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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.
  • Ziegler Senior Floating Rate Fund to be liquidated
    https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1261788/000089418923003762/zieglerseniorfloatingratef.htm
    497 1 zieglerseniorfloatingratef.htm 497E ZIEGLER SENIOR FLOATING RATE FUND LIQUIDATION
    Trust for Advised Portfolios
    Supplement dated May 17, 2023
    to the Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information
    dated January 31, 2023 for the
    Ziegler Senior Floating Rate Fund
    Ziegler Capital Management, LLC (“ZCM”), investment adviser to Ziegler Senior Floating Rate Fund (the “Fund”), has recommended, and the Board of Trustees of the Trust for Advised Portfolios has approved, the liquidation and termination of the Fund. The Fund is expected to cease operations and liquidate on or about July 16, 2023 (the “Liquidation Date”). On or promptly after the Liquidation Date, the Fund will make a liquidating distribution to its remaining shareholders equal to each shareholder’s proportionate interest in the net assets of the Fund, in complete redemption and cancellation of the Fund’s shares held by the shareholder, and the Fund will be dissolved.
    Effective at the close of business on May 22, 2023, the Fund will no longer accept purchase orders. In addition, beginning at the close of business on May 17, 2023, ZCM will begin an orderly liquidation of the Fund’s assets and the Fund’s assets will be converted into cash and cash equivalents. As a result, during this process, the Fund will no longer be pursuing its stated investment objective. Although the Fund will be closed to new investments as of the close of business on May 22, 2023, shareholders may voluntarily redeem their shares before the Liquidation Date. Shares of the Fund redeemed on or after July 16, 2023 will not be subject to redemption fees. ZCM will bear all expenses incurred in carrying out the liquidation process, except for transaction costs incurred in connection with liquidating the Fund’s investments. Shareholders remaining in the Fund just prior to the Liquidation Date may bear increased transaction fees incurred in connection with the disposition of the Fund’s portfolio holdings.
    The liquidating distribution will include any accrued income and capital gains, will be treated as a payment in exchange for shares, and will generally be a taxable event for shareholders investing through taxable accounts. You should consult with your tax advisor for further information regarding the federal, state and/or local income tax consequences of the liquidation that are relevant to your specific situation.
    Please contact the Fund at 833-777-1533 or your financial advisor if you have questions or need assistance.
    Please retain this supplement with your Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information for future reference.
  • Treasury Direct customer service
    Many other countries send out prefilled tax returns to their taxpayers.
    According to recent studies, over 60 million US tax returns could be completed automatically.
  • RiverPark Strategic Income Fund now advised by CrossingBridge Advisors
    RiverPark Strategic Income Fund now advised by CrossingBridge Advisors. The transaction between RiverPark, Cohanzick, and CrossingBridge closed the transaction as disclosed in ENDI Corp 10Q under subsequent events. CrossingBridge Advisors in 100% wholly-owned by ENDI Corp (OTCBB: ENDI) in which David Sherman is deemed a controlling shareholder.
    https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/1908984/000143774923014518/endi20230331_10q.htm
  • Anybody Investing in bond funds?
    Great comments from everyone.
    For the reason of being state tax exempt, we invest in treasury over CDs in taxable account. Additionally, we like the liquidity aspect that enable selling treasury before maturity in secondary market, whereas brokered CDs do not share the same level of flexibility. Selling bank CDs before maturity date would face with stiff penalties ( losing several months of interest).
    Speaking of bonds and bond funds, our MFO contributor, Lynn Bolin provided a very nice article in April 2023’s commentary. Enjoy.
    https://mutualfundobserver.com/2023/04/bond-funds-for-a-recession-and-falling-rates/#more-17875
  • Anyone using etfrc.com? Compares ETFs for overlapping holdings
    I found it because I was looking for a tool to compare the overlapping holdings of funds. And they do have a free tool that allows you to do that: https://www.etfrc.com/funds/overlap.php
    Sure would be cool if that overlap feature could be added to observer premium. Anybody know of a free one for mutual funds?
    Second question concerns their ALTAR Score™.
    For equities, we calculate the ALTAR Score™ using the formula on the right—itself a derivation of the old Dividend Discount Model—where:
    Avg. ROE is the average return on equity of firms in the fund for the five (5) years up to and including the current forecast year
    P/BV is the forward price-to-book value based on current market prices
    fees is the annual expense ratio of the ETF
    The relationship between Return on Equity and Price-to-Book Value multiples is well established in the academic literature. This formula is designed to forecast the likely internal rate of return to business owners. It is important to note that it is not a target price, and there are no timing or momentum components to it.
    Here is the graphic they mention . . .
    image
    This well out of my wheel house, so I am interested to hear what others think of the ALTAR scoring.
  • PSI Strategic Growth Fund to liquidate
    https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1314414/000158064223002742/psi_497.htm
    497 1 psi_497.htm 497
    PSI STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND
    Class A Shares FXSAX
    (a series of Northern Lights Fund Trust)
    Supplement dated May 16, 2023 to
    the Prospectus dated October 28, 2022
    The Board of Trustees of Northern Lights Fund Trust (the “Board”) has determined based on the recommendation of the investment adviser of the Portfolio Strategies, Inc. (the “Fund”), 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 June 27, 2023.
    Effective at the close of business May 16, 2023, the Fund will not accept any purchases and will no longer pursue their stated investment objectives. The Fund may begin liquidating its portfolio and may invest in cash equivalents such as money market funds until all shares have been redeemed. Any capital gains will be distributed as soon as practicable to shareholders. Shares of the Fund are otherwise not available for purchase.
    Prior to June 27, 2023, 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 June 27, 2023 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 1-888-9-BUYPSI.
    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.
    This Supplement and the existing Prospectus dated October 28, 2022, provide relevant information for all shareholders and should be retained for future reference. Both the Prospectus and the Statement of Additional Information dated October 28, 2022, have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, are incorporated by reference and can be obtained without charge by calling the Fund at 1-888-9-BUYPSI.
  • Treasury Direct customer service
    The 2019 ProPublica piece is out of date.
    The IRS announced significant changes Monday [Dec 30, 2019] to its deal with the tax prep software industry. Now companies are barred from hiding their free products from search engines [as reported in the ProPublica piece] such as Google, and a years-old prohibition on the IRS creating its own online filing system has been scrapped.
    https://www.govexec.com/oversight/2020/01/irs-reforms-free-file-program-drops-agreement-not-compete-turbotax/162167/
    Intuit did itself no favors by hiding the free software from users. Instead of living with half a loaf, it could wind up with crumbs. It, and H&R Block, shot themselves in the foot by going further and completely dropping out of the Free File program in 2021 and 2020 respectively.
    https://www.propublica.org/article/turbotax-maker-intuit-will-leave-free-tax-filing-partnership-with-irs
    From that piece:
    The program was founded as a gambit by the tax prep industry, led by Intuit, after the George W. Bush administration proposed that the IRS create a free online filing option for taxpayers.
    Worth noting who made the original proposal, given that
    Republicans are already lining up against the plan, fearing it could eventually lead to a system where the IRS fills out people’s returns for them, which they say is a conflict of interest since the agency also enforces tax laws.
    https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/16/irs-free-online-filing-system-00097198
    Why haven't I seen lots of homeowners up in arms about their municipal government determining how much their property is worth (assessor), then based on that number calculating how much they owe in property taxes, and even collecting the taxes online. And if you don't pay, they'll send the county sheriff to arrest you, the city attorney to prosecute you, and the municipal court to try you.
    Certainly those must be blatant conflicts of interest as well. I protest! :-)
  • Treasury Direct customer service

    [snip]
    BTW, IRS is setting up online tax filing for free. If they can make the user interface similar to that ofTurboTax, that would be very helpful for those with straightforward tax filing.
    Intuit will vigorously oppose plans from the IRS to offer free tax filing.
    "But the success of TurboTax rests on a shaky foundation, one that could collapse overnight if the U.S. government did what most wealthy countries did long ago and made tax filing simple and free for most citizens."
    "For more than 20 years, Intuit has waged a sophisticated, sometimes covert war to prevent the government from doing just that, according to internal company and IRS documents and interviews with insiders. The company unleashed a battalion of lobbyists and hired top officials from the agency that regulates it. From the beginning, Intuit recognized that its success depended on two parallel missions: stoking innovation in Silicon Valley while stifling it in Washington."
    "Internal presentations lay out company tactics for fighting 'encroachment,' Intuit’s catchall term for any government initiative to make filing taxes easier — such as creating a free government filing system or pre-filling people’s returns with payroll or other data the IRS already has. 'For a decade proposals have sought to create IRS tax software or a ReturnFree Tax System; All were stopped,' reads a confidential 2007 PowerPoint presentation from an Intuit board of directors meeting. The company’s 2014-15 plan included manufacturing '3rd-party grass roots' support."
    Link
  • Anybody Investing in bond funds?

    s-l-o-w-l-y try to explain why an investor, going forward, should invest in either taxable or municipal bond funds in their portfolio's fixed income sleeve instead of say, 5-yr, 4.50%, non-callable CDs.
    But please leave out the widely understood part about past performance being no guarantee of future results. Got that part.
    s-l-o-w-l-y? I don't know how one writes slowly, but if you're asking for gory details, I'm happy to oblige.
    Let's start with the question. It gives as one option a 5-yr, 4.5% non-callable CD. Even non-callable CDs may be redeemed early by a debtor. Should a bank fail (no longer an unexpected event), high yielding CDs may be redeemed by the FDIC or reset to a lower rate by an acquiring bank.
    Thus actual rate of return, though highly likely to be as stated, is not certain. Some posters have addressed this risk by saying they would only buy CDs from well-managed banks. You did not. (I discovered that by reading your post s-l-o-w-l-y.)
    The question carries an implicit assumption that an investor is absolutely certain that they will not want to withdraw money early. Any possibility of pulling money out would expose the investor to the same interest rate risk as experienced by a bond fund.
    Further, the investor would have less flexibility in selling off a CD (basically, all or nothing on a per-CD basis) as opposed to a bond fund where one can sell as little as 0.001 shares. In addition, the investor would take a big hit on the bid-ask spread that isn't present when selling bond fund shares.
    So already we have a reason - flexibility - for an investor to consider using a bond fund rather than a CD with the same (or even marginally lower) expectation value of rate of return. Maybe you wouldn't, but the question was asked about any investor.
    That brings us to the expected rate of return going forward. As explained (slowly) above, aside from minor risks expected rate of return is pretty well though not quite 100% certain for the CD. The challenge is to figure out at a minimum what the expected rate of return of a bond fund is. Ideally one would want to estimate not only the expected return but the dispersion of possible outcomes. That plays into risk analysis, which I'll (slowly) get to.
    What you did was look at past 5 year returns. In do so, you acknowledged but disregarded the fact that past returns may be poor predictors of future returns. Putting that problem aside, you also disregarded that fact that all rates were lower over the past five years than they are now. One could make at least a passing attempt at compensating for this this by looking at 5 year CD rates 5 years ago vs. now and adjusting the question's comparison accordingly.
    According to depositaccounts.com, 5 years ago the best one could do was about 3.3%, while now it is, as you stated, about 4.5%. So if we use your method of estimating bond fund returns going forward based on past performance, we should adjust those past performance figures upward by about 1.2%. I'll leave that as an exercise for the reader.
    But situations change, and as already noted, past returns may be poor predictors.
    bond funds returning 7%-8% over any LT period of time ... just doesn't happen.
    This is easy to disprove by counter example. It does sometimes happen. From inception (12/31/1986) through the end of 2002, VBMFX had an annualized return of 7.85%. More generally, looking at 10 year rolling averages, AAA corporate bonds had annualized returns ranging between 7.30% and 11.29%(!) for every 10 year period ending between 1975 and 2000. So, over a period of at least 30 years (three non-overlapping ten year periods between 1965 and 1995) the average return on AAA corporates was more than 7.3%. That seems long term enough.
    Baa corporates did even better. Their 10 year average rate of return surpassed 7.26% every 10 year period ending between 1973 and 2005, topping out at a 10 year average return of 12.84%. Interested in T-bonds? The same analysis shows that 10 year T-bonds had ten year rolling average returns exceeding 7.12% for every period ending between 1984 and 2002.
    Source is spreadsheet from NYU/Stern, whose ultimate data source is FRED.
    Even though you asked for an explanation given s-l-o-w-l-y, I can understand your quick and dirty search for 5 year bond fund returns. I can understand your saying that there were 1921 funds even though 138 of them didn't have five year records. I can understand your excluding the 114 funds that are closed at Fidelity, even if some of them were open five years ago.
    I can understand your using Fidelity's screener though it gives fewer than half the number taxable bond funds with 5 year records that Portfolio Visualizer's screener returns. Because a reasonable (though unverified) assumption is that the funds currently open and sold by Fidelity are representative of all the bond funds available five years ago.
    But when it comes to expected returns going forward, one is going to have to do better than assert 7%-8% LT returns just don't happen.
    So far, most of what I've done is explain why some of the data presented is either unhelpful, biased, or simply wrong. I've also provided one rationale for preferring bond funds to broker-sold CDs, viz. flexibility.
    Implicit in your reasoning (and that of most others) is that investors are risk averse. Someone who is truly risk indifferent will consider a bond fund with an expected 4.5% return to be just as good - not better, not worse - than a CD at that rate. (As I explained before, given the additional risk of possibly needing access to the money, someone who is risk indifferent would demand a higher rate from the CD than from the bond fund.)
    An investor who is only slightly risk averse will not need a much higher expected rate of return to choose the bond fund. So the question comes down to: what is a reasonable expectation for five year returns of some bond funds? Past performance used blindly clearly is not a good approach to answer this; there have been extended periods of time when bonds have returned well in execess of 7%. It could happen again.
    The question is not what has happened before, but what (and why) one expects going forward.
    Others have offered some explanations for better returns going forward - based on their expectations for interest rates. I could dig up a bunch of papers explaining that over particular long terms, what one should expect from bond funds (total return) is determined by their current yields. That's how I look at bond funds, assuming that I'll hold for a long period of time.
    Checking out current SEC yields, it's not hard to find several familiar funds yielding above 4.5%. Many multisector funds sport yields above 6% (i.e. 1.5% or more above the CD) such as DBLNX (8.69%) and MWFSX (7.69%). PIMIX (5.86%) comes in just below 6%, but still well above the CD rate. The core plus fund TGLMX has a 6.17% yield. Even a fund as conservative as FCNVX has a yield above 5% and can serve as a dynamic (flexible) cash backup.
    (These are not recommendations; just a listing a few familiar funds.)
    We've seen this question before: RPHYX/RPHIX vs. 6 mo T-bills. As here, I used current data, not past performance (i.e. 2022 or earlier). What one gleans from past performance is general behavior of a fund, not performance that can be easily extrapolated.
  • Anybody Investing in bond funds?
    Crash, If you have a Fidelity account, you can choose from hundreds of new-issue CDs, many with yields exceeding 5%. I have constructed two CD ladders extending up to 5 years with total yields about 5.1%. Similar options are available at Schwab and other investment sites.
    Thank you, but I want not to be using more than a single broker for simplicity and consolidation, and I'm already with TRP. It has its faults. I inquired once, and FEES were mentioned. Don't need fees.
  • Anybody Investing in bond funds?
    Crash, If you have a Fidelity account, you can choose from hundreds of new-issue CDs, many with yields exceeding 5%. I have constructed two CD ladders extending up to 5 years with total yields about 5.1%. Similar options are available at Schwab and other investment sites.
  • Anybody Investing in bond funds?
    I have to trust the fund managers. If I've selected a stinker, I look for a moment to unload it. But that's never immediately clear. It's all about portfolio construction. I own junk. The junk is 63% of my bonds. Bonds in general are 35% of portfolio. Others know better than I do. I try to learn and stay on top of all this kinda stuff. I've heard repeatedly that "junk" companies are in a better spot than in the past right now. Better funded. Defaults are low. I enjoy the higher dividends than with I.G. these days. I have read negative stuff about dealing with TreasuryDirect: clunky and un-user-friendly. CDs? One of my CUs offers stinky rates. The other CU plays games with small dollar-limits. Getting one of the online CDs and having to upload my ID in the process, is a pain I'm unwilling to experience, with no smart-phone. Unless the sky falls and things turn inside-out, I'll stick with the plan. And sticking with the plan is giving me a great yield, while stocks are in a funk, except for ONE of my holdings.
    If it can be trusted, Morningstar is telling me that my portfolio is yielding me 150% more than the SP500. But of course, that's an apples-to-oranges comparison. No one invests in the SP500 for yield.
  • Vanguard in 2023
    Fidelity Flex® funds are a lineup of Fidelity mutual funds that have zero expense ratios, and include proprietary active and passive funds. Flex funds are currently available only to certain fee-based accounts offered by Fidelity, like Fidelity Go®. Unlike many other mutual funds, the Flex funds do not charge management fees or, with limited exceptions, fund expenses. Instead, a portion of the advisory fee you pay is allocated to access the Flex funds in which your account will be invested.
    https://www.fidelity.com/managed-accounts/fidelity-go/investment-account-faqs
    They're generally good funds. Be advised that Fidelity is still tinkering with its lineup. For example, Fidelity recently shuttered the Intrinsic Opportunities Fund (FFNPX), a MCV offering. It looks like Fidelity decided to change its lineup from mostly actively managed funds to mostly indexed funds. Here's the original lineup (CityWire PR) and the current lineup (M* search by name)
    One of the few actively managed funds is FJTDX. It is managed by the same team as the retail fund FCNVX, with similar ultrashort duration, though the actual holdings while similar don't seem to be identical. That is, these funds are not clones. Nevertheless, performance difference seems to approximate the difference in ERs, i.e. 0.25%. Here's a Fidelity comparison page for the two funds.
    The slightly better performance of the Flex fund is somewhat illusory. As noted above, the fund is getting paid management fees out of your pocket. They're just getting laundered through advisory service charges. So the management fees aren't subtracted from the performance figures of the Flex funds, making the Flex funds look a little better than they actually are.
    It's a matter of perspective - how you want to allocate the advisory fees in your mind - do they all go for advisory services (when you compare advisory fees from different providers), or do you mentally reduce the advisory fees and add that to the Flex funds' ERs, thus reducing the funds' performance numbers?
    Finally, with respect to Vanguard changes, Vanguard dropped the free financial plan offering years before the pandemic. I'm just not sure of exactly which year.
  • Vanguard in 2023
    Using solely Flex funds without other ETFs and non-Fidelity funds will not work for us. Fidelity will make their money from their 0.35%-1.0% advisory fee. They have made several cold calls, but the timing was premature. I will reach out to them again for details on their level of planning.
  • Anybody Investing in bond funds?
    I did not understand the initial question as asking individuals to justify why they own any particular asset themselves or what they advise others to do. I regret having responded, as I don’t have time to wrangle with others over whether they should or should not own bond funds. With hundreds of billions invested in all the different bond funds available it is clear many investors find them useful in portfolio construction. It would be absurd to view bond funds as a single asset type anyway. Some mix in equities, some short bonds, some maintain ultra-short durations, etc. It’s doubtful any who’ve been managing investments for 25 or more years suddenly woke up this morning with an entirely new view of bond funds or their desirability as one component of their portfolio.
    Did anyone say you shouldn't own cash? I missed that if they did.
  • Jamie Cuellar, CFA, passed away (Buffalo Funds)
    He seemed like a good guy, from what I could tell. His survived by his wife and two adult sons. Had a career of just over 30 years with Kornitzer Capital Management. Passed away at the age of 54. The family asks that you consider a donation in his memory to Carl's Cause, a non-profit that works to address the stigma around mental health issues.
  • Anybody Investing in bond funds?
    But please leave out the widely understood part about past performance being no guarantee of future results. Got that part.

    Ok, but that's exactly what you based your whole argument on. Past 3-5 year performance.
    I do agree with everyone else though that with CD's at 5%, it's hard to take on more risk to get 6, 7 or 8% as rates plateau or start to come down. But it may be close to that time IMHO. I do believe the next 3-5 years will not look like the past 3-5 years. Extrapolate YTD returns on some of these funds now and it shows returns growing greater than 5% for the year.
    ...
    Anyone who actually spent a few minutes of time on the links I posted would have likely seen that the results are just as bad for the bond fund universe over the past 10 years.
    Had you, would you have instead stated "I do believe the next 3-5 (and 10) years will not look like the past 3-5 (and 10) years"?
    And would your basis also be that if you extrapolate out the recent ST bounce for those periods, bond fund investors will (I guess, magically) get LT TRs of "6, 7 or 8%" for those periods?
    I'll ignore your wild-eyed notion of bond funds returning 7%-8% over any LT period of time because it just doesn't happen.
    But I will address the HOPE of 6% LT because, in the past, it was achieved by a few taxable bond funds. To wit, did you see that only 7/1,921 taxable bond funds returned over 6% during the LIFE of their respective funds, um, that was during the greatest, 30+year bond bull market in history?
    Bottom Lines: Starting several months ago, investors were given the once in over a decade opportunity to buy (ugh, unsexy) CDs and ASSURE themselves % returns for the next 5 years equal to/greater than the LT % we all strive for in bond funds, which is generally 4%-5%.
    Many missed the short-lived peak period. But all still have a chance to get it done. If they can just get over themselves.
    I don't understand the widely held bias against CDs paying 5% as a preferred alternative to bond funds for the next 5 years.
    I don't understand why investors who are striving for LT bond sleeve TRs of 4%-5% don't get that all their time, energy and HOPE spent trying to achieve that level of returns is effectively wasted as guaranteed returns of those levels are there for the taking.
  • Global Fund Managers Sour on Maekets / Increasingly Moving to Cash - BofA Survey
    ”The mood among global fund managers soured further in May, with investors flocking to cash amid concerns that a recession and credit crunch are looming, according to Bank of America Corp.’s latest survey. The sentiment among fund managers deteriorated to the most bearish this year, with 65% of survey participants now expecting a weaker economy,”
    Yahoo (Reprinted from Bloomberg)