Ted: You got me there; but in any given year, I will gladly take the returns of any of the 3 funds: PRHSX, FSPHX, VGHCX. They are all good - like I wrote, I had my eyes on those juicy dividends, but I am sure the returns in marketwatch includes re-invested dividends. Yes, PRHSX is also a worthy choice.

Reply to @bumine: 50/50 split between FSPHX & VGHCX cost you 1.14%, PRHSX cost .79%, and has better short and long-term returns.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.marketwatch.com/tools/mutual-fund/compare?Tickers=FSPHX+VGHCX+PRHSX&Compare=Returns

POAGX is an excellent fund with Healthcare (33.7%) and Technology (29.6%) dominating the top sectors. But check out the dividends on those dedicated Health sector funds :-); particularly, FSPHX and VGHCX!!!
Faced with a similar decision a year ago, I did 50/50 on FSPHX and VGHCX (the dividends being a factor in the decision to pick these 2 over PRHSX).
If you insist on one, I will lean towards FSPHX: it has the lowest asset base, expense is about the same as PRHSX (0.78 vs 0.79); both PRHSX and FSPHX have higher returns than VGHSX with the lower expense of 0.35.
Have fun and let us know your final decision.

Hi folks,
I'm looking to add a healthcare fund/etf to my solo 401k. Having a hard time picking between T Rowe Price Health Sciences (PRHSX), Fidelity Select Health Care (FSPHX), Vanguard Health Care (VGHCX) and Vanguard Health Care ETF (VHT). It's more-or-less a coin flip, though, I'm leaning slightly toward PRHSX for no reason, other than I've done well with the other TRP funds I own, though the recent manager change is a bit of a caution note. I'd appreciate any thoughts, insight, or input that might help break the tie.
Thanks.

I am about ready to poke my eyes out with a pencil the next time I read the false narrative of the "government take-over of healthcare".
Aside from that....I am long healthcare in the form of large positions in POAGX, VGHCX and VHCOX...along with some individual stock holdings. I also work in the health science industry, working with several big pharma in their efforts to move compounds through the clinical trial process.
Here is a general question which illustrates my long-term affinity for the health science industry from an investment perspective. If more people will be entering the world of healthcare coverage in the US, why would the suppliers for products required by this new market population experience anything other than an increase in demand for their products?

Reply to @hank:
Thanks for your response. I agree with you on both of your unloved sectors...NR, Miners, Metals...and International Bonds. I own VGPMX long term in the Metals & Mining space and I added to it in June with some profits from VGHCX. My two IB positions are PYEMX and TGBAX. I am trying meet a $50K initial minimum so I can replace TGBAX with TTRZX. Good IB fund managers will find a way through these bond issues and I believe these managers are worth finding and staying invested in at some percentage level.
Another sector with the hiccups recently in my portfolio has been Real Estate related investments.
Typically when sectors (sector funds) under performs they move to the front of the minds of most investors. The herd often will sell...some hold on a little longer...a few buy more. If these funds are long term holds in my portfolio, such as real estate, NR and IB are for me (in small amounts) I like to think I am discipline enough to reallocate some of my portfolio into these holdings. My brain counters with thoughts of picking bottoms or catching a falling knife. A portfolio game plan of disciplined emotionless mechanical rebalancing is a challenging process for us humans.
I have often wondered ..."would a single balanced funds do a better job of balancing a collection of allocations (investments) than a individual investor balancing a collection of funds for their collective portfolio?"

Over the years, I have concluded that my most defensive yet profitable pure equity fund is VGHCX. Big, lumbering pharma is a keeper. It's one of the places people go when they're nervous.

I try to take quarterly profits when any fund I own has gained 10%...more often than not I wait a lot longer then 3 months, but by doing a review quarterly I usually avoid early redemption fees and I find that there is at least a few holdings that have performed well enough to sell some shares.
If the holding is an opportunistic position and it shows signs of upward momentum I usually will only take the 10% gain and monitor its momentum more closely. I like to use a pairing system with my mutual funds.
Recently, I have been pairing BUFBX and BUFOX. In this case I use BUFBX as my long term hold and BUFOX as my opportunistic position. Here are the two funds over the last quarter:

In this case I will take my 20% gain from BUFOX (referenced against BUFBX) and reallocate it to BUFBX. I will check momentum of BUFOX against BUFBX on a 1 month basis going forward. Here's the most recent 1 month chart:

As you can see, BUFOX continues to have positive momentum compared to BUFBX. If things reverse I will often get out of the agressive position and continue monitoring it for reentry or look for other trending funds.
I have tried this also with:
Mathews Funds: MAPIX and MSMLX
TR Price: PRWCX and many other T R Price Funds (PRMTX, PRHSX, PRIDX, PRNHX, etc)
Vanguard: VWELX and other Vanguard Funds (VHCOX, VGHCX, VGENX,VGSIX,etc.)
Pimco: PONDX and other Pimco Funds (PCKDX, PETDX, PCRDX, etc.)
Oakmark: OAKBX and other Oakmark Funds ( OAKIX, OAKWX, etc.)
I try to do these investment pairing within the same fund family because my brokerage allow me to exchange funds on the same day. This provides me with the ability to sell profits from my opportunistic funds and buy shares of my "long term hold" fund on the same day. Choosing funds that are NTF also eliminates transaction fees.
Would like to hear from others on their reallocation strategies.

Here are risk/performance numbers of some of those mentioned above, along with some of better performers in the Health category (although ISTIX / WSTCX actually resides in the Tech category):

I know VGHCX has had a manager change, but hard not to be attracted to this fund.

Hi mrc,
Here are some more actively managed Vanguard funds for your consideration: VSTCX, VSEQX, VEXPX/VEXRX, VDEQX, VWIAX/VWINX, VGELX/VGENX, and VGHAX/VGHCX.
Kevin

VWINX
VWELX
VGENX
VGHCX
VGPMX
VWINX, VWELX, and VGHCX probably three of the best funds ever.
Sometimes, because your plan owns shares, you may even be able to buy otherwise closed funds, like VWELX.
Also, opt for admiral share class, as appropriate.

Health Care and more specifically Biotech have had a nice run...even with that in mind, dca into VGHCX would make sense to me. We are in a transitory period for Healthcare (ObamaCare). Companies are jockey for position and in the end this sector will see upside from this political intiative. Beyond politics, Healthcare is the place to be as countries like the US, Japan, and China age. I like the dividends VGHCX throws off (1.63%)...I like the growth potential (5 yr avg 11.31%).
Fifteen years with the same girl (VGHCX) should count for something, right? She's a keeper in my book.

Funds with positive MONTHLY return on my list. In order of % return. From 3.17 to 0.03
SPLV
MLPI
VGHCX
AQMIX
POGRX
MAPIX
MACSX
PGDIX
AIMOX
AMOMX
VEIPX
LSBRX
FNMIX
TIBIX
TGBAX
PGAIX
FSMEX
VWINX
FSICX
VBMFX
PIMIX
PTTRX
VWELX
PAUIX
VWEHX
PHIYX
MWTRX
FMIHX
HABDX
OSTIX
EXDAX
TGMNX
VFINX
VIPSX
IVIQX
VTINX
PFIUX
FEHIX
PRWCX
VIMSX
SNXFX
AQGNX
LEXCX
TGEIX
VGSTX
VTSAX
AQRIX
VFSTX
JASBX
MAPOX
BERIX
FPACX

Hi folks,
I wanted to recap this thread the best I can. First of all, thanks to all for the contributions. For some odd reason, I thought the number of holdings extending beyond 10 years would be slight....what in God's name was I thinking?
Listed below are those held more than 10 years per responses:
ACRNX Columbia Acorn
ARTJX Artisan International Small Cap
ARTKX Artisan International Value
ARTMX Artisan Mid Cap
ARTVX Artisan Small Cap Value
BSCFX Baron Small Cap
DODBX Dodge & Cox Balanced
EUROX U.S. Global Investors Eastern European
FCNTX Fidelity Contra Fund
HABDX Harbor Bond
IVAEX Ivy Asset Strategy
LSBDX Loomis Sayles Bond
MACSX Matthews Asian Growth and Income
MAPTX Matthews Pacific Tiger
MEURX Mutual European Fd (Series of Franklin Mutual Ser Fd Inc.)
MSILX Litman Gregory Masters International
OAKBX Oakmark Equity and Income
OARIX Oakmark International
ODVYX Oppenheimer Developing Markets
OSTFX Osterweis Fund
OSTIX Osterweis Strategic Income
PCVAX AllianzGI NFJ Small-Cap Value
PRBLX Parnassus Income Trust- Equity Income
PRPFX Permanent Pt
PRWCX T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation
RPIBX T. Rowe Price International Bond
RPMGX T. Rowe Price Mid-Cap Growth
SINAX ClearBridge Large Cap Value
SEQUX Sequoia
SGOVX First Eagle Overseas
TBGVX Tweedy Browne Global Value
TGBAX Templeton Global Bond
TIBIX Thornburg Investment Income Builder
TWVLX American Century Value Investor
VGHCX Vanguard Specialized Portfolios Health Care
VHCOX Vanguard Capital Opportunity
VISVX Vanguard Index Trust Small-Cap Value
VPMCX Vanguard Primecap
VWELX Vanguard Wellington
What great fund pickers we are!!!
Frankly, I think this says a great deal about the folks who visit this site, and particularly the individual (David) who operates the site which draws us in like moths to a flame...ok, bad analogy.
Many of the funds listed were not popular, trendy or acclaimed 10 years ago...but they are now. The key is finding these types of funds early...and that is what I hope to get from this site, and fellow posters.
On a personal note, it was interesting to see that while I only have owned 2 funds for over 10 years, I own 11 of the funds on this list currently.
thanks,
Press

VGHCX since 1998.

Speaking of health care as an investment in general, Robert Shiller is the guest on the current WealthTrack show, where he says that there are four sector PE10's still below the median of the past 20 years: finance, energy, health care, and industrials -- so on that basis, the long-term valuation of funds like VGHCX even now is pretty decent for prospective buyers.

VWELX - Since 80s. Inertia. Soon I'll be Admiralized.
VGHCX - Since 80s. Bought at $30; last close a whisker short of $160. Yippee!
ACRNX - Since early 90s. Inertia.
ARTMX - When fund managers left Strong and started Artisan, I went with them. Like David, I bought, then sold, Artisan Small and International, putting the proceeds (unlike David) into ARTMX and Mid Value.
Value bent, pretty obviously.
TBGVX (Burton Malkiel's influence)
VISVX

Hi folks....this is somewhat of an adjunct to a thread started by Hiyield007 as he was speaking of the virtues of the healthcare sector.
This has been something which has illustrated some items quite surprising to me...but perhaps you may differ.
A. What are some of your longest held positions, why have those funds maintained their position in your portfolio, and what can you conclude from that experience?
B. Looking ahead 10 years, what in your portfolio may be included in your answer to this same question?
To start....as noted within Hiyield007's thread, VGHCX and VHCOX are my gray-beards, with just over 10 years in the portfolio. The odd thing is, in my memory, I never would have classified them as top performers within the MF world...but they indeed HAVE been some of my top performers over that span. That, to me, speaks of consistency of performance of the managers. They may never be the high fliers, but are relatively consistent in their approach and execution. I'd love to take full credit for my astute selection process, but I do need to balance this out with my clunkers.
What MAY be a long-term holding in my portfolio? That's easy (at the moment). POAGX.
Press.

Best performer life time? VGHCX. Its absolute and risk adjusted returns are extraordinary...since 1984! But again, beware, Ed Owens its skipper since inception retired late last year.

Reply to @AndyJ: Really good point Andy. VHT is an index exchange traded fund. It tracks MSCI U.S. Investable Market Health Care Index. It appears to be rather weak proxy to the actively managed VGHCX, which sports the great record under recently retired Ed Owens.
Here is comparison:

Ditto for VDE and VGENX on the energy side. The former is an index, while the latter is actively managed.
That said, both ETFs provide good sector exposure for low cost and with good liquidity.
I'm getting more interested in ETFs these days. I recently started buying BOND because it is strategic proxy to PTTRX.