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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.
  • Can anyone please share if any of their Mut Fund holdings are in the green lately?
    @Mav123 To your question: "Does anyone here invest in dividend-producing portfolios? "
    Out of curiosity, I placed these 4 dividend oriented etf's against PRWCX.
    PRWCX , DVY, SCHD, VIG, SDY 5 year chart, total return FYI, I thought you could open the link, but you will have to plug the tickers manually (or become a premium member).
    I do not suggest any of these are fully comparable in their methods or holdings; and I do not invest in any of these at this time. This list is a random selection of some dividend stock etf's.
    Ranked by assets, as of March 8 (S&P 500 yield as of March 9: 1.5%):
    Note: PRWCX indicates a trailing 12 month yield of 1%
    1. Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI), $214.5 billion in assets, 1.4% annualized yield.
    2. Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG), $53 billion, 1.6%.
    3. Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (VYM), $33.7 billion, 2.9%.
    4. Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD), $19.6 billion, 2.9%.
    5. Vanguard Total World Stock ETF (VT), $18.3 billion, 1.6%.
    6. SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (SDY), $17.9 billion, 2.6%.
    7. iShares Select Dividend ETF (DVY), $16.7 billion, 3.2%.

    Thank you, Catch22. Now, we are talking .. calculated comparison.
    I live stockcharts very much, have been with them for 4 yrs. the chart you showed, I still didn't know existed, thank you for pointing out. I use RRG tool https://stockcharts.com/freecharts/rrg/?s=prwcx,divo,dvy,schd,vig,sdy&b=$SPX&p=w&y=1&t=5&f=tail,d
    This is how I was able to narrow in to MSSMX in time. Now...what we can also do is add these to portfoliovisualizer. , free or get 2 weeks free trial and see beta and sortino ratios. DVY has been leading lately according to RRG (SCHD is leading too.) Rotation is taking place to dividend payers, lately. image https://ibb.co/x8znYQq
  • Baillie Gifford manager to retire
    It's not uncommon for investment management firms to have separate teams for different strategies. For example, here are RW Baird's equity teams:
    https://www.bairdassetmanagement.com/baird-equity-asset-management/team#GrowthTeam
    Those divide along growth/value/int'l lines. For a company like Baillie Gifford that focuses on growth, its dividing lines are finer. Growth: large cap, or small cap, or all cap; "rapid" growth: broad or concentrated. Five different int'l teams with sometimes subtly different styles.
    HAIGX pulls from the all cap growth team, while VWIGX and BGESX pull from the rapid growth (broad) team, and BTLSX is managed by the rapid growth (concentrated) team.
    Here's BG's blurb on its five international equity strategies and teams;
    https://www.bailliegifford.com/en/usa/professional-investor/literature-library/funds/mutual-funds/baillie-gifford-international-equity-strategies/
    While some of the difference between HAIGX and VWIGX comes from Schroeders, much of it is due to the different BG teams managing the funds. You can test this by looking at the overlap between VWIGX and BGESX. The major (>2%) holdings of VWIGX that aren't in BGESX are Tesla (5.51%) and Illumina (2.30%). VWIGX has 13 holdings above 2%. All data from M* instant x-ray.
    Likewise, you can look at the overlap between VWIGX and SCIEX (for the Schroeder team). The pure Schroeder fund doesn't hold Tesla or Illumina. So maybe these holdings in VWIGX came from the Schroeder team, thoujgh Schroeders is less growth oriented than BG. We may never know.
    I'm glad you brought up HAIGX, because it serves to highlight an obscure attribute. Like many fund families, Harbor funds hire an in-house management company (Harbor Capital Advisors, Inc.) to manage the funds, to select and oversee the subadviser third party management firms (here, Baille Gifford Overseas Ltd.), and in the case of multiple subadvisers, to decide who manages what percentage of the funds.
    2021 Prospectus, p. 41 (pdf p. 44)
    When a Vanguard fund is managed by Vanguard, it hires The Vanguard Group as the management company. Though unlike Harbor, when a Vanguard fund outsources the day-to-day management of the fund it typically outsources the full management job. For these funds, the third parties are not subadvisors, but the actual advisors. The oversight responsibility is retained by the fund's board, as is the responsibility of deciding which advisory firm gets to manage how much of the fund.
    2020 Prospectus, p. 16 (pdf p. 18)
    This also means that what happens to VWIGX when Anderson retires in a year is up to the Vanguard fund's board. It could, for example, live with the remaining less experienced (by 16 or more years) BG fund managers while allocating a greater fraction of the portfolio to Schroeders. In that case, one might say that Schroeders would be the successor to Anderson.
    For example, this is what Vanguard did when Barrow retired from Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney & Strauss:
    Vanguard had been slowly redistributing Windsor II’s assets to other subadvisers in the years since BHMS founder Jim Barrow, who had managed the fund since its 1985 inception, announced he was stepping down at the end of 2015. At the time of Barrow’s retirement, BHMS managed about 60% of the overall portfolio. That number was nearly halved over the past four years, with the firm managing 37% of Windsor II’s assets at last report.
    https://www.adviserinvestments.com/adviser-fund-update/vanguard-manager-firing-fails-to-fix-funds-faults/
    A bit more on BG's international growth strategy and portfolio construction group:
    https://www.bailliegifford.com/en/usa/professional-investor/literature-library/institutional-only-literature/philosophy-and-process/international-growth-philosophy-and-process/
  • Can anyone please share if any of their Mut Fund holdings are in the green lately?
    @Mav123 - adding to @catch22's response I do invest in my own collection of a dividend 'growth' portfolio. It's composed primarily of dividend champions and aristocrats. I built it primarily for the income AND of stocks that I felt I would be comfortable holding forever. (Note: stuff happens so we both know that ain't true). It represents roughly 50% of my total portfolio.
    Anyway, my portfolio has delivered that income and income growth in spades. It has also produced a comfortable total return BUT one has to be quite patient when selecting buy points. Also, I don't use any of the ETF's listed in catch's post nor any of the dividend focused mutual funds. The yields are too low and I don't like paying an ER when I can build my own fund, collect the income and pay myself.
    I did hold a position in DGRO (iShares Dividend Growth) which I recently swapped for DIVO (Amplify CWP Enhanced Dividend Income). It's just a way for me to diversify the sources of the dividend income I collect by way of sector choices. I own no financial stocks and only one energy stock.
    Thank you for the performance comparison and composition of your portfolio, 50% in dividend companies. I held DIVO since late last year and sold it, it just wasn't moving, sideways or down.
  • Can anyone please share if any of their Mut Fund holdings are in the green lately?
    I'm rather certain that over the long haul, you'd have reaped more profit from PRWCX than dividend-paying stocks. For years, the big Canadian banks have been my alternative fantasy portfolio. 90% of deposits in Canada belong to those big banks. There are only 5 or 6 of them. High dividends. Low P/E ratios. I would not go to BMO Bank of Montreal now, after recently learning here of their unethical shenanigans toward investors. But the others? Yes. My two favorites are CM and BNS. You're holding 15K in cash? Maybe you're very, very risk averse? If you just want the assurance of investing in solid companies that are not going to fold up and go bankrupt, and you crave the dividend income, then go for it. Just don't forget never to put all your eggs in one basket. Eh? CIBC: https://www.morningstar.com/stocks/xnys/cm/quote
    Scotiabank: https://www.morningstar.com/stocks/xnys/bns/quote
    But they are riding high, right now. EVERYTHING is riding high, or near all-time highs, even including the recent small (so far) drop-off. The Market's had a tremendous run-up since March of 2020. Wait for another pullback.
    :)
    Thank you, I'm on the same page with you about Canadian names, banks. For some reason, Canadian equities are more quality-oriented, and less P/E (less expensive).
    As far as risk-averse,...timing is (may not be the best personal investment quality) I invested in MSSMX (as in since the 2nd of January through mid-Feb, up 30%). Now in cash.
  • Can anyone please share if any of their Mut Fund holdings are in the green lately?
    @Mav123 - adding to @catch22's response I do invest in my own collection of a dividend 'growth' portfolio. It's composed primarily of dividend champions and aristocrats. I built it primarily for the income AND of stocks that I felt I would be comfortable holding forever. (Note: stuff happens so we both know that ain't true). It represents roughly 50% of my total portfolio.
    Anyway, my portfolio has delivered that income and income growth in spades. It has also produced a comfortable total return BUT one has to be quite patient when selecting buy points. Also, I don't use any of the ETF's listed in catch's post nor any of the dividend focused mutual funds. The yields are too low and I don't like paying an ER when I can build my own fund, collect the income and pay myself.
    I did hold a position in DGRO (iShares Dividend Growth) which I recently swapped for DIVO (Amplify CWP Enhanced Dividend Income). It's just a way for me to diversify the sources of the dividend income I collect by way of sector choices. I own no financial stocks and only one energy stock.
  • Finding the Right Benchmark for Your Portfolio
    Our benchmark remains FBALX. Yes, a bit "hot" for many in retirement, as an investment. Though not invested in the fund in 2008, it took a big hit, too; as with many other 70/30% funds. We have been able to get close to the 15 year return of 8.48, which has changed from about an average of 8.2% annualized as 2020 returns bumped this number. We attempt to get close to 7.5-8% annualized. 'Course, as expected, not unlike others; we've had the very good years get whacked by the poop years. Our largest portfolio benefit was to escape the 2000 and 2008 melts. Not fun to "make up" a portfolio loss from an actual sell. We have not yet decided whether FBALX will be a major percent holding when we stop meddling with our holdings. Our active would become a psuedo passive with FBALX management of the money.

    YTD, 1-Year, 3-Year, 5-Year, 10-Year, 15-Year, Since Inception (7 periods time frame)
    Returns 3.78% 59.15% 14.23% 13.68% 11.03% 8.48% 9.76%
    Category Ranking % 21 32 7 4 3 4 7
    # of funds category 695 697 664 639 571 411 300
  • Can anyone please share if any of their Mut Fund holdings are in the green lately?
    @Mav123 To your question: "Does anyone here invest in dividend-producing portfolios? "
    Out of curiosity, I placed these 4 dividend oriented etf's against PRWCX.
    PRWCX , DVY, SCHD, VIG, SDY 5 year chart, total return
    I do not suggest any of these are fully comparable in their methods or holdings; and I do not invest in any of these at this time. This list is a random selection of some dividend stock etf's.
    Ranked by assets, as of March 8 (S&P 500 yield as of March 9: 1.5%):
    Note: PRWCX indicates a trailing 12 month yield of 1%
    1. Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI), $214.5 billion in assets, 1.4% annualized yield.
    2. Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG), $53 billion, 1.6%.
    3. Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (VYM), $33.7 billion, 2.9%.
    4. Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD), $19.6 billion, 2.9%.
    5. Vanguard Total World Stock ETF (VT), $18.3 billion, 1.6%.
    6. SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (SDY), $17.9 billion, 2.6%.
    7. iShares Select Dividend ETF (DVY), $16.7 billion, 3.2%.
  • Why in the World Would You Own Bond (Funds) When…
    SP500 Index for money needed in 3 years?! What happens if in 2-2.5 years the SP500 index drops 20-30% and then takes 3-5 years to recover? You're going to be selling at the worse time. It's been so long people are starting to forget what can happen... most crashes/bear markets don't end as fast as 2020 did. I don't know, maybe that's the new normal fast down and fast back up since everyone carries the stock market around on their phone now.
  • Finding the Right Benchmark for Your Portfolio
    I don’t have time to run an accuracy check of everything this M* contributor claims. So please don’t hold me accountable. But I do agree with her that for some (myself included) using a benchmark can be helpful, as long as the risk / reward profile fits with your own. As the author asserts, this can be an index / combination of indexes or a mutual fund / combination of funds.
    Morningstar Article
    As a 25+ year investor with TRP I’ve generally used one or two of their funds for this purpose. For years my benchmark / tracking fund was their 40/60 retirement fund TRRIX. Beginning this year it flipped to their PRSIX - a nearly identical fund, but with a 5% weighting in a hedge fund. Performance wise they’ve also been nearly identical over the years.
    The value of benchmarking is that over time (months / years) you arrive at an understanding of how your portfolio performs relative to the benchmark. If you find you’re deviating a lot more than you like it’s easy to modify holdings until your performance falls more in line with your tracker. There will always be exceptions, of course. Ideally you’d like to keep volatility (especially on the downside) similar to or below that of the tracker while enjoying somewhat superior overall performance. It’s a process that evolves over years and never really stops.
    Friday, my combined portfolio gained .07% - one of the dullest days I can remember. However, my tracker, PRSIX, gained just .05%. IMHO that’s reason to be cheerful.
  • Can anyone please share if any of their Mut Fund holdings are in the green lately?
    "...In the green lately?" I'll assume you mean year-to-date.
    BRUFX (Allocation fund, same category as PRWCX and DODBX, for example:) +5.59%
    PRDSX +5.38%. (Small-caps. Streaky, hot or cold.)
    BONDS: PTIAX is my worst performer so far in 2021. It's down by -1.39%. I'm not worried.
  • Can anyone please share if any of their Mut Fund holdings are in the green lately?
    I'm rather certain that over the long haul, you'd have reaped more profit from PRWCX than dividend-paying stocks. For years, the big Canadian banks have been my alternative fantasy portfolio. 90% of deposits in Canada belong to those big banks. There are only 5 or 6 of them. High dividends. Low P/E ratios. I would not go to BMO Bank of Montreal now, after recently learning here of their unethical shenanigans toward investors. But the others? Yes. My two favorites are CM and BNS. You're holding 15K in cash? Maybe you're very, very risk averse? If you just want the assurance of investing in solid companies that are not going to fold up and go bankrupt, and you crave the dividend income, then go for it. Just don't forget never to put all your eggs in one basket. Eh? CIBC: https://www.morningstar.com/stocks/xnys/cm/quote
    Scotiabank: https://www.morningstar.com/stocks/xnys/bns/quote
    But they are riding high, right now. EVERYTHING is riding high, or near all-time highs, even including the recent small (so far) drop-off. The Market's had a tremendous run-up since March of 2020. Wait for another pullback.
    :)
  • Munis Become Refuge From Bond Market Losses With Yields Falling
    Last years dog IOFIX +5.18%
    And then there are some CEF bond funds - YTD returns Price/NAV all positive
    PCI 8.56/2.55
    PDI 5.69/1.67
    PFN 4.33/0.85
    PTY 1.65/2.28
  • Can anyone please share if any of their Mut Fund holdings are in the green lately?

    People tend to feel losses more severely than gains. That may explain your perception, which is not to say that major portions of the market have not dropped lately. Still, there are parts of the market, like international (e.g. VXUS) that are up for the week.
    Sorry to truncate your post, but this is the right statement. Does anyone here invest in dividend-producing portfolios? I also have a small position in PRWCX, like $1k, the rest $15k in cash. Curious, how do funds like PRWCX compare to holding exclusively dividend-paying stocks?
  • Why in the World Would You Own Bond (Funds) When…
    @davidmoran “ Where if anywhere will you put spare moneys? Where should I put moneys now which I will not need for a few years (not a decade, but not 3-4y either)?” ...
    Just saw your question back to me... since I like to ask questions when I’m unsure or want other viewpoints. Based on your question... that implies 2-3 years time horizon. If you need those funds in 3 years... conservatively - I would go S&P 500 Index. Not bonds. Not any kind of bond fund. But yes I suppose a nice 500 index would fair better in the next 3 years vs. in cash earning no money.
    @michaelsaylor would suggest Bitcoin. But I still view that as Vegas gambling (for now).
  • A Bitcoin / Cryptocurrency thread & Experiment
    So I keep waiting for a meaningful drop from 58k. But I’m not up 1:00 - 3:00 AM EST... Hint... that’s a magical time.
  • Can anyone please share if any of their Mut Fund holdings are in the green lately?
    Half of my mutual funds (5 out of 10) generated positive returns for one month, three months, and year to date.
    Number of funds with positive returns for each period: one month - 5, three months - 8, YTD - 8.
    My two intermediate-term bond funds have negative returns for all three periods.
    I don't pay much attention to short-term results since I tend to hold funds for the long-term.
  • Can anyone please share if any of their Mut Fund holdings are in the green lately?
    My MMFs are up, short term, YTD, long term. I may die rich in a billion years.
    With "cash alternative" funds like RPHYX, up 0.10% for the week, 0.14% for the past month, and 0.46% YTD, and "old faithfuls" like PRWCX, up 0.17% for the week, 1.85% for the past month, and 3.22% YTD, I suspect lots of people here have funds that are in the green.
    According to M*'s screener, 1/4 of funds are up at least 3.77% over the past four weeks.
    People tend to feel losses more severely than gains. That may explain your perception, which is not to say that major portions of the market have not dropped lately. Still, there are parts of the market, like international (e.g. VXUS) that are up for the week.
    Personally, I don't look at individual funds' performance on a short term basis. I have a reasonably diversified portfolio, weatherproofed for down drafts, and usually just check overall performance.
  • Stimulus money, how does a family know the proper amount has been paid?
    From what I read, the second economic impact payment (EIP2) guidelines did not change the child age eligibility:
    A qualifying child is a child who meets the following conditions: ...
    The child was under age 17 on December 31, 2019
    https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/second-eip-faqs#Eligibility
    This is the same as for the first payment (EIP1):
    https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/who-can-get-more-economic-impact-payment-money-for-children
    Technically taxpayers do receive notification as to how the total payment is calculated, but you won't like the answer.
    The EIP1 and EIP2 were advance payments against a 2020 income tax credit. The 2020 income tax instructions that taxpayers received includes the Recovery Rebate Credit Worksheet . This walks them through the calculations for the credit. Of course one must use 2019 AGI instead of 2020 AGI (line 11) to calculate the advance payments, and don't skip lines 5-10.
    From this worksheet, one should be able to read off the EIPs: line 15 of the worksheet should be the amount calculated for EIP1 and line 18 the amount calculated for EIP2.
    Since EIP3 is an advance of a 2021 tax credit, there will be a similar worksheet in the 2021 tax filing instructions (nine months from now). But it won't be as "easy" to read off the calculation. For 2021, EIP3 may be followed by EIP4 if the former was based on 2019 AGI, the latter on 2020 AGI and AGI dropped. Good luck! May the force be with you.
    Finally, AFAIK, the only official notifications one receives are Notice 1444-B (EIP2) and Notice 1444 (EIP1). These just tell you the amount of the payments, not how they were calculated.
  • Munis Become Refuge From Bond Market Losses With Yields Falling
    While HY Munis are up this year...NVHAX 2.5%...NHMAX 2%
    Many bond funds are down...PTIAX -1.4%...PRSNX -0.95%...DODIX -2.7%...BND(Tot index) -4%
  • Couple Municipal investments-Best Municipal Bond Funds to Buy and Hold and myths w muni bonds
    Short-Duration HY Munis Remain Attractive Options For Rising Rates
    Summary
    - Rising rates remain top-of-mind for income investors due to their ability to deliver portfolio losses.
    - The short-duration high-yield tax-exempt municipal sector remains one attractive option for rising rates on several fronts that we discuss in the article.
    - We also highlight a number of investment options in the space such as NVHAX, ISHAX and SHYD
    Our favorite pick in the sector remains the Nuveen Short Duration High Yield Municipal Bond Fund (NVHAX) with a 3.79% distribution yield.