HBLIX (Hartford Balanced Income); Looking for some input

mcmarasco

I am researching a Cons. Alloc. MF that has some flexibility and is about a 50/50 split between bonds/equities. It will be in a "taxable" account though! From what I see so far this fund seems to be very good in most aspects. It's a little more volatile that the cat. avg. (based on SD), but most other metrics seem to be top-notch. It's risk/reward profile also appears to be superior.

I currently on FPACX and what to pair it with a more conservative fund.

Any thoughts or suggestions on HBLIX or another CA fund is appreciated!


Thank you,
Matt

MPSSRH

Wellington is a venerable and successful management firm. To my thinking, that adds to the acceptability of this fund.

Ted

Dear Matt: Not a bad fund, ranks # 3 on U.S. News & World Report list of Conservative Allocation Funds.
Regards,
Ted
http://money.usnews.com/funds/mutual-funds/rankings/conservative-allocation

ron

based on its management I have also been watching and may take a position.

mcmarasco

Thank you for the comments so far!!

Agree, Wellington is a real plus for HBLIX; that is one of the assets that attracted me to it.

Ted, thanks for the link, glad to see it ranks high, by all rating pundits.

Any thoughts on its 50/50 (approx.) mix of bonds and stocks, going forward?? With interest rates bound to rise, is the alloc to lower grade/HY bonds a positive??

Old_Joe

Are you certain that it's available? Schwab says "Registered Investment Advisers Only". If not available, take a look at BERIX also.

Kaspa

If I were to buy a conservative allocation fund, BERIX will be a strong candidate as well.

http://quote.morningstar.com/fund/chart.aspx?t=BERIX&region=usa&culture=en-US

Expand this to the Maximum time frame by clicking at the right top of the graph
Isn't that a pretty graph?

Ted

Reply to @Kaspa: BERIX is an excellent suggestion.
Regards,
Ted

DavidV

In addition to BERIX take a look at VWINX - one of the oldest and highly recommended fund. I have both of them.

ducrow

Reply to @mcmarasco: I Just Bought Shares Of HBLIX About a Month Ago - High Yield Is Only 12.9% Of The Fixed Income Holdings - 12.2% Is In Emerging Markets And The Biggest Chunk Is In Corporate Debt At 72.6%. I Also Own Two Other Conservative Allocation Funds - BERIX & GRSPX - Good Luck In Making Your Decision.

mcmarasco

Thank you again!

BERIX is a very popular and good fund, I did come across it during my search. My concerns are:
1) its not very tax efficient (Tax Cost Ratio is approaching 2.00); this holding is in a "taxable" account

2) its stock holding is below 30%. I not sure, going forward, having such a low % in stocks is going to translate into continued good returns

VWINX is another great fund and I have considered it as well. My concern with it is its 60+% allocation to bonds.

I understand HBLIX is not the most Tax Effiecient vehicle (slightly better than VWINX) but its superior returns makes it a viable choice, albeit, VWINX is less volatile (per S.D.). As I stated before, HBLIX is about a 50/50 split, stocks/bonds and seems to be more in-line with what will "work" over the next few years??

I know we can't predict the future, but with interest rates so low, don't they "eventually" have to move higher and thus negatively affecting most CA funds with high/above cat. avg. bond allocations?

How off-base am I with my thinking and assumptions??

Ted

Reply to @mcmarasco: One thing for sure there are a lot of excellent balanced funds. I don't think you could go wrong with any of them mentioned in this discussion thread. However, if want to take a 'walk on the wild side', look at Villere.
Regards,
Ted
The Family Money Tree: http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424053111904317504577488611186126048.html#printMode

M* Snapshot Of VILLX: http://quotes.morningstar.com/fund/villx/f?t=VILLX
Take A Walk On The Wild Side:

mcmarasco

Thanks for the suggestion and link Ted; very good read!

I think VILLX is a little too volatile for these monies, I don't mind a smidgeon of volatility but its SD is almost twice that of HBLIX and more than double of VWINX and BERIX.

Again, thank you for your input!!

Matt