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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.
  • DFA anyone?
    RJB,
    You raise a good point. There are some ways to get in. Scott Burns at Asset builder is one way. I think he charges 50 basis pts for 50k accounts. Flat fees portfolio charges 200 dollars-ish/month for the smaller accounts. I guess part of taking the plunge is hiring an advisor with access.
    Best, Mike
  • FAIRX-drops down -9.6 today
    What am i missing. If investor lawsuits were dismissed, WTF should the price drop? Isn't that good news for the stock? Shouldn't it go up?
  • FAIRX-drops down -9.6 today
    Ouch..that really hurts. About 10% of the holdings took a 50% haircut. All the other holdings were also down. That's what a concentrated portfolio can you for/to you.
    Won't sell right away, but may certainly reduce on a (dead cat) bounce.
  • FAIRX-drops down -9.6 today
    FAAFX down 10.8%.
    Fairholme Focused Income Fund FOCIX
    -6.72%
    image
  • PTTRX closed flat, PIMIX/PONDX closed -.47% Hmmm.
    it wasn't... bond funds accrue daily dividends in their NAV, not like stock funds. the decline you saw was a market decline - movements in spreads -- see my previous explanation.
    Update for PIMIX / PONDX
    ---PIMIX, dividend of 0.05550 per share, declared on 09/30/2014
    ---PONDX, dividend of 0.05266 per share, declared on 9/30/2014

    Yeah, but what is the ex-dividend date?
    When was the NAV lowered as a result of the income coming out of the fund?
    "Declared"?
    Typically there is a Date of Record, An Ex-Dividend Date/Re-investment date, and a Payable Date.
  • PTTRX closed flat, PIMIX/PONDX closed -.47% Hmmm.
    Update for PIMIX / PONDX
    ---PIMIX, dividend of 0.05550 per share, declared on 09/30/2014
    ---PONDX, dividend of 0.05266 per share, declared on 9/30/2014
    Yeah, but what is the ex-dividend date?
    When was the NAV lowered as a result of the income coming out of the fund?
    "Declared"?
    Typically there is a Date of Record, An Ex-Dividend Date/Re-investment date, and a Payable Date.
  • DFA anyone?
    I use DFA for a 529 account, but mainly managed MF's for other accounts.
  • A Poor End To A Bad Month
    Absolutely agree.
    Again, think only way out of current malaise is 3Q earnings.
    Here's look back at SPY and AGG.
    SPY not as poor as Russell, still, below 10 day and headed below 50 day moving averages. But, still up more than 8% YTD.
    image
    More recently, AGG trending in right direction. But honestly neither index is offerring much comfort these days. Comfort...what's that?!
    image
  • PTTRX closed flat, PIMIX/PONDX closed -.47% Hmmm.
    Update for PIMIX / PONDX
    ---PIMIX, dividend of 0.05550 per share, declared on 09/30/2014
    ---PONDX, dividend of 0.05266 per share, declared on 9/30/2014
  • Doubleline CEFs - DSL vs. DBL
    My point exactly. The portfolio composition of DSL and DBL are very different even though the stated fund objectives are very similar and they are run by the same manager. What gives? At least for PDI and PCI, the differences in portfolio strategy can be explained by the differences in the management teams for the two funds.
    As an aside, one sees a much lower discount for DBL vs DSL. Could be explained by the fact that Gundlach's expertise is greater in the mortgage bond space.
    I am long DSL. Better price and NAV performance than DBL and greater discount to NAV. The nagging question is how much of that outperformance is due to greater risk (vs. DBL).
    you are histerical, Ted.
    DBL: 99% MBS and agency CMO, i.e. it's a mortgage fund
    DSL: 17% MBS and agency CMO; 5% CMBS; 46% corporate non-US (including EMD); 16% corporate US, i.e. it's a diversified fixed income vehicle.
  • Doubleline CEFs - DSL vs. DBL
    you are histerical, Ted.
    DBL: 99% MBS and agency CMO, i.e. it's a mortgage fund
    DSL: 17% MBS and agency CMO; 5% CMBS; 46% corporate non-US (including EMD); 16% corporate US, i.e. it's a diversified fixed income vehicle.
    @BWG: Difference in the two funds:
    Cash Position:
    DSl: Less Than 1%
    DBL: 20% (18% long-2% short)
    Number of Bonds;
    DSL 90%
    DBL 99%
    Regards,
    Ted
  • Janus Unconstrained Bond Fund
    BG might do well starting with a low-AUM unconstrained fund, if the BOND-PTTRX history is any guide. Using essentially the same general strategy, BOND whipped PTTRX handily since inception in 2012: +15.5% vs. + 8.4% cumulative, per M* chart function, and although the two converged somewhat after the first year or so, BOND is still winning, YTD at 4.5% vs. 3.4%.
  • What might the Janus Global Unconstrained Bond Fund look like under Bill Gross?
    Harbor Fund, like American Beacon, to a certain extent Vanguard, and other fund families, legally manages their funds but subcontracts out the day to day management to other management companies, not specific managers.
    From the prospectus:
    The Adviser has engaged the services of several subadvisers (each, a “Subadviser”) to assist with the portfolio management of the Funds ... Each Subadviser is responsible to provide the Fund with advice concerning the investment management of the Fund’s portfolio, which advice shall be consistent with the investment objectives and policies of the Fund. The Subadviser determines what securities shall be purchased, sold or held for the Fund and what portion of the Fund’s assets are held uninvested. ...
    Harbor Commodity Real Return Strategy Fund, Harbor Unconstrained Bond Fund, Harbor Bond Fund and Harbor Real Return Fund. The Funds are subadvised by Pacific Investment Management Company LLC (“PIMCO”).
    Not by Gross (or Worah for the Commodity fund).
    Here's the subadvisory contract between Harbor and PIMCO for the Unconstrained Bond Fund; the manager's name (Gross) appears nowhere in the contract.
    http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/793769/000119312513336741/d583237dex99d40.htm
    So if Harbor wants Gross to continue, it seems it would have to negotiate a new subadvisory contract with Janus, which would likely need fund shareholder approval. BTW, Gross owns no shares of the Harbor funds he managed.
  • Why You Should Invest Like Harvard
    FYI: It's college-rankings season again, and it's not just about which colleges are the most selective (Stanford); produce the most billionaires (University of Pennsylvania) or have the highest-ranked football team (Alabama). More interesting for investors is the annual investment returns announced recently by the top university endowments. Taking a shorter-term view suggests that perhaps investing as these universities do might be a bad idea. The longer-term view, however, says something very different.
    Last week, Harvard announced its endowment rose 15.4% in the fiscal year ending June. That trailed rival Yale and Stanford's 20.2% and 17% returns, respectively. Each of these endowments trailed the S&P 500's return of 24.6% over the same period by a substantial margin
    Regards,
    Ted
    http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-you-should-invest-like-harvard-2014-09-30/print
  • Janus Unconstrained Bond Fund
    rjb112, not sure now where I saw the 65% rank. I must have been confused. Looking now I see PTTRX ranked 40% in it's category under 5 year returns. Still mediocre but not horrible.
    p.s. why is the 'Rank in Category' data missing in your print?
    Good question MikeM. Have no idea. I noticed that before I posted it, and even looked at it using both Internet Explorer and Chrome as different browsers, thinking it could have been a browser issue. Still wasn't there with either one. But just now it IS there! I notice on Morningstar that at times, category rank numbers are "missing", then at a later time will be present. Here's what it shows now, 3 pm EST:
    image
  • Janus Unconstrained Bond Fund
    rjb112, not sure now where I saw the 65% rank. I must have been confused. Looking now I see PTTRX ranked 40% in it's category under 5 year returns. Still mediocre but not horrible.
    p.s. why is the 'Rank in Category' data missing in your print?
  • Janus Unconstrained Bond Fund
    Fun with numbers. Mean is not the same as median, so it is possible for a fund to have above mean performance while still ranking below the category median. For example, if a category has five funds with performance figures of 10%, 10%, 10%, 9%, 1%, the category average performance is 8%. The 9% fund is below the median (50th percentile) in raking, but above category average in performance.
    To find the category rankings, look at M*'s summary (quote) page, not the performance page.
    Bond fund performances tend to cluster, so a small difference in expenses can make a large difference in rankings. In particular, different share classes can have vastly different rankings. PTRRX (as of 9/29/14) is ranked at the 65th percentile for five year performance, as MikeM wrote. PTTCX is even worse, at 78th percentile. Even the retail no load class, PTTDX barely breaks into the top half, at 49th percentile. PTTRX, the institutional class, does better, at 40th percentile, still lackluster.