Though it has come early strictly in terms of age, the onset of my retirement is here. I'm more than ready. It was made official last week-end. It feels wonderful to have all that former stuff behind me. I'm celebrating, quietly. It is GOOD to be RETIRED. Amen.

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/912036/000119312511317229/d258316d497.htm
Aston Funds
ASTON/River Road Independent Value Fund
Class N Shares and Class I Shares
Supplement dated November 18, 2011
to the Class N Prospectus dated December 28, 2010 and Summary Prospectus dated April 6, 2011,
and the Class I Prospectus dated May 27, 2011 and Summary Prospectus dated June 1, 2011
IMPORTANT NOTICE
This supplement provides new and additional information beyond that contained in each Prospectus and Summary Prospectus and should be retained and read in conjunction with each Prospectus and Summary Prospectus. Keep it for future reference.
The ASTON/River Road Independent Value Fund (the “Fund”) expects that it will implement a “Soft Close” if the net assets of the Fund reach a certain level (the “Soft Close Level”) in combination with other assets managed in the same investment strategy by the Fund’s subadviser, River Road Asset Management, LLC (“River Road”). Currently, the Fund expects its Soft Close Level to be between $500 million and $600 million in net assets. As of November 16, 2011, the net assets of the Fund were $469 million. If implemented, a Soft Close will mean that the Fund will not accept additional investments until further notice beginning on an effective date to be determined by the officers of Aston Funds (the “Soft Close Effective Date”), with the following exceptions:
• Existing shareholders of the Fund may add to their accounts, including through reinvestment of dividends and distributions.
• Financial advisors and/or financial consultants who currently have clients invested in the Fund may open new accounts for current or new clients and add to such accounts where the Fund determines that such investments will not harm its investment process and where operationally feasible.
• Participants in retirement plans which utilize the Fund as an investment option on the Soft Close Effective Date may designate the Fund where operationally feasible.
• Trustees of Aston Funds, employees of Aston Asset Management LP and River Road and their family members may open new accounts and add to such accounts.
The Fund reserves the right to make additional exceptions or otherwise modify the foregoing closure policy at any time and to reject any investment for any reason.
For more information, please call Aston Funds: 800-992-8151 or visit our website at www.astonfunds.com.

Andrei, in the post linked below, has some questions re PRPFX. I see that a number of you already hold PRPFX, and so I'd much appreciate your thoughts, as I'm also considering putting some portion of our retirement stash there.
⇒ Link to Andrei's Post

12% N. America stock
2% Europe stock
8% Asia-Oz-Lat. Amer. stock
3% highest-beta bond & commodities
15% core-plus bond
40% core bond, including ~15% munis
10% short-term bond
10% sideline cash, available for investment
Largest stock positions are in Arivx, the stock portion of Vwinx, Vdc (etf), Mapix, Macsx, Prblx, and a 401k S&P 500 index. Largest bond positions are in Dlfnx, Dbltx, Tgcfx, Vwiux, and a 401k total U.S. bond index.
I'm not counting a moderate stash of emergency cash.
Cheers, AJ
Edit: to clarify, I'm on a fairly steep slide toward "retirement," which in my case means what I've been doing for work is (a) largely going away and (b) paying next to nothing anymore. So, the plan is to continue slumming about for small shots of work income, basically as long as I inhabit the surface of this blue-green planet.

Hey, Investor and Scott.
I am grateful for your obviously sincere concern. I admit my portfolio is truly NOT what I would like it to look like at the moment... I am not dismissing your offer to assist with allocation advice. It's just that right now, I am anticipating---along with my brothers, sisters and cousins--- some inheritance money. (Bless my beloved aunt, who never married or had kids of her own!) Instead of revamping soon and then AGAIN later on, I figured I'd wait to get that cash and then deploy it in a way that will truly diversify me further.
Nothing is ever ideal for any of us, I know. I have to "admit" to you that in my portfolio at the moment, I'm holding ZERO cash. My circumstances have ALWAYS been so---- able to invest through 403b at work, but therefore, I've always been "cash-poor." If I had a big lump of greenbacks, I could buy into "this" fund or "that" fund without any delay, whenever the time seemed right. (By that, I DO NOT mean that I'm trying to TIME the Market.)............ In fact, one piece of my portfolio I might choose to cover is just to hold MONEY in a bank account, just so ALL my money is not already tied-up.
For the record: You know of my conviction about Asia, and how all good things are moving toward the Orient and South Asia. The West is dead, over the long haul, and the recent ('08) Financial Crash is not the reason, it is just another brick in the wall.
Here's what I'm holding right now:
1) Cash: 0%
2) MAPIX: 34.24% (Trad. IRA)
3) PREMX: 41.83% (rollover IRA from old 403b)
4) MACSX: 3.12% (regular, taxable investment account)
5) PFE (Pfizer) ---already a piece of the inheritance: 14.83%
6) Israel government zero-coupon bond: pays 5.68%, almost doubling my money at maturity, bought in 2003 and maturing in 2013.
I've not sold the Pfizer and done something else with it because of its good reputation and .20 cent quarterly dividend, though I HATE the very idea of making money off a human necessity: drugs and healthcare.
I invested in the Israel bond before some events which transpired soon afterward which would have steered me away from that particular investment. I turned down the offer a couple of years ago to cash it in early with no penalty.
I have such a big stake in (TRP) PREMX EM Bond at the moment because I rolled-over my (TRP) PRLAX Latin America shares into PREMX when I decided it was time to get rid of PRLAX. I made about 11% or so on my PRLAX stake, but for a period of a few months in '10, it was doing nothing, and I was already late for the huge rise in share price during '09.
Back in '10, I was also holding PRSVX TRP small-cap value fund. I'd held it through thick and thin for about 5 years or so, and it is really an index-hugger. I was sick of its do-nothing performance; I was not going to lose anything (except diversification) by rolling it into PREMX; and after rolling-over the PRSVX into PREMX this past July, I avoided the outrageous 100% jump in the annual extortion ("admin.") fee, which gets charged in August, rather than December, most everywhere else. Now, I've got so many PREMX shares, I'm not charged at all for the annual extortion fee.
But I'm not trying to be "penny wise but pound foolish." I'm certainly NOT satisfied with the very limited way my portfolio is spread-out. I fully intend to find some other sorts of things in which to invest, once the cash comes through.
My short-list includes MWHYX, QRSVX, DODIX, PRSNX. I don't feel embarrassed to say that everything I'm discussing comes to just over $100,000.00 currently, so a LOT more diversification would only accomplish DILUTING my earnings. I mean, it would be very easy to over-do the whole diversification thing.
I prefer to (eventually) get to a 60% bonds and 30% stock and 10% cash portfolio. At this moment in time, I'm sitting on 52.25% equities and 47.74% bonds. I have the EM bonds piece covered (PREMX). I have Asia equities covered (MAPIX and MACSX). I am into the Dow 30 with Pfizer. That single foreign-gov't bond is a specialty item, but is as safe as safe can be. I'd like to find a monthly income-producer in a domestic bond fund which offers better than a lousy 2 cents per share.
All my retirement funds are still not being tapped yet. I have a (new) job and income on which I can live. I'm out of church work now. I am not yet OFFICIALLY retired, but that is already in the works. I am 57. The monthly retirement checks will be invested, not spent. (Less than $500/month, anyhow---in a traditional defined-benefit plan which ostensibly will last until I die. After that, wifey will receive an even BIGGER monthly benefit.)
This is TOO thorough. Thanks for your kind attention and sage advice.

An aggressive retirement portfolio suggestion overweight Asia (just something I came up with as a random suggestion)
15% MAPIX
15% MACSX
15% TEGBX
15% SGIIX (or whatever share class)
15% FPACX
5% PCRRX
10% RNSIX
10% PAUDX

Reply to @MaxBialystock:
Max,
I agree with Scott that 43% on one fund, sector is risky. I think while the portfolio is different, MAPTX will probably not going to give you enough diversification either as you will still be heavily leveraged to the region and I suspect you will get even less support from dividends if you switch to MAPTX on a market decline.
Why don't you post your current portfolio in full here (percentages only) and let us opine where you are missing coverage. For example you did not have much bonds and when you added bonds you again chose an emerging markets bonds. You need more diversification than this, especially if you are going to retire. When you are working you can make up for losses but in retirement you need to be more conservative and I have the feeling you are taking too much risk by concentrating to a few sectors.
BTW, How old are you? In my mind you were still too young to retire but I could be wrong. I remember you had lost your job this year. Is that leading you to retirement?

OK, understood. And yes, I am about to be semi-retired, soon receiving reduced pension checks, monthly. My dividend payers are not yet being tapped for current income. I'm still planning for quite a while to keep those dividends growing and compounding in the tax-sheltered retirement vehicles where they already reside. Thanks, guys.
I DO like Matthews with regard to their funds' performance. I suppose the input I've received from you all leads me to stick with MAPIX. It's just that I am acutely aware of how overloaded I am there. I hold 43% of my whole portfolio in that one, single fund. With regard to customer service, Matthews has their head up their ass. And it's because they've farmed-out customer "service" to BNY Mellon. Their customer "service" is a lousy joke played on the ones who invest their money with Matthews. At this very moment, I'm trying to get something resolved with them. I QUIT dealing with the alleged "customer service" BNY-Mellon people. Their true name ought to be: "Customer Rage and Aggravation-Producing" team. I've got a couple of calls in to the HQ in S.F.

Catch - Thanks for your useful comments. Actually my Roth IRA includes PETDX, TGEIX and now I just purchased $10,000 worth of DBLFX, with only a $75.00 transcation fee. I made the purchase today, selling $10,075 worth of TGEIX. So to sum it all up, I will own equal amounts of PETDX, TGEIX and DBLFX in my Roth account at Fidelity, in addition to $275,000 of DBLTX in my non-retirement Fidelity Premier Brokerage Account. All four funds I am currently reinvesting the dividends, so that when I expect to retire next year, I will take the dividend from all four funds in lieu of a pension. Despite market volitaility I should do quite nicely with the dividends. I would love to hear from David's comments about my current holdings.

Thanks, you guys.I had no particular funds in mind, though I knew I was NOT looking for equities. PIMCO has just recently added some equity funds to its lineup, I understand. I STILL do not use a platform like Fido or Scottrade or Schwab or E-Trade. What I own, I have purchased retail, directly through the fund houses. My IRA was in TAVIX for several years, but just about the time they expanded into different classes of shares, I pulled out the whole wad and put it in MAPIX. It's a TRADITIONAL IRA. And what I'd been holding in an old Royce 403b until last July is now in a TRP Rollover IRA, ALL of it at the moment in PREMX. What I'm looking to do pretty soon, after my ducks get lined-up in a neat row, is to put some more money into a different bond fund. MWHYX or MWTRX are under serious consideration. I realize it's something of a contradiction for me to be with TRP, given my aversion to huge, big, gigantic, monstrously large fund-houses, but I remained there after rolling-over a 403b. I had the 403b there in TRP in the first place just because at the time, available options for 403b accounts were shrinking. TRP was among them, and to my mind, better than some others. The entire 403b thing has always been self-directed by me, myself and I. So yes, on that score, I've been luckier than most, who must choose from among funds that charge a load and carry high fees---because their 403b administrator is clueless about things...
57, semi-retired, I filed for reduced retirement checks, to start after the New Year. My new job is likewise with another nonprofit. (Church work, prior.) And the income is classified as NON-taxable, though the gross amount will never make me rich. I will forever be grateful for the information, evaluations and commentary I've discovered here with this savvy bunch of fellow fund investors. When some more expected inheritance money finally comes my way from auntie's executor, I will surely not squander it on idiotic schemes. And that's all YOUR fault, y'all.

Would the combination of these two bond funds comprise a CORE band holding? I was thinking of selling $5,000 of TGEIX in my Roth and adding $5,000 of DBLFX instead, perhaps with adding more DBLFX as I sell more of my TGEIX. DBLTX is now my only "core" bond fund in my non-retirement portfolio at Fidelity. I can "sneak in with DBLFX by only needing a minimum of $5,000 for an IRA. Comments and or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Paul

Reply to @johnN:
also what's interesting is IF you look at most target date MFs at major large institutions, they have ~ 50s% in equities even for those that are close to retirement
http://www.google.com/finance?q=target+retirement+2010

One side: there's going to be inflation (quite possibly worse than the unreported inflation we already have/"headline inflation", whatever you want to call it), and equities will fare better than most fixed income, especially certain equity sectors. Commodities will fare well, but there's very few actively managed commodity funds; most of the current funds more or less go in and out with the commodity tides.
Other side: there's a level of debt saturation in society (especially developed society) that can't continue to leverage up. There will have to be a deleveraging at some point, although if there is one, my guess is that it will not be voluntary (or pretty.) In other words, we can't continue along the same road and structural issues will have to be addressed - if not, new crises could easily emerge.
I can see a lot of different possible scenarios down the road.
I lean towards the first side, and think equities (and particularly real assets - commodities/commodity/inflation-related equities/real assets like important/productive infrastructure) will do better over the next 5-10 years. There will be bumps along the road, as with anything.
As I noted yesterday, I have balanced funds, but no fixed income only funds and am 0% cash (well, a little bit cash after yesterday, but it's just going to be moved into something else). I fully admit that that approach could be wrong, but that's the risk I'm willing to take at this point, as I still think there's more risk in betting on deflation than inflation. I'd rather bet more on inflation and get that wrong than bet on deflation and get that wrong.
I'm younger than most on the board though, and how one invests really depends entirely on risk tolerance, age and situation. I would definitely not recommend my portfolio for someone nearing retirement age or especially in retirement age.

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 prospectuses strike me as fascinating because they contain a bunch of information about the firm that's nowhere else public. For example, M&N never suffered substantial outflows during the bear market and Artisan has hardly any sales directly to the public.
In any case, my best read is that Mr. Manning is 74 and they're trying to restructure things to distribute equity within the firm at his retirement and to get out of some earlier provisions that would have made substantial cash payments to him. Since he's still firmly in charge, I assume that compensation/payout changes have his blessed.
I'll keep reading on it, and really do appreciate the heads-up!
David

Hi Investor,
Thank you for the info; but don't presume what I did not write. I did not indicate any cash flows; and adjusting for drawdowns will require an adjustment in calculations.
The Funds Boat is all tax sheltered retirement accts and if the math we used in the reply to prinx is faulty; then one may presume a best guess + or - a quarter of a percentage or so. I do not find this to be the case, with the example given.
Your point is a consideration for those doing their own math who do have inflows/outflows to consider.
Take care,
Catch

Hi Burt,
At this time, we have 7 retirement accts. 4 of these are at Fidelity, being Traditional and Roth IRA's. The other 3 accts are each at their own web sites.
We calculate the % gain or loss each week for the Fund Boat post.
All accounts web sites give us the total value of each account on a daily basis. On Saturday or Sunday we check each account for its total value and then add all of the totals together for a grand total value; which is used to compare with the grand total value from the previous week ending. Using our handy-dandy HP-12C calculator, we enter the prior week grand total dollars against the new value and this particular calculator has a one button math function to present the % gain or loss.
So, if last weeks ending grand total value was $102,500 and this week's ending grand total value is $103,500, we ma calculate a gain of +.98% for the total of all holdings combined. We also have our starting total dollar value for a new year and use that number to determine our YTD.
We also do this for each account; just to have those numbers.
The vast majority of the bond funds have distributions on the last business day of a month. There are exceptions, as with LSBDX and periodically both bond and equity funds post a captial gain, too. We reinvest all distributions to buy more fund shares and know that whatever the NAV may be for "x" number of fund shares is also part of the final value of a fund reflected in the additional shares.
There are circumstances based upon market moves where we check individual funds for trends going in one direction or the other. For these quick looks, I have been using the "Falcon's Eye" link here for a quick link and look for a closer look at a fund.
So, we don't load into or use an Excel or similar program to download to and/or finalize the numbers.
We have a one page sheet layout that we put together using MS Word, and merely fill in the dollar numbers for each week from the dollar values at the acct web sites and the weekly/YTD % changes as determined from the calculator.
30 minutes maximum to gather the numbers from the sites, do the % math and enter the numbers for current and future reference.
I recall a discussion at FA about downloading one's investment numbers into a program on the home computer; or transferring them to an online program to crunch numbers. You should start a new post about this aspect to find what other folks are doing.

Howdy Burt,
Your questions:
1. How do you differentiate a total bond fund from a diversified fund.?
>>>>>One really has to obtain the most recent prospectus and attempt to discover the primary plan of a given bond fund that may contain the names:
Total, Diversified, Strategic or Multi Sector, to name the most often used terms. For most practical purposes, I find these four names for bond funds to be correlated closely for their goal of bond diversification among sectors, as the managers move monies around attempting to find what they feel is or will be the "sweet spot" for the best returns in a sector. I was asked at FA, as to why so many bond funds in a related sector? Two answers are required; in that we currently have several accts holding retirement funds spread among 401k, 403b, traditional and Roth IRA's with each acct having its own choices for various bond sectors. Secondly, if we had all of our retirement monies at Fidelity; we would likely have 3-5 funds invested into a given grouping of bond or equity funds to further enhance the diversification and help eliminate one fund having a bad quarter or year. A prime example of this event, relative to Total bond funds; is Mr. Gross and Co. choosing to sell down the Treasury holdings of PTTRX and missing most of the profits in this area for 2011. While most monthly, quarterly or yearly returns may not vary too much among funds of the same style (bond or equity); this house prefers to spread out the risk a bit more away from management miscues and we'll take the average return of funds within a given sector.
NOTE: I do indicate (just above the funds list, that the funds are listed by "name" type)
2. With regard to your equity fund choices what was the rationale of your picks from a diversification choice and risk?
>>>>>Some of the more pure equity funds are more directed to value vs growth, with notes for the funds below:
---Speciality Funds (sectors or mixed allocation)
FCVSX Fidelity Convertible Securities (bond/equity mix)
>>>>> hoping for an equity value increase, while patiently receiving a yield
FRIFX Fidelity Real Estate Income (bond/equity mix)
>>>>> a conservative real estate equity play & the yield from the bond area
FFGCX Fidelity Global Commodity
>>>>> energy, agri, metals equity play related to global demand/inflation
FDLSX Fidelity Select Leisure
>>>>> multi national/global equity play, restaurants, gambling & related (folks are still doing all of these activities)
FSAGX Fidelity Select Precious Metals
>>>>> nervous markets, inflation insurance policy
RNCOX RiverNorth Core Opportunity (bond/equity)
>>>>> a balanced type fund with the equity/bond mix
---Equity-Domestic/Foreign
FDVLX Fidelity Value
>>>>> value equity vs growth in the mid cap area
FSLVX Fidelity Lg. Cap Value
>>>>> value equity vs growth (actually a mistaken purchase...wrong ticker, but we have kept this)
FLPSX Fidelity Low Price Stock
>>>>> value equity? vs growth, noted as mid-cap, but ranges from mega-small (decent track record/management)
MACSX Matthews Asia Growth-Income
>>>>> quality fund for the Asian exposure before the fund closed to new money
3. How did you get the load waved on tegbx?
>>>>>TEGBX is a fund choice within one of our non-Fidelity retirement accts. The internal prospectus for this fund, in this acct. indicates an ER of .80%.
4. Like you my money is heavily into Fidelity funds and they do have my custodial account. I noted that most of your fund choices are Fidelity. Do you choose them because of convenience which it seems or have you compared carefully your choices with other similar non Fidelity Funds and found them to be superior?
>>>>>As noted above, we have several active retirement accts. and most do not have many Fido fund choicesthat we would choose to use; so the Fido funds we hold are via our Fidelity IRA accts. All retirement accts will likely be rolled over into our Fidelity accts. We will then have to spread our fund wings further into other fund families via the 1,000's of other fund family choices at Fidelity. While Fido doesn't have a large list of superior funds; as the competition has increased so much over the years, some funds match well against the competition, and Fido's record keeping and ability for one to perform many internal compares and measurements is excellent.
Since this is a tax deferred account do you use the benefit of upgrading your funds to others doing better when the opportunity presents itself?
>>>>>I would have to answer yes; but we really don't move investments around too much. We were 90% equities prior to June, 2008 and then sold 84% of our portfolio, with the remainder (16%) in Fido Contra and Pimco Total Return bond and the 84% moved into stable value or MM funds. In the late spring of 2009 we moved into HY bonds and some equities/bonds. We missed most of the hugh rallies in equity sectors; as we were still not convinced of the stability of the market place, but we also did not have hugh losses to recover from, as we had a -8% for 2008.
I would have to say that I find it most difficult to always determine which funds may be doing better at some given point. Although a fund manager(s) have a mandate of a fund prospectus, I often wonder how these managers remain to be affected from 2008 and what they also continue to see today. Fido Contra is considered a defensive equity fund; but is Mr. Danoff more defensive now than prior to 2008? My non-scientific guess is that at least 25% of the equity fund managers "think" differently about the investments held in a fund; versus how they felt prior to the 2008 market melt. I also suspect this is part of the market swings the year; as I believe many equity fund managers are "still nervous." The problem lies with which managers may be thinking different these days. One can only imagine the mad scramble considerations to have a winning fund before the end of the year, with only 2 more trading months.
I hope I have covered most of the questions with some success.
Ring my bell, if need be.
Take care,
Catch

Howdy,
Again, a thank you to all who post the links and also start and participate in the many fine commentaries woven into the message threads.
For those who don't know; I ramble away about this and that, at least once each week.
NOTE: For those who visit MFO, this portfolio is designed for retirement, capital preservation and to stay ahead of inflation creep; if and when it returns. This is not a buy and hold portfolio, and is subject to change on any given day; based upon perceptions of market directions. All assets in this portfolio are in tax-sheltered accounts; and any fund distributions are reinvested in the funds. Gains or losses are computed from actual account values.
While looking around..... Liberal it is; as in a Liberal Arts degree, whether an actual diploma from a course of study, or the ongoing study of everything. One may have formal training or a degree in a specialized field that allows your employment and/or maintaining that your employer views "you" as the last person they could afford to lose; as your work ethic and knowledge are an asset. I have specialized training in the electo-mechanical/computer based world of knowledge, that has served me well for income over the years. ;
I am a naturally curious person; which may also mean that I am a jack of all trades/knowledge, and perhaps a master of none. However, such broadbased knowledge for a curious mind; does, in my opinion have value as it translates into the investment world. These broadbased knowledge areas for anyone may favor particular areas for one's own comfort zone. Such an example for myself; among the many areas of music to which I listen, is that I am not a fan of opera and some forms of classical music. This does not mean that I do not revisit these areas of music; as we all constantly evolve and re-form who we as we experience more life, whether being aware of these sometimes, slow changes, or not. My naturally curious mind does not let me become locked into confined areas of potential knowledge; the exception being the broadbased areas of knowledge for investments. I have no problem discovering and obtaining knowledge, as related to investing; from any number of folks on the tv business channels, that vary from the hard "right or left" style of thinking about where or what to invest, as well as the 1,000's of opinions since the market melt of 2008 and "how" to help correct the current economic situation. No one is twisting my arm to watch and listen to any of this; but I/we personally must draw in these opinions to help this house digest and attempt to realize the meanings and/or ramifications of potential actions and what the end result may be upon current and future investment sectors.
Focus upon what you must for your employment; or if retired, what you enjoy. But, do not become entrenched in a narrowly focused journey of knowledge that would preclude you from any new adventure in learning.
I am singing to the MFO choir; but there are always some new visitors here.
As one's time allows, continue the Liberal Arts studies; as one never knows what little piece of text or spoken words will trigger a new thought, a clarification of previously unconnected dots of thought or perhaps the simplification of what one thought was a more complex proposition. The source may be from a book, a movie, a television program or a spoken conversation from any subject area one chooses to discover. The source need not be new; and could come from perhaps a book or movie from the 1940's.
At a point in my very early 20's, while writing a letter to a friend; I noted that, "If I could make a statement or ask a question, that caused someone to think of something they had never before considered; or to observe a topic they were familiar with, but from a different perspective, I would find that particular day, as fulfilled." We, at this house; must also apply this same function when presented with a statement or question.
MFO, and formerly FundAlarm are prime, positve examples of "eyes wide open" statements and questions for helping navigate the investment highway. Combine what you learn here, with all of the other pieces from your Liberal Arts of the World of Everything knowledge and you may find a type of intuition for your investment choices.
Never stop learning.....
A short blip about Europe. One may choose any number of connective stories about the "conditions" that exist. For more than 2 years, one may consider that the collective EU has been aware that their "house" is a "fixer upper". So, buy another house or fix the existing house would be the common question for an indivivdual. The EU has known about the problems with the old house; and has started to make a list of fixes, and the projected cost of repairs. This is all well and good; but the problem remains, in terms of the housing market; that they have not yet qualified for the loan to make the repairs. Until this is settled, the overhang of doubt and ability to "get the loan" remains and will continue to affect the value of all homes in the neighborhood (read that as global markets and investment sectors). So, a kinda fix; from the plan last week, but all the neighbors are still a watch'in with their shoulders hunched upward.
A money move last week as indicated further down the page.
Such are the numerous battles with investments attempting to capture a decent return and minimize the risk.
We live and invest in interesting times, eh?
Hey, I probably forgot something; and hopefully the words make some sense.
Comments and questions always welcomed.
Good fortune to you, yours and the investments.
Take care,
Catch
SELLs/BUYs THIS PAST WEEK:
SOME CASH MOVED TO FNMIX, which already had some monies invested from this house; and the percentages of holdings has been adjusted accordingly. The $U.S. has maintained and gained value since this past spring. This has kept dollar denominated emerging markets bond funds in a somewhat sideways mode relative to NAV's. Recent downward moves in the $US may or may not be in place at this time to hold going forward. So, the EM bond additional monies is a bit of a coin toss; but we will gather the yield while hopefully awaiting a continued upward move in NAV.
Portfolio Thoughts:
Our holdings had a +1.76 % move this past week. And yes, we are satisfied with our risk adjusted returns YTD. If the portfolio can pull a +10 to 12% for the year; you will not hear any whining from this house. (This sentence was from an April write; and I/we suppose a +5% for the year may now look good, too !)
The old Funds Boat may make 5% or 25% this year. I expect some rough waters, changing winds and opposing currents; causing the most serious attention being given to a firm hand upon the rudder control. (April report text)
We can hardly wait until Oct. 31 to find whether it will be the trick or the treat.
The immediate below % of holdings are only determined by a "fund" name, NO M* profile this week
CASH = 3.2%
Mixed bond funds = 88.7%
Equity funds = 8.1%
-Investment grade bond funds 26.8%
-Diversified bond funds 19.8%
-HY/HI bond funds 23.2%
-Total bond funds 14.6%
-Foreign EM/debt bond funds 4.3%
-U.S./Int'l equity/speciality funds 8.1%
This is our current list: (NOTE: I have added a speciality grouping below for a few of fund types)
---High Yield/High Income Bond funds
FAGIX Fid Capital & Income
SPHIX Fid High Income
FHIIX Fed High Income
DIHYX TransAmerica HY
---Total Bond funds
FTBFX Fid Total
PTTRX Pimco Total
---Investment Grade Bonds
APOIX Amer. Cent. TIPS Bond
DGCIX Delaware Corp. Bd
FBNDX Fid Invest Grade
FINPX Fidelity TIPS Bond
OPBYX Oppenheimer Core Bond
---Global/Diversified Bonds
FSICX Fid Strategic Income
FNMIX Fid New Markets
DPFFX Delaware Diversified
TEGBX Templeton Global (load waived)
LSBDX Loomis Sayles
---Speciality Funds (sectors or mixed allocation)
FCVSX Fidelity Convertible Securities (bond/equity mix)
FRIFX Fidelity Real Estate Income (bond/equity mix)
FFGCX Fidelity Global Commodity
FDLSX Fidelity Select Leisure
FSAGX Fidelity Select Precious Metals
RNCOX RiverNorth Core Opportunity (bond/equity)
---Equity-Domestic/Foreign
FDVLX Fidelity Value
FSLVX Fidelity Lg. Cap Value
FLPSX Fidelity Low Price Stock
MACSX Matthews Asia Growth-Income

Hi bee,
Per your below questions:
"I have a question for you that plays off of your fund boat. I am going to try and create a 5-10 year draw down portfolio for one of my mom's investment bucket. She is 88 and needs about $600/mo to compliment her SS benefits. I would like to diversify her "boat" with 80% high quality income generating funds and 20% with growth funds that might hedge inflation as well as be exposed to the risk of the markets. She will be spending down some of her portfolio shares since her last bucket is more like a pail... it is quite small ($35K). With inflation, she will draw $600/mo in year 1 but this will evolve into almost $700/mo in year 6.
My thought is to divide her portfolio into a portfolio of 4-8 funds. If you were to pared down your holdings (boat), what would be your top 8 funds? What would your top 4 funds be? Would one group(4 vs. 8) hold any advantage over the other?
I would guess FAGIX would be one of your top four holdings but I would like to hear your take on creating an ultra simplified "last bucket" draw down retirement portfolio remembering that it will be the "last bucket" before kicking the proverbial...bucket. We all will be there one day."
>>>>>Ah, the $64,000 question (from the wayback tv show); which is now inflation adjusted to $480,824.37.
I will say that this house is looking to a possible similar set of conditions regarding a trim of holdings in the next year or so.
A few thoughts regarding the list below:
At this stage of our investing world; it may be best stated that... "we are looking at bond funds that behave like equity funds; and equity funds that behave like bond funds." The ultimate goal, eh; yield and growth.
Looking forward as of today, for the next 5-10 years; from this untrained economic mind, finds a likely tough road ahead for the developed nations (debt loads/ability to continue to raise funds for payoff of debt), the possibility that the so-called BRIC/EM's nations could maintain growth among themselves even with reduced export demand from the developed nations (a global have's and have not's on a country scale), stagflation may be part of this scenario. Obviously, this is part of a possible global economic slowing; but with pressures for a given amount of demand for commodities; and some countries could at the same time, have a deflationary environment that would also affect interest rate variables among many countries (this is already in place). How to capture all of these possiblities going forward may require a "boat" with about 12 sails that may be set to the proper direction of a current, prevailing wind. 'Course, I am not saying anything that most here at MFO have not already thought about. Other than all of this; investing is pretty easy, eh ???
The below funds are not in a particular order; just how I happened to note them initially on a piece of paper.
VWINX Vanguard Wellsley long track record, a dividend payer on the eq. side; as well as the bond holdings yields, has held up well this year. Yield is 3.8% with equities at US=32%, INTL=5%; bonds at US=44%, INTL=13%. Balanced/growth & income/conservative allot...or whatever one chooses to name this fund, and with a low ER of .28..
RNDLX RiverNorth/Doubleline short track record, but appears to know what they are doing for 2011. ER a bit steep at 1.5% for this fund of funds; but the prospectus indicates the fund may place monies into whatever bond area from 0-100% of holdings, for maximum flex. No current yield indicated.
LSBRX Loomis Sayles Global bond long track record, has some problems with making money in shakey market scenarios; but is perhaps suited to a possible sideways/slow growth markets going forward. ER=.94 with a current yield of 5.5%. US holdings = 47%, INTL = 25%, remainder cash/other.
FAGIX Fido Cap & Income long track record, but can take a big hit in sour equity market periods, not unlike many funds involved in the high yield bond area. But, in spite of what this fund is; its long term returns match very well with many equity/balanced funds including a fund like PRPFX. The fund also holds 10-20% in equities, based upon historical indicators; as well as 80+% being US holdings of bonds/equity. ER = .8% with a current yield of 6.9%. For more than 30 years, this particular fund has been a portion of our holdings; excluding its sale in June of 2008 and repurchase in 2009.
FNMIX, EM bonds; although Fidelity has their share of so-so funds; this one fund in this area has held it place among many similar funds. I don't like that the fund is denominated in $US; but in spite of this has provided decent returns in this sector. ER = .9% with a current yield of 5.6%.
FRIFX, Fido Real Estate; a conservative US REIT type fund with about 58% in bonds and 35% equity holdings. ER = .8% with a current yield of 5.3%.
FLPSX, Fido Low Priced stock fund; a fairly good mix of equity holdings and a fund with a decent record for 2011 in this crazy market place. US = 51%, INTL - 35%, and the fund holdings do rotate among mega through small cap with current holdings indicated: Mega=6%,very Lg=7%,Lg=5%,mid=43% and Small cap=39%. ER=.8% with a yield of .7%. Obviously, this fund is subject to equity market moves, too.
FFGCX, Fido global commodity; this fund gives one a wide mix of equity holdings that are subject to poor equity markets; but also allows for exposure to offset inflation and a rising equity market. It is the only fund of which I am aware that offers a 1/3 mix of each sector in energy, agri and metals equities all in one package with holdings of US=34%, INTL=66% with an ER of 1.1% and yield of 1.2%.
MAPIX, Matthews Asia Dividend This fund obviously gives one exposure to a broad Asia market place, of which; I feel is important going forward, The ER = 1.1% with a yield of about 4%.
SIRRX, Sierra Retirement; a fairly new fund; but it appears management understands the overall market moods for 2011 and have adjusted where they have needed to place the money. I have not dug deep into the prospectus; but it appears the fund does have a fair amount of flex; obviously a very important ability going forward. I also have not noted DBLNX, which Mr. Gundlach appears to have an ultimate skill in the mortgage bond area; but is a very narrow choice of fund style; but could be part of a mix, too.
I have not listed PRPFX, but is also a consideration for its balanced and mixed holdings. I also have not mentioned any Pimco bond funds; although there are more than enough to satisfy any bond needs. I am not sure what happens in their meetings or who has the powers of decision making; but many of their bond funds have not performed as expected for the total type funds; and also the "unconstrained bond" funds. By chance of investment style of a particular Pimco bond fund, those in the Treasury/TIPs areas have performed well; as they are in the right place at the right time for 2011 to date. If our holding of PTTRX was not the only bond fund available in one acct.; the holding would have already been reduced and moved elsewhere.
bee, I have not passed these funds through the M* cruncher machine; which would provide a better picture of overlap and related; and would provide a better starting point for choices, as I am not sure of what the bond/equity mix as a percentage may have with these funds.
I would personally prefer 8 funds, versus 4 for a wider exposure and better support of perform when equities or bonds are moving in opposite directions. So, I have to discard 2 of the 10 above. Ultimately, for this house; we have no problem holding 20 plus funds for a broad mix; attempting to maintain a likely slow, but forward moving boat.
Top 8: VWINX RNDLX FAGIX FNMIX FLPSX FFGCX MAPIX SIRRX
Top 4: VWINX RNDLX MAPIX SIRRX (someone would have to threaten my life or a family member's life to form this too short list !!!) an impossible mix for this house, that would not cover the sectors.
I have noted before that I run out of time for the type of research that I/we demand at this house for our investments; but we try. With several thousand fund choices at Fido, there are bound to be better choices than what we have in the funds boat, but; to little time.
I sure as heck have forgotten to mention something..........so, rattle my brain cells.
Back to work for me, now.
Take care,
Catch

http://individual.troweprice.com/staticFiles/Retail/Shared/PDFs/PriceReports/Fall2011PriceReport.pdf#page=1&placementGUID=em_prcreport&creativeGUID=EMBDHT&v_sd=201110
kipinger best 25 mf
http://www.kiplinger.com/printstory.php?pid=2151863
stinker of the yr
http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20111023/REG/310239985
M* ranks best/worst MF for 401K
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/morningstar-ranks-best-worst-mutual-funds-401k/story?id=14789497
loomin ETF shakeout
http://www.fa-mag.com/fa-news/8945-the-looming-etf-shake-out.html
putman offering new retirement income funds & tools
http://www.financial-planning.com/news/Putnam-retirement-tools-mutual-funds-2675713-1.html
are you bogleing
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickferri/2011/10/24/are-you-bogleing/
also - ot
http://www.forbes.com/sites/dividendchannel/2011/10/25/why-hatteras-financial-corp-is-a-top-10-reit-stock-with-15-34-yield/
vanguard dividend etf
http://www.etftrends.com/2011/10/a-closer-look-at-vanguards-high-dividend-etf/?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ETF Trends&utm_content=
junks bonds are hot but there are still plenty of fire
http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/21/markets/bondcenter/high_yield_bonds/
which investors are in long term
http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2011/10/24/groupon-which-investors-are-in-for-the-long-term/
Market Week: October 24, 2011
The Markets - rbc investments
A tug-of-war between earnings and Europe dominated equities last week. The Dow industrials overcame a discouraging start to the week and managed a third straight week of gains. However, the Nasdaq slipped back into the loss column, while the S&P 500's encouraging week still left it in negative territory for the year and the small-cap Russell 2000 continued to struggle.
Market/Index 2010 Close Prior Week As of 10/21 Week Change YTD Change
DJIA 11577.51 11644.49 11808.79 1.41% 2.00%
NASDAQ 2652.87 2667.85 2637.46 -1.14% -.58%
S&P 500 1257.64 1224.58 1238.25 1.12% -1.54%
Russell 2000 783.65 712.46 712.42 -.01% -9.09%
Global Dow 2087.44 1845.80 1846.63 .04% -11.54%
Fed. Funds .25% .25% .25% 0 bps 0 bps
10-year Treasuries 3.30% 2.26% 2.23% -3 bps -107 bps
Last Week's Headlines
Despite strong words from G-20 finance ministers about the need for a formal plan for containing the damage from European debt problems, the eurozone continued to debate ways to enhance the European Financial Stability Facility's resources. However, any formal agreement failed to appear last week, though French and German leaders said they anticipated having one this week. In the meantime, Moody's warned that France's AAA debt could be hit with a negative outlook if its budget is strained by bailout demands; it also downgraded Spain's debt from Aa2 to A1.
September's 0.3% consumer inflation rate was the third increase in as many months. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, that put the inflation rate for the last 12 months at 2%. At the wholesale level, inflation was worse; driven mostly by a 2.3% jump in energy costs and a 10% increase in the prices of vegetables, it spiked up 0.8% in September, for a 6.9% rate for the last year.
Federal Reserve manufacturing numbers were mixed. The New York region was negative for a fifth straight month, while new orders were flat. However, the Philadelphia Fed survey showed improvement, jumping from -17.5 in September to 8.7, the first positive number in three months. Nationwide, industrial production rose 0.2% in September and was 3.2% higher than a year ago.
China's efforts to try to control inflation there contributed to a slower pace of economic growth--9.1%--during the third quarter. According to China's National Bureau of Statistics, that's down from Q2's 9.5%.
Housing starts shot up 15% in September, putting them 10.2% above last year. According to the Commerce Department, that's the highest level since before the homeowner's tax credit expired last year. Building permits, an indicator of future construction activity, fell 5% from August, though they also were up from a year ago.
Sales of existing homes dropped 3% in September, according to the National Association of Realtors®, though compared to the previous September, they were up 11.3%.
Eye on the Week Ahead
Action or lack thereof at the midweek European debt summit is likely to affect the mood of the markets. A first look at Q3 economic growth also will be of interest.
Key dates and data releases: home prices, consumer confidence (10/25); new home sales, durable goods orders (10/26); initial estimate of Q3 gross domestic product, pending home sales, weekly new jobless claims (10/27); personal income/spending, labor costs, consumer sentiment (10/28).