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.
Reply to @Shostakovich: The international piece is almost impossible to judge. On face, PRAFX has 50% more international than PRNEX (45 vs 30%). But that assumes that owning Exxon counts as 0% international. A better answer would include the sour…
Reply to @Shostakovich: I think that's a valid and relevant observation. Three quick notes:
1. MACSX was, is and likely will continue to be one of your two prime Asia options, along with MAPIX.
2. SFGIX is a very different creature. It currently…
All of the FBR funds were acquired by Hennessey, but only three of them are being merged. Balanced was not, when last I looked, going to be merged.
For what interest it holds, there's a discussion of the mergers, and a guess about who wins, in my …
Yep, that certainly is a striking feature of the fund. The fee is structurally high in the sense that it's driven by a 1.5% management fee; that is, the managers' cut of the action. In a hedge fund it would be 2% of assets plus 20% of net profits …
Hi, Nick.
I was not looking for a concentrated fund per se; I just track lots of interesting small funds. Several Observer readers wrote and asked me to look into this one in particular. I did, it was striking, and so we ran the profile.
Does th…
Hi, big guy!
"this fund will lose value as it did last October." I think the manager would argue that the decline is a transitory fiction. The bonds in his portfolio are marked to market each day; that is, he has to assign the price he'd get if h…
Reply to @claimui: Yep, though the question is still worth pursuing. There are two variables that affect it: (1) market conditions which dictate the behavior of the bond issuers and (2) related strategies which he could pursue but hasn't yet - most…
This is not a decision that I immediately respect. The fund has nearly $19 billion in assets, which is a huge, ungainly mass regardless of a fund's orientation. The fund also has a billion more than when it narrowed access, though it's also not fa…
Hi, A!
Thanks for the heads-up. I covered the problem in my August essay, with credit to you for discovering it. The short answer is, Yahoo's incompetent.
David
They haven't launched yet but will, in theory, be available on August 1. Companies can delay planned launches for any number of reasons, and Manning delayed this one by a few weeks so far. No new filings other than the delay.
David
For what interest it holds, I offered Mr. Waggoner four funds for his consideration:
1. Wells Fargo Absolute Return (WARAX - great ticker symbol) - which is the retail version of GMO Benchmark Free Allocation. Downside: 5.5% load plus Wells double…
Wow. I'm guessing that you've had electricity and reasonable temperatures and everything? Not conditions uniformly available here on vacation in our nation's capital. I met a family of Maryland refugees in the lobby last night - after three days …
Interest rates are set at auction: if buyers bid high for Treasuries, the interest they receive will be low.
Auction prices are set by anxiety: if buyers are in a panic, they'll buy Treasuries regardless of how low the interest is (they're even wil…
Hi, Catch.
The Analytics, Vanilla and Mail Chimp programs generate a lot of data, much of it in real-time (as I write, for example, I know there are six people on-site including one from Geneva, Switzerland, and that four of them are visiting the b…
Reply to @Hiyield007: Thanks for the kind words. They are a lot of awfully bright and good folks who post on the board. I mostly contribute by my shameless willingness to pick up the phone and call fund managers with other folks' good questions. …
Reply to @Hiyield007: Hi, HY!
At the risk of repetitive redundancy, I'll note that RPHYX has essentially nothing in common with the portfolios or profiles of short-term high-yield bond funds. The manager's strategy is to invest a large fraction of…
Reply to @Maurice: Hi, Mo. The manager tells me that almost all of the turnover reflects the final redemption of his holdings. I'm on the road and don't have my notes at hand, but my recollection is that the fund has $100M AUM and that he makes so…
Reply to @andrei: Good question. Apparently Mr. Romick either recruited them or at least endorsed them, which implies the possibility of a relationship but I'll have to ask to be sure.
The Tech Value situation was crazy, which I sort of mentioned in the essay a couple months ago. Six private holdings + 75% cash = 170% return in under four months. NAV moved something like 3%, market price by 170%. When I asked a rep what sense t…
Reply to @Old_Joe: I suspect we're all stuck with the same press release until the formal filings occur. And the release said nothing about expenses or minimums. I'll keep an eye out at the SEC's website. David
Hi, bee.
Walked through it. The software concluded that both the hypothetical investor (Robin) that Junior and Johanna used in this month's "Best of" column and I are in deep doo-doo. Robin needs to save $1100/month and I need to park away $2600…
Hi, guys. Sorry about the delayed response - chip and I were both out of town on business for the past four or five days, and so were a bit less vigilant. Her guess is that our site was not hacked but that our server (that is, the folks who host u…
Hi, Bobpa.
Its recent performance is (1) noticeable better than its diversified emerging market peers and (2) roughly in-line with MACSX - looks like a bit lower returns but a bit less volatility - but I'm not sure I'd put much weight in such a sho…
Actually, 1.75% seems like the "real" ratio.
1.56% reflects operating expenses but does not reflect expenses generated by the fund's short positions. Those expenses are variable, depending on the extent of the shorts.
2.47% is what the manager es…
Reply to @scott: Hi, Scott. It's in my April cover essay. I noted that River Park was bringing two new hedged funds to market, and I also offered quick updates on two others. David
Hi, JB!
I'll note, in passing, that I have not profiled RLSFX. I did report on its launch and its background as a hedge fund, but I haven't had time to speak with the management or to work through its strategies.
I'm in the midst of a longer term…
Yuh ... 91 for Dave. Hmmm ... wonder if there's any incentive for a firm that sells long-term care insurance to calculate that I have a long-term? Hmmm ...
Reply to @kevindow: Hi, Kevin!
"Watch" is great. I don't make "buy" recommendations, ever. There are some fund which I believe particular sorts of investors should investigate more or less vigorously, and a few which seem plausible but which worr…
Hi, Charles.
A couple things come into play. One is that Mr. Kaiser has years and years of successful investing, and so bears watching. We talked at length, and he argued that the quality of the investment opportunities were too low for his taste…
