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 @catch22: Hi, Catch. The reference to Fidelity was to say that he's not obsessed by what are called "inside the Beltway politics," that is, such interesting only to a small class of folks who leave and breathe politics.
My reference to Fi…
Reply to @catch22: Google Analytics. Only Chip actually knows what half of this stuff means but I do enjoy knowing that while we don't have many visitors from Bern, Switzerland, the one we do have reads a lot of pages and spends quality time with u…
Reply to @Maurice: I profiled Matthews Asia Strategic Income this month. I'm scheduled to talk with Teresa Kong, the lead manager, later in February - our scheduled just haven't meshed yet - about the comparison of Asian to "developed" fixed-income…
Reply to @Kenster1_GlobalValue: I've passed this thread (and the related one on the 2/15 launch) along to Mr. Foster, and asked if we might talk about your questions when we chat later this month. We'll see what he's thinking.
For what interest it…
Good questions.
Andrew helped manage MACSX for eight years: two as an assistant manager, four as a co-manager with Paul Matthews, and two as the sole manager. That underestimates, I think, his role in the fund's management since his role steadily …
Andrew and I were chatting today. I'll make a brief note of the launch in the February update and then we're scheduled for a long talk once the fund's actually available for purchase.
More soon,
David
We are in "the silent period" between registration and launch. The proposed prospectus was filed with the SEC on 14 November and becomes effective 75 days later. Roughly, the fund could launch on or about 1 February. Mr. Foster has already agreed…
Just to be clear, is the problem when you're using the Vanilla board software (this stuff) or Accipiter's program?
Chip is trying to make it home through an ice storm and faces a pretty treacherous drive. I'm sure she'll look in tonight once she's…
For what interest it holds, I've added Fidelity's Global High Income fund to my retirement portfolio. John Carlson, who manages their e.m. bond fund, is the lead manager here. Given my skepticism about the bond market (it's been in a 30 year bull …
Hi, DAK.
Thanks for the kind words. A lot of folks, both on the board and behind the scenes, work awfully hard to produce a really good (free) site. I'm glad you've found it useful. We'll likely go live with the threaded discussion view (that is…
Reply to @fundalarm: I think you might be reacting to the fund's name rather than to its strategy. They invest in called high yield bonds and similar instruments; that is, formerly higher-risk creatures which are now in their last 30 days of existe…
In an old tradition, I'll write a bit about my 2011 portfolio next month. I currently own a number of funds that I've written about (in my non-retirement portfolio, Leuthold Global, RiverPark Short-Term High Yield, Matthews Asian Growth & Incom…
Not to put too fine a point on it, but all returns in a retirement account - except for a Roth - are taxed as ordinary income. That rate's often higher than the current capital gains rate, in which case your tax would be higher in an IRA than out. …
Reply to @Investor: Hi, Investor!
I'll try to learn a bit more. I bought the fund when it reopened in 2008 and I profiled it as a "star in the shadows."
David
Dear friends,
I've spoken with Mr. Foster several times in the late fall. For what interest it holds, he's very cognizant for the fund's expense ratio and was interested in learning about strategies for minimizing the fund's overhead. He's commit…
Hi, equalizer.
It's actually on my to-do list for February's issue. Well-managed, keeps rising to the top of my various statistical screens. Former bank fund. "Institutional" is a misnomer, since the minimum is low. Available in all 50 states. …
Hi, Cathy.
Mom died some years ago, likely of a hospital-induced infection. Her estate turned out to be $15,000 in unpaid bills. Even now, the thought makes me sad. That said, it gets better. Remembering that you're not alone helps. Rememberi…
Hi, Kenster.
My bad. When I click on the ARTLX in Rick's message, it pops a window with a link to the MFO archive. That link works: http://www.mutualfundobserver.com/article.php?article=artisan-opportunistic-value-artlx
As you can tell, this is …
Hi, Rick!
You can't imagine how nice it is to hear from you.
ARTLX is still open to new investors, both directly from Artisan and through several supermarkets.
You might compare it to Artisan Global Value. Value is run by Artisan's Value Team …
Hi, budlite.
You need to think about the bigger picture. You'd get a different answer if you're 40 years to retire and love tracking such things, than if you're 10 years out and just hope to make a decision and be done with it.
In general, I'd co…
Dear friends,
In our original discussion on RPHYX, I argued that the fund's turnover was artificially inflated by the fact that they're constantly redeeming bonds. One respondent argued that redeemed bonds do not count in the fund's turnover ratio…
Reply to @Derf: Hi, Derf.
Over the past 12 months, RPHYX has returned 3.49% (through 12/08/11). It's a hard fund to benchmark. Morningstar considers it a high yield fund, which is understandable but wildly inappropriate since the risk/return char…
Reply to @msf: Hi, msf!
Mr. Sherman admits that he also doesn't know exactly how fund companies are required to calculate turnover rates for the SEC. (He's primarily a hedge fund kind of guy.) He suggested that I chat with the folks at RiverPark …
Reply to @msf: Hi, msf.
The turnover stat is misleading. The fund buys bonds which are set to be redeemed and generally holds them to redemption. The fact that they've got securities with 30-90 day lifespans boosts apparent turnover. You'll see …
Hi, Ted.
It's always good to hear from you, big guy.
Several funds seem to be taking more eclectic views about income. I'm trying to think through their strategies. I'll share what I can.
David
Reply to @MaxBialystock: Hi, Max!
Try http://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discussions-3/
If you're using the old link, you're seeing the old page. Alternately, start at our homepage and click-in from there.
David
Reply to @Maurice: Hi, Mo.
If you don't see a new top banner - an image of the stock exchange, grayed down, with a bull on the far right - you might have to hit "refresh" or "reload." If you do see that banner, then you should also see the new nav…
Reply to @Maurice: Hi, Mo!
Two separate issues. The status of the board software is open for discussion and we (Accipiter, Chip and I) are just starting to look at it. The other changes are fait accompli; the look was designed in great haste duri…
Reply to @catch22: Hi, Catch.
Accipiter has the two boards set up and running on his own machine, and so I'll have to defer to him on the limits of the possible. In general, I imagine we could keep the current board as an archive, for a while or p…
For what it's worth, you need to look for "D" class shares and you need to have a brokerage (Schwab, Scottrade ...) account. PIMCO does not sell directly to the public, but Scottrade (which I mention just because I have an account there) has dozen…
Hi, guy!
Right, measured by the standard of attracting assets, it's a failure. Even though the strategy seems to work, I could imagine folks with a half billion in investments want something way more customized. Even if they get exactly the same …
Reply to @Anonymous: Hi, Paul.
Not much. Gundlach's success seems driven by two factors. First, he plows money into the types of securities that other managers buy just dribbles of. Because there are few buyers, the prices are low and yields are…
Hi, Mike!
I'm working on a story about the three big IPOs (Artisan, M&N, Oak Value). As a sort of public service, I've converted about six pages of each filing document into a tidy Word file, and I'll post them with the story. The IPO prospec…
