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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.
  • Relatively poor funds in 401k - Need help
    @mrc70,
    As I see it, you have a much better than average selection of funds in your retirement plan. With your selection, I would probably pick one fund and use my other retirement accounts to complete the portfolio.
    I am a federal employee, and I have a limited but a more than adequate selection of funds in our Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), which have an average expense ratio of a crazy-low 0.029%.
    Right now I have 100% of my TSP in the "S" fund, which is comparable to your FSEVX. Based on technical analysis, I shift assets between the TSP "C" fund (S&P500 equivalent, FXSIX) and the "S" fund, and use my other retirement accounts to fill out our portfolio.
    If you have a position in PRWCX, then I would not bother with OAKBX, And SFGIX is a much better option in EM than GTDIX. And for FI, I would stick with PIMIX, and maybe WHAIX, and call it a day.
    Kevin
  • What Are You Buying ... Selling ... or Pondering?
    Hi MikeM!
    Sounds a lot like us. We are a division of a worldwide company that's been downsizing for years also. The HR Dept. is all new.....less than 90 days....so this whole thing was poorly presented. Have gone to HR.....told them what you said. They called corporate to confirm. Yes, it can go to an IRA tax free because it came out of the retirement pension fund. Thank you very much, Mike!
    God bless
    the Pudd
  • Relatively poor funds in 401k - Need help
    Sounds like a good plan. Remember, the discipline of funding your retirement accounts as much as possible is the biggest objective. Second is to adjust your Fed withholdings so you get as close to break even as you can. So many get huge refunds each spring that instead can be working in your retirement investments instead.
  • Relatively poor funds in 401k - Need help
    I think the funds available are a very small part of the total return outcome over time. Putting together a good diverse portfolio and not screwing things up by trying to time the market will be 90% of your profit. I see index funds and a nice balanced fund, including retirement funds on the list. Hard to beat.
  • Relatively poor funds in 401k - Need help
    Hi,
    Could you please help me in identifying better choices in the following? I have IRAs with Vangard and TDA, where I have superb choices and invested in funds ike VDIGX, VHCOX, ARTKX, FPACX, AKREX, SFGIX, GPGOX, etc.
    There are some good funds like OAKBX, Janus Enterprise, V'rd health care, bond funds, index funds, etc. in this list, but overall disappointing choices in my opinion.
    I am comfortable with my allocation %ages for various asset classes, so where I need the advice is just in identifying good funds, not overall asses allocation. Appreciate all of your help.
    LCap
    ****
    Janus Enterprise Fund Class N (JDMNX) Stock
    American Beacon Large Cap Value Fund Class Institutional (AADEX) Stock
    Fidelity® Capital Appreciation Fund - Class K (FCAKX) Stock
    Fidelity® 500 Index Fund - Institutional Class (FXSIX) Stock
    Fidelity® Large Cap Growth Index Fund - Premium Class (FSUPX) Stock
    Fidelity® Large Cap Value Index Fund - Premium Class (FLCHX) Stock
    MCap
    ****
    Fidelity® Mid Cap Index Fund - Premium Class (FSCKX) Stock
    MFS Mid Cap Value Fund Class R6 (MVCKX) Stock
    Fidelity® Extended Market Index Fund - Premium Class (FSEVX) Stock
    Scap
    ****
    Northern Small Cap Value Fund (NOSGX) Stock
    Loomis Sayles Small Cap Value Fund Class N (LSCNX) Stock
    UBS U.S. Small Cap Growth Fund Class P (BISCX) Stock
    Fidelity® Small Cap Index Fund - Premium Class (FSSVX) Stock
    Balanced
    ********
    Oakmark Equity And Income Fund Investor Class (OAKBX) Blend
    Sector
    ******
    Cohen & Steers Realty Shares Fund (CSRSX) Stock
    Vanguard Health Care Fund Admiral Shares (VGHAX) Stock
    International/Global
    ********************
    Deutsche Global Small Cap Fund Institutional Class (KGDIX) Stock
    Invesco Developing Markets Fund R5 Class (GTDIX) Stock
    Fidelity® International Discovery Fund - Class K (FIDKX) Stock
    Bonds
    *****
    Fidelity® Total Bond Fund (FTBFX) Bond
    Vanguard Inflation-Protected Securities Fund Admiral Shares (VAIPX) Bond
    Money Market
    ************
    Putnam Stable Value Fund Bond
    Fidelity® Investments Money Market Government Portfolio - Class I (FIGXX) Short Term
    Retirement Series
    *****************
    FIAM Target Date 2060 Commingled Pool Class S Blend
    FIAM Target Date 2055 Commingled Pool Class S Blend
    FIAM Target Date 2050 Commingled Pool Class S Blend
    FIAM Target Date 2045 Commingled Pool Class S Blend
    FIAM Target Date 2040 Commingled Pool Class S Blend
    FIAM Target Date 2035 Commingled Pool Class S Blend
    FIAM Target Date 2030 Commingled Pool Class S Blend
    FIAM Target Date 2025 Commingled Pool Class S Blend
    FIAM Target Date 2020 Commingled Pool Class S Blend
    FIAM Target Date 2015 Commingled Pool Class S Blend
    FIAM Target Date 2010 Commingled Pool Class S Blend
    FIAM Target Date 2005 Commingled Pool Class S Blend
    FIAM Target Date Income Commingled Pool Class S Blend
  • European Value Mutual Fund
    Evermore Global Value (EVGIX/EVGBX) looks interesting, but the expenses that investors actually pay according to the latest M* Prospectus are 1.53% and 1.78%, respectively. Of course, these actual expenses cannot be found on the M* front pages or expense pages of these funds.
    I would also consider MEURX (1.05% ER) available according to test trades in retirement accounts at Wellstrade ($250 minimum) and TDAmeritrade ($100K minimum).
    If it were my money, I would buy DLEUX/DSEUX (ER 0.91/0.66%) based on the excellent backtested performance of the underlying index posted previously by @davidrmoran:
    Article
    Kevin
  • Kopernik Global All-Cap Fund to close to new investors
    https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/890540/000113542817000035/kopernik-497.txt
    DOCUMENT>
    497
    1
    kopernik-497.txt
    THE ADVISORS' INNER CIRCLE FUND II (THE "TRUST")
    KOPERNIK GLOBAL ALL-CAP FUND (THE "FUND")
    SUPPLEMENT DATED JANUARY 19, 2017
    TO THE SUMMARY PROSPECTUS AND PROSPECTUS DATED MARCH 1, 2016, AS SUPPLEMENTED
    OCTOBER 24, 2016
    AND THE STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION DATED MARCH 1, 2016 (THE "SAI")
    THIS SUPPLEMENT PROVIDES NEW AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION BEYOND THAT CONTAINED
    IN THE SUMMARY PROSPECTUS, PROSPECTUS AND SAI, AND SHOULD BE READ IN
    CONJUNCTION WITH THE SUMMARY PROSPECTUS, PROSPECTUS AND SAI.
    Effective March 31, 2017 (the "Effective Date"), the Fund will be closed to
    certain new investments because Kopernik Global Investors, LLC (the "Adviser")
    believes that the implementation of the Fund's investment strategy may be
    adversely affected if the size of the Fund is not limited.
    While any existing shareholder may continue to reinvest Fund dividends and
    distributions, other new investments in the Fund may only be made by those
    investors within the following categories:
    o Direct shareholders of the Fund as of the Effective Date and the date
    of the new investment;
    o Participants in qualified retirement plans that offer shares of the
    Fund as an investment option as of the Effective Date; and
    o Trustees and officers of the Trust, employees of the Adviser, and
    their immediate family members.
    The Fund reserves the right to modify the above criteria, suspend all sales of
    new shares or reject any specific purchase order for any reason.
    PLEASE RETAIN THIS SUPPLEMENT FOR FUTURE REFERENCE
    KGI-SK-004-0100
  • why you should be an indexed investor only
    "You may be thinking that, if passive is the way to go, you might as well make things even simpler. Why not just put your retirement money in the bank and forget it? While you can certainly do that, the results may be disastrous. If you want more than just Social Security for your retirement, you need your money to grow.
    Consider this. In 1913, nine cents bought a quart of milk. In 1963, the same nine cents bought a small glass of milk. In 2015, nine cents bought seven tablespoons of milk. Clearly, putting money under the mattress doesn't work for the long term. The culprit of the declining purchasing power of that nine cents is inflation. The moral of this story is to make sure your money grows at least as fast as inflation.
    That requires investing it. For example, it would require $13 today to equal the purchasing power that $1 provided in 1926. Had you put one dollar in the bank in 1926, you would have $21 today. Having invested the dollar in long-term bonds would give you $132. However, invested in the S&P 500 index (stocks), you would have $5,386."
    I love this assertion that the past stock market's performance is prelude to the future market's performance. Let's assume that indexers are right and that stock performance truly is a "random walk," which active managers can't predict and therefore can't beat. Why accept the other notion indexers believe in then that in the "long run stocks always go up" if it is truly random? The 104 years of market history this author cites is less than a heartbeat in the history of the planet. Just because markets have gone up in the past is no guarantee they will go up in the future. Rising markets are not a law of nature like gravity in physics. There is no guarantee even that stock markets will continue to exist. There is a historical precedence for markets disappearing altogether as happened to Russia in the 1910s during the Russian revolution: https://the-international-investor.com/2011/st-petersburg-stock-exchange-1865-1917-diversification-pays-emerging-markets
    Can an active manager predict when the next bubble will burst or some major geopolitical event is about to occur with any certainty? No, but they can at least react defensively to it when a blind mechanical index can't. What indexing's triumph proves is not that markets are efficient, always rising and therefore unbeatable. It proves that costs matter. Costs are the one thing in funds you can predict will have an impact with a fairly accurate degree of mathematical certainty. Not just expense ratios, but trading costs and market impact costs. But a low cost, low turnover actively managed fund with a manageable level of assets can be a better investment than a mechanical index fund.
  • What Are You Buying ... Selling ... or Pondering?
    One suggestion to think about Puddenhead, if your buy-out is taxable and you want to put it into retirement savings, a Roth IRA would be a better idea than a regular IRA, at least for the Roth IRA yearly max (not sure what it is now). If you get it before April I believe you can max both 2016 and 2017 with the money. Just a thought.
  • Abhay Deshpande CINTX and CENTS - any opinion?
    Scottrade offers both CENTX (world allocation) and CINTX (foreign LB) for $100 minimums in taxable and retirement accounts + TF as Kevin described.
    Kevin

    aah...i trusted M* fund page which still does not list Scottrade.
    While I find M*'s "purchase" pages (lists of brokerage availability) some of the least reliable (usually errors of omission), in this case M* was spot on.
    The CENTX purchase page and the CINTX purchase page each shows the fund available at "Scottrade TF" as Kevin described.
    Regarding CETAX, the M* purchase page shows that you can already get it at TDAmeritrade NTF. TDAmeritrade confirms this; there the standard $5K min is required.
  • Abhay Deshpande CINTX and CENTS - any opinion?
    Scottrade offers both CENTX (world allocation) and CINTX (foreign LB) for $100 minimums in taxable and retirement accounts + TF.
    Kevin
    aah...i trusted M* fund page which still does not list Scottrade. Good to know, then it will be also available in TD Ameritrade.
    Just checked at Scottrade, neither CETAX or CENTX is available NTF.
  • Abhay Deshpande CINTX and CENTS - any opinion?
    @kevindow
    Scottrade offers both CENTX (world allocation) and CINTX (foreign LB) for $100 minimums in taxable and retirement accounts + TF.
    Very helpful to know! Thanks for pointing it out. I certainly missed it. Best
  • Abhay Deshpande CINTX and CENTS - any opinion?
    Scottrade offers both CENTX (world allocation) and CINTX (foreign LB) for $100 minimums in taxable and retirement accounts + TF.
    Kevin
  • M*: Lower-Cost T Shares Coming To A Fund Near You
    Hi @msf
    Yup, have held TEGBX (C shares); cause I/we wanted the fund holding at the time and the fund was only available via a company retirement offering. I don't recall all of the nuts and bolts of the share pricing at the time, but that the outright E.R. is/was .77%.
    Our house history with this fund:
    ---Purchase about May, 2009.........sell May, 2012 total return for this period = +27%
    ---this fund ran about another year with solid returns; May 2012-May 2013 = +14%
    ---Two price peaks occurred near May, 2013 and again at Sept. 2014
    ---May 2013 return through present = -1%
    ---Sept 2014 return through present = -2%
    I won't "dis" the manager's skill and/or knowledge of global bonds. Our house was merely attempting to wade through the nasty investing environment of the time. The U.S. was still moving to the next Q.E. policy, Euroland was still in austerity mode, Greece was blowing investing "stuff" up every 6 months or so and bonds were still having positive price moves (U.S. credit rating downgrade, Aug. 2011). TEGBX during our holding period was another diverse area in bondland, aside from investment grade and high yield. Playing in bondland is about as much of a challenge as one may choose in the investment world, IMHO. So, we got lucky with our "in" period for this fund, but apparently left when the leaving was good.
    I will presume @JoJo26 never had to be concerned with "A" or "C" share choices inside an offered retirement program. We all have different plates of choice, at least involving retirement plan offerings via an employer.
    I will nominate you, @msf for the MFO archiver award. :)
    This link is overview of this fund and class info:
    https://www.franklintempleton.com/forms-literature/download/406-FF
    Regards,
    Catch
  • PTIAX Returns to No Fee/Low Minimum Status @ Schwab
    PTIAX - Performance Trust Strat Bd Fd
    NAV: 22.36 +0.01
    POP: 0.00
    52 Week High: 23.09
    52 Week Low: 22.21
    Trans. Fee Fund: No
    Sales Load: None
    As of 01/03/2017
    Initial/Additional both regular and retirement
    Minimum: $100.00/ $1.00)
    http://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/investing/investment_help/investment_research/mutual_fund_research/mutual_funds.html?path=/Prospect/Research/MutualFunds/Summary.asp?symbol=PTIAX
  • Keeping SFGIX?
    This may not be hank's day for math. A 20% gain followed by a 10% gain is no different from a 10% gain followed by a 20% gain. Either way, one winds up with 132% of the original investment. That's because multiplication is commutative.
    120% x 110% = 110% x 120%.
    A reason why conventional wisdom says a large gain early is better is because in retirement you're bleeding off fixed dollar amounts each year. If the large gain comes early, then in the first year you're bleeding off a smaller percentage of the investment, leaving a bigger fraction to grow.
    Say you've started with $100K, and are drawing down $10K annually. If the 20% year comes first, then starting at year zero you have:
    0: $100K
    1: $120K - $10K = $110K
    2: $110K x 110% - $10K = $121K - $10K = $111K
    If the 20% year comes later, then starting at year zero you have:
    0: $100K
    1: $110K - $10K = $100K
    2: $100K x 120% - $10K = $120K - $10K = $110K
    The first sequence leaves you with more money.
  • Keeping SFGIX?
    Good year, in 2016. I've been in it for a bit more than 4 years. Is it really up by about 15% in 4 years---or so? Double checking myself.
    Lipper shows $10,000 invested in this fund at inception on 2/15/12 to be worth $12,368 today: http://funds.us.reuters.com/US/funds/overview.asp?symbol=SFGIX.O
    Here's how I learned to do percentages:
    1. Subtract initial value from current value = a difference of $2368 (represents gain).
    2. Divide the gain ($2368) by the initial investment ($10,000) = 0.2368.
    3. Shifting decimal 2 points to the right gives you the 23.68% increase in value since inception.
    4. Dividing above by 5 (approximate years of existence) gives a very rough (slightly understated) return of about 4.74% per year.
    You can further refine this by dividing that 23.68% increase in value by 58.5 (the approximate number of months the fund has existed) resulting in a monthly gain of aporoximately .405% and than multiplying that by 12 (number of months in a year) to arrive at an annual average gain over that period of: +4.86%. Geez - Considering the amount of risk assumed in investing in emerging markets, I'm not impressed.
    Regarding Balvenie 12-year (from your later post), a check of the store shelf finds that selling for about $50 locally. The best I can afford, occassionally, is Tomatin 12 year, selling locally for $33. Doing the math I find your single malt priced about 51.5% higher than mine. I'm sure you find it better tasting.
    I learned my best math from Miss Milton in Eigth Grade back in the late 50s. (She was actually the school librarian.) My high school math teacher, by contrast, was a dork. And, can't remember taking any math classes in college. I'll say, if you needed to do any math back in my younger days before the electronic calculator was mass marketed to the public it was quite an experience - and one you younger folks probably can't remember. :)
    ** There are several different ways growth can be expressed in percentages. For example, the figure I got is not the compounded rate of growth which I believe would be lower. But I still think my method useful for providing a rough comparison of performance with other funds during the same period. As for SFGIX: This fund is outside my normal risk perameters in retirement. While I might speculate in small amounts on this type of fund for short periods, it wouldn't do much for peace of mind or ability to sleep at night.
  • GAVAX in 2017?
    @VintageFreak, In the World Allocation space, I would prefer MTOIX, which is available in Fidelity retirement accounts for a $500 minimum + TF according to a test trade I just made.
    Kevin
    Thanks. Will research. Only Schwab seems an option for me since minimum is $25000 and I'm not going to plonk that much all at once using MTRAX.
  • GAVAX in 2017?
    @VintageFreak, In the World Allocation space, I would prefer MTOIX, which is available in Fidelity retirement accounts for a $500 minimum + TF according to a test trade I just made.
    Kevin