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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.
  • MRFOX
    BIVIX is a long-short fund. The latest information can be found at https://www.invenomic.com
    It says: Long 99.4% Short -89.4$ Net 10.1%. For 1 calendar year, from 30 Dec 22 to 29 Dec Jan 2023, it was 16.5% up. But wait a month: for 1 year, from Feb 10, 2023, to Feb 12, 2024, it is -1%. That is why it is not easy to rely on this fund unless it is on its way up as it was during the previous 2 years.
  • YTD - how is your portfolio doing
    I’m afreaid @Low_Tech is “behind the curve” however. Fixed income was in vogue a year ago when money market funds hit the “astronomical” 5% mark. Today we’ve moved on to the “Mag7” - some of which have tripled or quadrupled over the past year, dwarfing the measly return from fixed income.
    Let’s get with it! :)
    Nice going as @MikeM said. Regarding fixed income, as Yogi Berra used to say in an old TV commercial, “and they give ya your money back!” (or at least most of it)
    Thanks.
    I should have mentioned, 11% of my PF is in a money fund earning 5.2x %. Pretty stodgy, so maybe I'll sell everything and put it all in Bitcoin.
  • MRFOX
    I was intrigued by the recent references to FSELX. Very impressive performance for sure. That said, over the prior 3 year period (this is my preferred benchmark) ending 01/31/24 and starting 01/31/21 BIVIX has handily beaten FSELX and this even after BIVIX currently going through a rough patch.
    I personally would not hold more than 5% of FSELX given that it is a sector fund and pretty volatile.
    FSELX: 23.73%
    BIVIX: 38.89%
  • YTD - how is your portfolio doing
    I’m afreaid @Low_Tech is “behind the curve” however. Fixed income was in vogue a year ago when money market funds hit the “astronomical” 5% mark. Today we’ve moved on to the “Mag7” - some of which have tripled or quadrupled over the past year, dwarfing the measly return from fixed income.
    Let’s get with it! :)
    Nice going as @MikeM said. Regarding fixed income, as Yogi Berra used to say in an old TV commercial, “and they give ya your money back!” (or at least most of it)
  • YTD - how is your portfolio doing
    My boring, bond-heavy portfolio is up 3.26% YTD, all ETFs or MFs. I like normalized interest rates.

    @Low_Tech, that is really good for a bond heavy portfolio. I'm having a hard time finding bond funds returning anywhere near 3.2% YTD. It must be the "equity-light" side of your portfolio driving that YTD return (?)
    Mike: What's driving it (those returning more than 3.26%) are CEFs GOF (10.45%), PDI (9.43%), Janus Balanced JABAX (4.3%) and SPY (5.5%) (all numbers are from M*). Those are four funds out of a total of eight.
    My retirement portfolio AA is 38/62. FWIW, I'm more interested in income than market prices or total return. But I do check TR, usually only quarterly, but saw this thread and thought I'd check it.
  • MRFOX
    I am with @Baseball_Fan with respect to AKRIX and MRFOX. AKRIX was brilliant. I invested in it since its inception, but then its manager retired...
    MRFOX is great, but the two main managers, Christopher Niemczewski and Elise Hoffmann, are husband and wife, planning to retire together in 5-10 years, see the last few minutes of their presentation at https://www.marshfieldinc.com. Thus, I would invest in it for a while, but I would watch it carefully.
  • February MFO is Live
    ISTM as we age and seek out more esoteric investment styles with growth potential + downside protection fees are likely to increase. My two Long-short funds (10% each), NLSAX & CPLSX, both have “adjusted” fees in excess of 1.5%. With interest on short positions included, costs are even higher. But they are managed by highly experienced folks I think I can trust not to let the cattle roam too far off the ranch. Good sleep-well funds that should best cash over intermediate periods without a lot of risk.
    Thanks David for posting your portfolio. Enlightening. (And thank you for not flaunting your “massive” holdings in The Magnificent Seven.) :)
  • MRFOX
    Understand now?
    MMM..maybe, congrats it's working for you, the more you or anyone else make the better.
    On the other hand, many of us have different styles, risk tolerance and goals.
    My main objectives were always to have an excellent risk/reward portfolio...and I did. What others do is their objectives. I'm OK with just beating the SP500 (although I only needed 6% annually) since retirement (6 years) with an extremely low SD < 3 and using just 2-3 bond funds instead of trading every week and holding over 30 positions (stocks, bonds, CDs). I didn't troll you in any way, but you did = old news. If my trading isn't good, how did I achieve the following(data)?
    BTW, why bring up FSELX at all? Are you going to mention it any time someone posts about any fund?
    Lastly, after years during 2015-17 that you claimed I would not retire and never make it, the reality is different, what a "surprise". I immigrated with nothing and retired after 23 years, and since retirement doubled my money.
  • MRFOX
    VGHCX
    15.28% vs SP500 11.7%
    (05/23/1984)
  • MRFOX
    Two more to compare
    Fidelity® Select Software and IT Services Portfolio
    FSCSX
    7/29/85
    Average annual total return
    16.3% vs SP500 11.21%
    Vanguard Health Care
    VGHCX
    Average annual total return
    15.28% vs SP500 xxx?
    (05/23/1984)
    FSELX
    Average annual total return
    07/29/1985
    14.4% vs SP500 11.21%
  • MRFOX
    MFROX
    First test for me, can I buy it at Fidelity or Schwab? I can buy it at Schwab at $1000 min in IRA and $10K min in taxable. It has a$49.95 fee (that is waived for me). But, This fund has a 2 % redemption fee if sold within 90 days.
    MFROX is an excellent risk-reward fund and how you should look at funds.
    First question: how many stock funds do you know that were not down in 2018 + 2022 + beat the SP500 in the last 8 years? I bet not many
    Let's go deeper
    Using portfolio V and comparing SPY,MFROX,PRWCX (link) shows that MFROX has better Sharpe (risk/reward) than PRWCX(one of the best allocation funds). MFROX max draw is better than SPY+PRWCX. MFROX Sortino(down volatility) is great at 2. If a stock fund can compete on down volatility with an allocation fund, it's a good testimony.
    Next test: I screened the Schwab database for all funds that have Sharp > 0.9 + average annual performance over 15%...and I got only 3 MFROX, FSPCX(Fidelity select insurance), BIVIX(Invenomic Fund Institutional ). BIVIX had Sharpe>1.6 + Performance>16% = extremely good.
    Questions about FSELX
    If every fund you are going to compare to FSELX, why are you holding anything else, or why not at least 30% of your portfolio, after all, hindsight is great.
    Do most investors should own a unique fund like FSELX? No. FSELX had an amazing run, congrats to anyone who owned it.
    MFO rating
    Again, pretty good, see (https://www.member.mfopremium.com/riskprofile/)
    OWL=yes
    Composite MFO Rating:5-Best...
    Fund Alarm Risk: -2 - Lowest Risk
    Yield, 12-mo %: 0.46 (this is great for a taxable account because you don't pay a lot of taxes, VFIAX(SP500) TTM yield = 1.4%)
    Can MFROX be a core fund for your portfolio? IMO, yes. But, a fund like this is based on great calls and trading. Will the future be as good as since inception? nobody knows.
    BIVIX: why has everyone did not hold it from 01/2020 to 12/31/2023, see the chart (https://schrts.co/TXRrcXuN)
    Do you know why only thru 12/31/2023 because hindsight is great and BIVIX lost 8% for YTD. Regardless it made 245% since 01/2020 while SPY made only 66% and QQQ only 111%. And as I said before it's risk/reward since 2020 is pretty good.
  • Mag 7 Holdings - How Much You Got?
    UPDATE_2
    In case this thread survives as intended, I'll routinely recap what's been posted so as not to lose track of it.
    FWIW, Mag 7 allocations continue to be VERY surprising (to me at least) so far!
    Thanks to all who have reported. And thanks to all who have kept this thread on topic.
    See also this similar thread that was started on the Fido Forum (invitation only still?) a coupla days after this MFO thread. Far different reporting there but OP is asking for technology % not Mag 7!
    https://www.fidelityinvestorcommunity.com/t5/Market-Sector-Outlook/What-Percentage-of-Your-Portfolio-is-in-Technology-Did-You/m-p/399050#M40359
    (BOLD added.)
    @stillers:
    AAPL 3.5%
    AMZN 3.0%
    GOOGL 3.8%
    META 1.0%
    MSFT 6.0%
    NVDA 3.3%
    TSLA 0.5%
    Total 21.2%
    @Art: Since I have stocks only at this time it's easy. NVDA at 3%.
    @habsui: I put 2.4% of PV into AMZN,MSFT,GOOG over 11 years ago.
    Only sold a little AMZN. So ... about 30%.
    @hank: I stay as far away as I can from them.
    @sma3: about 3%...Mostly MSFT for years. No TSLA or META Both run by lunatics!
    @WABAC (as calc'd by me and OK'd by @WABAC):
    AAPL 0.05%
    AMZN 0.00%
    GOOGL 0.40%
    META 0.00%
    MSFT 1.02%
    NVDA 0.00%
    TSLA 0.00%
    Total 1.47%
    @Mark
    AAPL 1.18%
    AMZN 0.32%
    GOOGL 0.36%
    META 0.25%
    MSFT 1.21%
    NVDA 0.59%
    TSLA 0.018%
    Total 4.09%
    I also own shares of AAPL (6.1% of total portfolio value) and GOOGL (3.1%) outright.
    @Roy
    AAPL -1.88%
    AMZN - 2.03%
    GOOGL - 2.65%
    META - 1.02%
    MSFT - 4.41%
    NVDA - 1.28%
    TSLA - 0.00%
    LLY - .63%, just for kicks.
    13.9%, less than I expected, though Giroux did state recently they had trimmed some of the hot stocks.
  • Secure 2.0: Retirement Portability
    Secure 2.0: Retirement Portability
    Secure 2.0 requires retirement plan (401k/403b) portability for small accounts ($1-7K; limit adjusted) into another job's plan or Safe Harbor IRAs (also, Automatic Rollover IRAs). Plan balances under $1K can still be cashed out – those can be rolled over into IRA or spent (paying 10% penalty & taxes). PSN enables auto-portability for fees (5% of balance up to max $30) & its current members include Alight, Vanguard, Fidelity, Empower, TIAA, and Principal.
    https://ybbpersonalfinance.proboards.com/thread/567/retirement-portability
    Edit/Add: The entire legislation isn't new. But Secure 2.0 changed the limits and provisions that make auto-portability possible.
  • MRFOX
    Here is the Schwab MRFOX data sheet:
    https://www.schwab.wallst.com/Prospect/Research/mutualfunds/Summary.asp?symbol=mrfox
    =======================================
    So @Graust makes a great point about what this fund actually may be, and that appears to be confirmed (to me at least) by the data sheet. MFROX has significantly outperformed the fund @Graust noted, PVCMX. And it ain't even close!
    But, FWIW, if it is misclassified and more of a long-short or tactical allocation fund, then that leaves me even LESS interested in it as I do not use either of those categories in my port as I KNOW that I can and do select other dedicated stock funds that will outperform them. I also don't want to have to open a Marshfield or Firstrade a/c just to own MRFOX.
    Bottom Line: ALWAYS good to know what we are BUYing BEFORE we BUY it, and thanks to @Graust for advancing the discussion on that critical issue. It makes a world of difference looking through the proper glasses and @Graust has assisted me on that plenty of times over the years!
    ========================================
    @finder, I accept your or anyone's comparison to VOO as the overall, general comparison I also do for ANY dedicated stock investment I make. Any yes, it has performed, as you noted, far better than VOO since its inception. FWIW, outperforming VOO/FXAIX is the hurdle I use for selection of ANY dedicated stock fund I plan to own or own, so MRFOX at least is over that hurdle.
    But I don't accept comparing it to PRWCX which routinely runs 70/30 to 60/40. One would need to gross up PRWCX's TR for a fairer comparison. Not going there.
    That said, If it's OK to compare it to PRWCX, then wouldn't it also be OK to compare it to at least another fund in its (arguably incorrect) M* LCG category, like BPTIX:
    MRFOX is 254% up since inception, BPTIX is up 384%, i.e. about 1.5x MORE than MRFOX.
    And If it's OK to compare it to PRWCX, then why not also compare it to arguably the best performing dedicated stock fund on the planet since its inception, FSELX? At least FSELX is a dedicated stock fund like MRFOX:
    MRFOX is 254% up since inception, FSELX is up 698%, i.e. about 1.75x MORE than MRFOX.
    ========================================
    Bottom Line: I now have a better appreciation of the fascination for this fund. But now have less than ZERO plans to own it! YMMV.
    Disclaimer: I am a LT holder of both PRWCX and FSELX, before the inception date of MFROX.
  • MRFOX
    I believe that a comparison of MRFOX with VOO (S&P 500) and the famous Giroux find PRWCX can be quite informative.
    Out of these 3 funds, MRFOX is the only one that has not had a single down year since its inception in Jan 2016. VOO is the most volatile of them.
    MRFOX is 253% up since inception, VOO is 184% up, and PRWCX is 134% up, i.e. almost 2 times less than MRFOX.
    5 year Sharpe ratio for MRFOX is 1, for VOO it is 0.71, and for PRWCX it is 0.74.
    Of course, this great 8-year-long performance may be just luck, but according to the managers, the longer-term performance of their separately managed accounts is similarly impressive.
  • MRFOX
    I've looked at this fund and commented on it on another thread. I'm just not sure what the fascination is with a (now) LCG fund that has these cat rankings since inception:
    LCB
    Year__Cat Rank
    2016__8
    2017__4
    LCG
    Year__Cat Rank

    2018__15
    2019__19
    2020__96
    2021__72
    2022__1**
    2023__96
    2024__89
    And its portfolio as of 11/30/23, Sectors and individual holdings that is, leaves a LOT to be desired.
    https://www.morningstar.com/funds/xnas/mrfox/portfolio
    ** = Noted that it did lead the pack in the downer year of 2022 with a 5.1% TR. Other than that, ugh!
    There are SO MANY great LCG OEFs. This one does NOT appear on my radar. YMMV.
  • Barron's on Funds & Retirement, 2/10/24
    +1 Nice summary Yogi. Loved the vinyl record used as Forsyth’s (CEF column) photo-piece, representing a type of investment that’s “out of style” today.
    ISTM Forsyth probably understands CEFs well. A bit over a year ago he recommended BCAT and GUG in a column - along with several others that were beaten down and heavily discounted. I bought those two & mentioned them in a post here about then. Made some $$ - but sold both way too soon. Rieder’s BCAT especially was helpful to the bottom line in ‘23. Being a scavenger, I wouldn’t buy them today. Forsyth’s 2 picks this week at GAMCO look interesting - but too dicey for myself.
    As utilities are mentioned in Yogi’s Barron’s recap, I’ll note that FSUTX (Fidelity Select Utilities) is down nearly 5% early in the year. I don’t own it, but curious what’s knocking the utilities sector down? Possibly related - Value and other safer-havens are having a tough time this year as money chases the Mag 7 higher and higher .
    image
  • 3 more Matthews Portfolio Managers exit
    Matthews Funds and Third Avenue are the two biggest failures in the last couple of decades, followed by Grandeur Peaks (damaged, but not fatally) and IVA (a sad case).
    TAVFX only has $733m new (per M*) - it once was > $5-7bn (?) when Marty Whitman ran it during its most successful period.
  • MRFOX
    Firstrade - $1K min, $100 additional.
    Fund Symbol: MRFOX View Prospectus
    Fund Type: No Load Open for Investment: Yes Settlement Period: 1 day
    NAV*: $29.65 Initial Minimum Amount: $1,000.00 Cut-Off Time: 4:00 PM
    NAV Change: -$0.04 Subsequent Amount: $100.00
  • The week that was, global etf's, various categories + heat map. Week ending May 17, 2024.
    The graphic is set for the 5 days ending February 9, Friday; for the best to worst % returns in select etf categories. One may then also select the one month column to align the one month return best to worst; or for the other listed time frame columns.
    ADD an etf performance of your choosing, if you desire.
    *** Requested ADD: For the week and YTD
    --- EWW = -.77% / -.63% (I Shares, Mexico)
    MMKT note: Fidelity mmkt's yields remained nominally steady this week, with core acct's yields at 4.96% (SPAXX) and 4.96% (FDRXX); although both had a drop in yield of .02 and .04% which continues a very slow downward move in yields.
    NOTE: Growth equity remains strongly positive, being the tech. area; as well as Blue Chip, quality/non-tech. Most U.S. bonds (funds) found higher yields this week, which, of course; results in lose of pricing performance.
    Remain curious,
    Catch