing. There are probably two hallmarks of the deep value investor; that is, of the investor who's after the "value premium" found in the academic research. First, they're willing t…
Hi, NG.
Sorry about not picking up this thread before. Three quick notes: First, I didn't refer to SGENX in the profile because the plan was to compare BBLAX to the Gold-rated funds in its category. That, admittedly, excludes some very fine funds b…
Can you say "Merriman Funds"?
Mr. Merriman, the author, has had it all figured out for a long time. Beating the market is simple. Right up to the point where you attempt to actually do it. He launched the Merriman Funds in the 90s, sure that he …
Certainly not pickin' on Matthews. My screen focused just on the diversified EM world. Like you, I maintain a position with Matthews albeit MACSX rather than MAPIX.
David
Yuh, let's not.
166 Gold funds, a number inflated by reporting institutional versions separate from retail ones.
Well over 25% of those, 41 after eliminating dual reports, are from Vanguard.
14 Fidelity funds of which a total of one (1! uno) is …
In response to bee's query about one-star Gold funds:
No, there are none at the moment. There are five two-star Gold funds; three are Vanguard indexes and two are actively managed Manning & Napier funds.
There are four one-star Silver funds: V…
A curious development. The fund pretty much sucks. But the same team subadvises a second EM debt fund (Stone Harbor EM Debt) that is consistently and substantially stronger. Odd. Normally management mistakes manifest across more than one fund.
…
