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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.
  • T. Rowe Price Hedged Equity Fund will be available November 8

    Many government retirement plans offer up to 25% in self directed mutual funds at outside firm such as Fidelity. CA state retirement plans are a mess with agenda that have nothing to do with best risk adjusted return. My wife worked several years for state - I need to move over to something like Fidelity balanced.
    To clarify: I was referring to *pensions* that employees only pay into but have no control over how it's invested - those are the places witih the fat allocation to expensive hedge funds/PE black boxes. My state (MD) 403(b) also has the brokerage window where I could dump 0-99% of my 403 now into whatever fund I wanted to offered at TIAA or Fido ... but I'm happy with the one LCV fund I'm in now at TIAA, so I haven't used that.
    I could probably buy into one or more 'alternative' type funds that way if I wanted to, but why?
  • T. Rowe Price Hedged Equity Fund will be available November 8
    @Tarwheel again I agree completely.
    It's also why when I joined my state university system I avoided the pension plan and went for the self-directed 403(b). Many state pensions have huge positions in various (and costly) hedge/PE investments that I want no part of ... plus I don't trust the investing savvy of the political appointees overseeing the pension's investment, many of whom live and die by whatever the Wall Street favorite 'thinking' is at the time regarding allocations.
    As I said at the time, if I'm going to lose or make money, I want to be the one responsible for it.
    ETA: Somewhat off-topic but IIRC the Nevada State Pension is entirely in Vanguard funds. A WSJ article a few years ago talked about how 'boring' the Pension Chief's job was. :)
    Many government retirement plans offer up to 25% in self directed mutual funds at outside firm such as Fidelity. CA state retirement plans are a mess with agenda that have nothing to do with best risk adjusted return. My wife worked several years for state - I need to move over to something like Fidelity balanced.
  • Anybody use Schwab Financial Advisors?
    @FD100 @rforno
    I have had a similar experience at Schwab with the local FAs who have been very helpful with moving money, checking on accounts and answering the phone almost immediately. They probably would have been happy to give me investment advice, if I asked. (This is in contrast to Vanguard where your local FA is a "team". Not much experience with FIDO in this regard.)
    The current proposal concerns a firm outside of Schwab, not a Schwab FA. The fees are similar or lower than most actively managed mutual funds, and the fees for FI are actually lower than most active bond funds.
    FD100, if I had a system as reliable and apparently as successful as you do, requiring little time, I would not consider outside advice.
    I have had decades of experience and have read many books about "Lazy portfolio's" "Couch Potato Portfolios" " Ivy League Portfolio", but these tend to work best for the "Accumulation" phase of life, where you can "set it up and forget it"
    The computer generated portfolios of Fido, Schwab and Vanguard are similar to these "Couch potatoes" but just more complex and rest on assumptions that most people are not aware of ( and may not agree with) , especially referring to their large % of foreign stocks recently. With bond coupons back up, the 60/40 seem more reliable, but 2022 was a disaster for people who suddenly found they had 15 to 20% less money then they thought on retirement.
    For a long winded defense of the above read the thread on Bogleheads
    https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=412507&sid=16550dda64788e8838fa5d7004273d09
    Now in retirement, my wife and I need advice on Roth conversions, withdrawal rates estate planning and are trying to avoid large drawdowns early on while maximizing income and return. I have investigated all of this and came up with similar answers, but it takes a lot of time.
    While I am in good health, I believe as Lynn does , that my wife needs an honest and reliable firm to deal with the investments if I get hit by a bus, with more expert personalized advice than I think you will get at Vanguard. Fidelity seemed to offer a computer driven portfolio for a higher fee.
    I have tried other advisors over the years with fractions of our money, and found them to charge 1.25% to put you in their firm's Bond funds and use a 60/40 portfolio to track the SP500. This is quite different than what I am looking for here.
    I am starting small and will see how it goes.
  • Rondure Overseas Fund will be liquidated
    https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1537140/000158064224000163/rondure-overseas_497.htm
    497 1 rondure-overseas_497.htm 497
    Rondure Overseas Fund
    Investor Class - ROSOX
    Institutional Class - ROSIX
    (a series of Northern Lights Fund Trust III)
    Supplement dated January 9, 2024 to
    the Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information dated October 20, 2023
    The Board of Trustees of Northern Lights Fund Trust III (the “Board”) has concluded that it is in the best interests of the Rondure Overseas Fund (the “Fund”) and its shareholders that the Fund cease operations. The Board has determined to close the Fund and redeem all outstanding shares on or about February 8, 2024 (“Redemption Date”).
    Effective immediately, the Fund will not accept any new investments, will no longer pursue its stated investment objective, and will begin liquidating its portfolio and will invest in cash equivalents such as money market funds until all shares have been redeemed. Any required distributions of income and capital gains will be distributed as soon as practicable to shareholders and reinvested in additional shares, unless you have previously requested payment in cash.
    Prior to or on the Redemption Date, you may redeem your shares, including reinvested distributions, in accordance with the “How to Redeem Shares” section in the Prospectus. Unless your investment in the Fund is through a tax-deferred retirement account, a redemption is subject to tax on any taxable gains. Please refer to the “Tax Status, Dividends and Distributions” section in the Prospectus for general information. You may wish to consult your tax advisor about your particular situation.
    ANY SHAREHOLDERS WHO HAVE NOT REDEEMED THEIR SHARES OF THE FUND PRIOR TO THE REDEMPTION DATE WILL HAVE THEIR SHARES AUTOMATICALLY REDEEMED AS OF THAT DATE, AND PROCEEDS WILL BE SENT TO THE ADDRESS OF RECORD. If you have questions or need assistance, please contact your financial advisor directly or the Fund at 1-855-775-3337.
    This Supplement, and the Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information dated October 20, 2023, provide relevant information for all shareholders and should be retained for future reference. Both the Prospectus and the Statement of Additional Information have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, are incorporated by reference and can be obtained without charge by calling the Fund at 1-855-775-3337.
  • Asset Allocation & Withdrawal Strategies in Retirement – Bolin
    Asset Allocation & Withdrawal Strategies in Retirement – Bolin
    There is an interesting article by Charles Lynn Bolin ( @lynnbolin2021 ) on withdrawals in the January 2024 MFO issue. In the SUPPLEMENTARY information presented here, portfolio # won’t be used as they can cause confusion.
    In Bolin’s Table #1 with 4 portfolios tested with 6% withdrawal rates, be aware that those are 6% withdrawals from the YEAREND balances every year. So, the amounts withdrawn will fluctuate widely with the market. The residual balances are shown in Figure #1 to indicate whether those kept up with inflation.
    Interestingly, PV has a parameter PWR (under the Metrics tab) that provides max % withdrawals from YEAREND balances that will also leave inflation-adjusted residual at the end.
    A reference is made to “the time-tested 4%”, but that so-called Bengen’s Rule has a different withdrawal regime – 4% of the INITIAL lump-sum that is subsequently adjusted annually for inflation; the PV run settings also allow for this and the related PV metric SWR is the max % withdrawal in this scenario (that will EXHAUST the portfolio).
    One can also deduce from the PV run data the max % of the INITIAL lump-sum that is subsequently adjusted annually for inflation AND leaves inflation-adjusted initial lump-sum at the end, and that % is SWRM.
    The table below shows PWRs, SWRs, SWRMs.
    Portfolio; PWR; SWR; SWRM
    50%VFINX + 50%VTRIX; 5.59%; 7.71%; 6.79%
    70%VFINX + 25%VBMFX; 5.92%; 7.77%; 6.96%
    50%VFINX + 25%VTRIX + 25%VBMFX; 5.40%; 7.46%; 6.50%
    VFINX; 7.06%; 8.77%; 8.19%
    Bolin’s conclusions about inflation adjusted residual balances are consistent with whether the PWR is less than, or greater than, 6% in the table above. It is also interesting that all could support Bengen-style 4% (w/COLA) and even higher (note SWRs). In fact, all would leave more than inflation-adjusted initial lump-sum even with 6% w/COLA (note SWRMs).
    Of course, all the data and conclusions are for the period 01/1987-12/2023.
    https://www.mutualfundobserver.com/2024/01/asset-allocation-and-withdrawal-strategies-in-retirement/
  • Falling knife, are you willing to get cut !
    FD thinks we’re all 25 years old and should therefore be positioned for the next 50 years.
    (Try 25+25+25+3)
    Would he tell his great grandma who’s depending on the money to see her through retirement to throw it all into the S&P?
  • Falling knife, are you willing to get cut !
    "Simple" question: what do you think will generate better results for Joe average investor during his lifetime...holding up to 5 funds and hardly trading, or using 10+ holdings with more trading?
    [snip]
    Let's not conflate trading with the number of funds an investor holds.
    They're two different topics.
    There has been ample research indicating investors who trade frequently often fare poorly.
    You may be familiar with the seminal paper titled “Trading is Hazardous to Your Wealth: The Common Stock Investment Performance of Individual Investors” by Brad Barber and Terrance Odean.
    Your prior post stated:
    "I could never understand why anyone has more than 7-8 funds (they are usually the ones who say, there is no right number). You go over 10 funds and you are over-diversified. What usually happens with over 10 funds? you are not sure and/or you have owned lagging categories for years. You already know that the SP500 beat most funds over 15-20 years so why do you own so many funds? This was my initial start (1995-2000) investing 90+% in VG Total index and the rest in VG growth."
    Regardless of your opinion, there isn't an arbitrary number of funds which is optimal for every investor's unique circumstances. A young investor who is risk tolerant and has many years until retirement can reasonably have only a single fund in their portfolio (e.g., Total World Stock Index fund or target-date fund) if they so choose. Many Bogleheads are fond of a three-fund portfolio often comprised of Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTSAX), Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund (VTIAX), and Vanguard Total Bond Market Fund (VBTLX). This is a good strategy but it may not be right for everyone. Investors with multiple accounts should probably consider fund availability, optimum asset location, tax consequences, risk tolerance, and personal preferences when constructing their portfolios. These considerations can lead to having more funds than you prescribe. Bottom line - there isn't a one-size-fits-all solution.
    The S&P 500 performed very well over the trailing 10-year and 15-year periods.
    It was a very different story during the "Lost Decade" (2000-2009) when the S&P 500 basically went nowhere.
    Would the average investor with a large S&P 500 position have the fortitude to stick with this investment
    during the "Lost Decade" or would they have sold before the S&P 500 recovery started?
    Wouldn't it have been beneficial to also include foreign stocks and/or investment-grade bonds in the portfolio?
  • Falling knife, are you willing to get cut !
    Before we happened into PRWCX toward the end of 2006, we were invested directly through 8 funds and 4 different fund companies which covered LCG, LCV, SCG, SCV, real-estate and a couple bond funds. I knew nothing about DG at the time other than he and Arricale had been on the job for less than 6 months. We were 43 & 39 years old but it was very apparent my wife had no interest being involved in our investments, so I was looking to simplify in case something ever happened to me. Most advisors would never have recommended PRWCX by itself for investors our age. But, it has worked for us along with our personal high savings rate.
    6 years ago we met with a CFP we know who helps advise >$10 billion at the firm he works for and he told us not to change a thing, as we were well on our way to meeting our retirement goals and that his annual advisory fee could not be justified to take over our accounts.
    I won't recommend others investing as we have largely chosen to in the last 17 years, but it has worked for us. At ages 60 & 56 current Monte Carlo simulations have us at 99% success rates if we both retire today.
    We've been fortunate to work our whole adult lives, live modestly, and to be vigilant about saving and investing which has also allowed us to give regularly to charitable organizations and individuals in need. For all this I take little credit other than to thank God for the opportunities we've been afforded and been able to take advantage of.
    Wishing all a wonderful, peaceful and healthy 2024. I don't contribute much to this site, but have learned so much....thank you.
  • Falling knife, are you willing to get cut !
    I have been trading a big % since 2000 of at least 20% until retirement.
    Since retirement in 2018 and only 2-3 funds (they are not at equal %), every trade is at least 30%, and most are at 40-50%. Changes under 10% have minimal effect, and under 5% are meaningless.
  • Barron's on Funds & Retirement, 12/30/23
    PREVIEW & REVIEW (consolidated). 2023 was a bad year for BIOTECH, but there were several M&A deals. The equal weight XBI outperformed the market-cap weight IBB. Pause in rate hikes, and prospects for rate cuts, helps companies that rely on debt. 2024 should be a better year for biotech.
    Best INCOME investments for 2024. Bonds came through in 2023 beating their recent bear market. Who knew that Treasuries could move like this. Bond yields are higher and more normal. Cash remains appealing too. Dividend stocks lagged other stocks, but offer both current-dividends and dividend-growth. In the list below, fund types OEFs, ETFs and CEFs are mixed.
    US Dividend Stocks – VYM, SCHD, NOBL
    Foreign Dividend Stocks – IDV, SCHY, IEMG
    Energy Pipelines – AMLP, KYN, SMLPX
    Utilities – XLU, UTG, NEE
    Telecoms – T, TMUS, VZ
    Convertibles – CWB, ICVT
    Real Estate – VNQ, RQI
    MBS – MBB, VMBS, DLTNX
    HY – HYG, TUHYX, JQC
    Preferreds – PFF, JPC, FPEI
    Munis – VWITX, NEA, MUB
    Treasuries – SHY, TLT, TIP
    FUNDS. Many investors like to buy TREASURIES at Auctions at Treasury Direct (TD; a site that isn’t very user-friendly). One has to own these to maturity at TD, or move them out of TD to brokerages for trading. But Treasuries can also be bought at major brokerages at Auctions or in the secondary market (with bid-ask spreads) with no/little commissions. Treasury funds can be used by those who don’t want to deal with individual Treasury purchases. (By @LewisBraham at MFO)
    EXTRA, FUNDS. 2023 had several good bond ETF launches. A total of 500 ETFs were launched and 370 were active ETFs; there are now 1,353 active ETFs with $500 billion AUM. Many active ETFs have lower ERs than their OEF cousins. Mentioned are active multisector BINC, value TCAF, ETF of ETFs DFAW. The fee wars continued with indexed SCYB, BEMB, etc. The worst ETF offerings were AIYY, BITX, etc.
    RETIREMENT. SECURE 2.0 has allowed several changes for 401k/403b, but plans have been slow to adopt OPTIONAL changes – employer contribution matching for student loan payments, emergency funds within 401k/403b (PLESAs), etc. This may be because the employers are focusing now on several MANDATORY changes for catchup provisions, auto-enrollments, RMDs, etc. (Also, because 401k/403b regulations have become very complicated)
    https://ybbpersonalfinance.proboards.com/thread/546/barron-january-1-2024-2
    https://www.barrons.com/magazine?mod=BOL_TOPNAV
  • Day Hagan Smart Value Fund will be liquidated
    https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1355064/000158064223007004/dayhagen_497.htm
    497 1 dayhagen_497.htm 497
    DHAM_Logo
    Day Hagan Smart Value Fund
    Class A: DHQAX Class C: DHQCX Class I: DHQIX
    (the “Fund”)
    Supplement dated December 29, 2023 to the Prospectus, Summary Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, each dated November 1, 2023.
    ______________________________________________________________________________
    The Board of Trustees of Mutual Fund Series Trust has concluded that it is in the best interests of the Fund and its shareholders that the Fund cease operations. The Board has determined to close the Fund and redeem all outstanding shares on January 26, 2024 (“Liquidation Date”).
    Effective immediately, the Fund will not accept any new investments and may no longer pursue its stated investment objective. The Fund will begin liquidating its portfolio and will invest in cash equivalents until all shares have been redeemed. Any capital gains will be distributed as soon as practicable to shareholders and reinvested in additional shares, unless you have previously requested payment in cash. Shares of the Fund are otherwise not available for purchase.
    ANY SHAREHOLDERS WHO HAVE NOT REDEEMED OR EXCHANGED THEIR SHARES OF THE FUND PRIOR TO JANUARY 26, 2024, WILL HAVE THEIR SHARES AUTOMATICALLY REDEEMED AS OF THAT DATE, AND PROCEEDS WILL BE SENT TO THE ADDRESS OR ACCOUNT OF RECORD. If you have questions or need assistance, please contact the Fund at 1-877-329-4246 (877-DAY-HAGN).
    IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR RETIREMENT PLAN INVESTORS
    If you are a retirement plan investor, you should consult your tax advisor regarding the consequences of a redemption of Fund shares. If you receive a distribution from an Individual Retirement Account or a Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) IRA, you must roll the proceeds into another Individual Retirement Account within sixty (60) days of the date of the distribution in order to avoid having to include the distribution in your taxable income for the year. If you receive a distribution from a 403(b)(7) Custodian Account (Tax-Sheltered account) or a Keogh Account, you must roll the distribution into a similar type of retirement plan within sixty (60) days in order to avoid disqualification of your plan and the severe tax consequences that it can bring. If you are the trustee of a Qualified Retirement Plan, you may reinvest the money in any way permitted by the plan and trust agreement.
    You should read this Supplement in conjunction with the Prospectus, any Summary Prospectus and the Statement of Additional Information for the Fund, each dated November 1, 2023, which provide information that you should know about the Fund before investing. These documents are available upon request and without charge by calling the Fund toll-free at 1-877-329-4246 (877-DAY-HAGN) or by writing to 4221 North 203rd Street, Suite 100, Elkhorn, Nebraska 68022.
  • Stable-Value (SV) Rates, 1/1/24
    Stable-Value (SV) Rates, 1/1/24

    TIAA Traditional Annuity (Accumulation) Rates
    Drops of 75 bps except for Newer IRAs (same).
    Restricted RC 6.25%, RA 6.00%
    Flexible RCP 5.50%, SRA 5.25%, Newer IRAs 5.20%
    TSP G Fund hasn't updated yet (previous monthly rate was 5%).
    Options outside of workplace retirement plans include m-mkt funds, bank m-mkt accounts (FDIC insured), T-Bills, short-term brokered CDs.
    #StableValue #401k #403b #TIAA #TSP
    https://ybbpersonalfinance.proboards.com/post/1298/thread
  • T Rowe Price outflows
    For convenience I don't wanna move out of TRP. PRWCX is almost 40% of my total. It chugs along. My junk bonds TUHYX and PRCPX are doing well: one much better than the other on account of the price-point when I got in. But even the laggard has done so well, I'm just about breaking-even--- after being very patient with it, collecting rather delicious monthlies along the way.
    They have some State-specific munis which don't impress. Most of the other bond funds don't impress, either. Surely, a big pile of people are into their Retirement glide-path funds via 401k or 403b. There are just SO MANY funds. A person could get lost in them all. Remember when Matthews was doing that? And look what happened at Matthews. Quite the mess.
  • T Rowe Price outflows
    +1
    Nice write-up @Tarwheel. I’d been a happy camper with TRP since the mid to late 90s. Kept anywhere from 40-60% of my retirement funds there over more than 25 years with the rest spread around different fund houses. I left about 3 years ago after noticing their phone based client support had become abysmal to the point where i began to worry about (unwanted) paper statements ending up in someone else’s mailbox. Repeated calls didn’t help. Couldn’t stop the unwanted sporadic and unpredictable statement mailings. And when I finally moved out, they screwed up the transfer to Fidelity royally.
    Their fixed income funds lagged up until the late 90s when a very talented woman took over. For a few years, under her leadership they got a lot better. Not sure when she moved on. ISTM she left sometime after 2000 to take a government position in Washington DC. Fixed income fell back to mediocre not long after.
    The Giroux affectionados here love the guy and everything he touches - with good reason. Maybe they’ll discover a way to clone him and put the clowns clones in charge of everything. But I agree with you that their allocation funds ain’t what they once were. Likely it’s the fixed income component that’s causing the lackluster performance. I do own a slug of TRRIX (a 40/60 fund). ISTM it lost 10-12% in 2022. Worst showing I can ever remember (umm … other than 2008). It keeps most of its fixed income component in their New Income Fund (PRCIX) and most of the remainder in a short-immediate term TIPs fund. The former has always been a bit of a dog.
    The world turns over every 24 hours. I’m sure the move to ETFs is hurting their bottom line and maybe (a guess) causing either some talent drain or cut-backs in research. Just guesses. BTW - their offerings have multiplied at least 5X since I joined them in the mid-90s. Not sure that kind of shotgun approach is in their best interest. But definitely got problems in River City Baltimore.
  • Are CDs still attractive to You?
    Rossby commented, "Investing After Retirement” forum on the M* of the olden days.
    It seems to me more retirees commenting here than non-retirees. Maybe I'm off base ?
    CD's at 3% would be my cut off point. Well , guess I'll have to wait & see if that will hold true !
    Happy New Year to All, Derf
  • Are CDs still attractive to You?
    As a Super Senior, CDs are very important in our savings and planning.
    They offer security and liquidity and beat the low savings offered at our local CU. We have about 20% in Mutual funds and that makes us over extended if one uses the 100-age rule.
    A change if our life style, Assisted Living, may be around the corner.
    To make things simple for my wife and our heirs we have investments in only 2 firms. I am shortening our CD ladders to one year with many rungs.
    The stability of the bank offering the CD is more important than a few tenths of a % in the interest rate.
    Our pension and SS income is well greater then our current living expenses but would be gobbled up in a cared living facility.
    I miss the “Investing After Retirement” forum on the M* of the olden days.
    Rossby, I am also focused on my age, and my desire to avoid unnecessay stress in protecting my retirement assets. I keep hearing these statements about how investors think they can "guarantee" that other asset classes will make much more than CDs, but I keep experiencing market changing events that are "unique" that cause unexpected changes in total return reality. I am about to turn 76, starting to experience noticeable changes in my health conditions, starting to think about potential changes in my living options, etc. I have no idea what the age of each poster is, who are making comments, but younger persons can look at this thread as just a money making accumulation decision, while they go to work each day, and enjoy a variety of employment fringe benefits. I no longer work, and I must adjust my investing decisions based on the absence of employment pensions and accommodations for age related investing decisions. Everyone has a unique set of life circumstances that must be considered what risk you are able to take.
  • Are CDs still attractive to You?
    As a Super Senior, CDs are very important in our savings and planning.
    They offer security and liquidity and beat the low savings offered at our local CU. We have about 20% in Mutual funds and that makes us over extended if one uses the 100-age rule.
    A change if our life style, Assisted Living, may be around the corner.
    To make things simple for my wife and our heirs we have investments in only 2 firms. I am shortening our CD ladders to one year with many rungs.
    The stability of the bank offering the CD is more important than a few tenths of a % in the interest rate.
    Our pension and SS income is well greater then our current living expenses but would be gobbled up in a cared living facility.
    I miss the “Investing After Retirement” forum on the M* of the olden days.
  • Barron's on Funds & Retirement, 12/23/23
    LINK
    https://www.barrons.com/magazine?mod=BOL_TOPNAV
    INTERNATIONAL TRADER. EM BONDS are attractive, especially the local-currency EM bonds (LEMB). Dollar-denominated is EMB.
    FUNDS. Hot-hand managers are coming to active equity ETFs (TCAF, QLTY, FBCG, CGDV, DCOR, ARKK, etc). There is a flood of active ETFs with 240 new YTD. Much of the growth has been for active equity ETFs after the SEC approved several models a few years ago. The ETF wrapper offers tax-efficiency due to its in-kind creation/redemption. However, most indexes (broad or customized/special) also tend to be tax-efficient. So, active managers have headwinds vs indexes. The active ETFs may have significant differences from their OEF cousins even when both are run by the same team(s) – the ETFs may have fewer stocks or use fewer portfolio strategies. Active ETFs may be only a bit cheaper than their OEF cousins.
    FUNDS. @DavidSHERMAN (58) uses value strategies for short-duration (0.75-2 years) HY bond fund CBLDX (ER 0.91%). He also looks for event-driven opportunities – early redemptions, change in control, selloffs following disasters, etc. He expects the yield-curve to normalize in 2024.
    INCOME. Higher rates came and went. But bond funds with short/intermediate duration offer high current rates and will benefit from rate declines. Barbell strategies are also good. Mentioned are OEFs STYAX, VMBSX; ETFs AGG, TOTL, PSK (preferreds); CEF PMM (muni).
    ECONOMY. FUNDS. Boring won in 2023. This skinny bull driven by Magnificent 7 did wonders for index funds. So, investors who didn’t do much deep analyses and just dumped some money into the SP500 or total market index did well. The SP500 index funds are now 10.7% of the fund universe, the total stock market 6.8%, with both accounting for 17.5% vs 8.76% in 2013. Very interesting considering that the 1st retail SP500 fund in 1976 (Vanguard) was a flop – it raised only $11.3 million in its initial period vs $150 million expected; it could afford only 280/500 stocks; Vanguard total market index fund followed in 1992 and many TDFs hold it. How has the tide turned from the humble beginnings? The SP500 index funds with only 2-4 bps ERs are formidable benchmarks to beat.
    Q&A. Joel TILLINGHAST, Fidelity Small/Mid-Cap FLPSX (almost global). He has managed the Fund since its 1989 inception. Considering the regime shifts going on (inflation, taxes, regulation, energy transition, AI, etc), this market is too calm and cheerful, almost like 1999-2000. He likes to see steady and predictable cash flows. Investors may have an edge on small/mid-caps as they are less followed by analysts and institutions. Indexing is very popular now, but active managers will do fine in the long-term. Peter LYNCH taught him to be flexible when things/facts change; to accept errors and move on. He is retiring in 2023, leaving FLPSX in good hands (PECK, CHAMOVITZ), and will devote more time to mentoring, traveling, gardening, and book writing. Previous book, Big Money Thinks Small, 2020.
    EXTRA, RETIREMENT. The good news is that Social Security payments will rise +3.2% in 2024 (old news), but the bad news is that it won’t be enough due to high inflation. Although inflation has moderated, that doesn’t mean lower prices. Significantly up are auto insurance, rents, medical care, Medicare Part B Premium. Almost 20% of 65+ are still working.
  • Buy Sell Why: ad infinitum.
    We are making small changes as part of our rebalancing:
    1. Increase bond % and duration (short to intermediate and some long duration). Prefer investment grade. Funded from stocks, CDs, and T bill.
    2. Increase oversea bond exposure both via index as well as active managed (new position)
    3. Swap some junk BL/FR funds to IG and treasury floating rate funds/ETFs.
    4. Consolidate stock funds via both index and active managed ETFs.
    5. Increase US smaller cap stock exposure, prefer value
    After gaining a modest return this year is more than enough for us. We want to spend more time with our family and enjoy life as we coast into retirement.
  • Superfund Managed Futures Strategy Fund will be liquidated
    https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1552947/000158064223006794/superfund_497.htm
    497 1 superfund_497.htm 497
    Superfund Managed Futures Strategy Fund
    (the “Fund”)
    Class A SUPRX
    Class C SUPFX
    Class I SUPIX
    a series of Two Roads Shared Trust
    Supplement dated December 19, 2023
    to the Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information (the “SAI”)
    of the Fund each dated March 1, 2023
    The Board of Trustees of Two Roads Shared Trust (the “Trust”) has concluded, based upon the recommendation of Superfund Advisors Inc., that it is in the best interests of the Superfund Managed Futures Strategy Fund (the “Fund”) and its shareholders that the Fund be liquidated. Pursuant to a Plan of Liquidation (the “Plan”) approved by the Board of Trustees, the Fund will be liquidated and dissolved on or about March 29, 2024.
    The Fund is closed to all new investments as of December 19, 2023. The Fund will no longer pursue its stated investment objective. The Plan provides that the Fund will begin liquidating its portfolio as soon as is reasonable and practicable. On or about the close of business on March 29, 2024, the Fund will distribute pro rata all its assets in cash to its shareholders and all outstanding shares will be redeemed and cancelled.
    Prior to March 29, 2024, you may redeem your shares, including reinvested distributions, in accordance with the “How to Redeem Shares” section of the Fund’s Prospectus. Unless your investment in the Fund is through a tax-deferred retirement account, you will recognize gain or loss for federal income tax purposes (and for most state and local income tax purposes) on a redemption of your shares, whether as a result of a redemption that you initiate or upon the final liquidating distribution by the Fund, based on the difference between the amount you receive and your tax basis in your shares. The Fund may make one or more distributions of income and/or net capital gains on or prior to March 29, 2024, in order to eliminate Fund-level taxes. Please refer to the “Tax Status, Dividends and Distributions” section in the Prospectus for general information. You may wish to consult your tax advisor about your particular situation. Plan sponsors or plan administrative agents should notify participants that the Fund is liquidating and should provide information about alternative investment options.
    ANY SHAREHOLDERS WHO HAVE NOT REDEEMED OR EXCHANGED THEIR SHARES OF THE FUND PRIOR TO MARCH 29, 2024 WILL HAVE THEIR SHARES AUTOMATICALLY REDEEMED AS OF THAT DATE, AND PROCEEDS WILL BE SENT TO THE ADDRESS OR ACCOUNT OF RECORD.
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    This Supplement should be read in conjunction with the Fund’s Prospectus and SAI. This Supplement, and the Prospectus and SAI, each dated March 1, 2023, provide relevant information for all shareholders and should be retained for future reference. The Prospectus and the SAI have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and are incorporated by reference. These can be obtained without charge by calling 1-866-866-4848