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I have a small position in this fund for quite a while. I know some here would point to its high cash position and lower performance in recent years, but the fund has done well over its lifetime.
What's interesting is that these Intrepid guys are clearly willing to stand by their principles in a big way and it has worked historically. ICMAX and IWM were close to being equal from the fund's inception until mid 2008. ICMAX lost far less than IWM and pretty much everybody else during the crisis and it took years for IWM and any of my small cap favorites to catch up. Eventually they did, but if Intrepid is right about small-cap valuations then they will again significantly outperform during a sizeable downturn. If you believe there's still upside for a while into the future, then they will be way behind when a correction eventually comes and it may be more difficult to regain a long term edge. I normally like these kinds of guys- principled, focused, willing to bet big on what they believe in. Unfortunately, I'm not sure I could hang in there when they're in the 99th percentile for the last 5 years.
@LLJB I see your point. However, this is not Hussman with a complicated strategy. They claim not to find enough companies worth investing in this climate and as a result their cash position has increased. It is not a big position (<5% of my portfolio). Actually, I would find IWM tough to hold around 2008.
@Kaspa I'm not criticizing your position at all, regardless of its size. I was trying to suggest that I like how these guys approach things and to reflect that I don't have the discipline to stick with them when they trail everyone else even knowing a time will come when they beat everyone else. Their long term record is enviable and if I had the discipline you seem to have I would be very happy. I just don't think I'd be around long enough to make it there.
Comments
Regards,
Ted
Cost:
ICMAX 1.40%
IWM .20%
http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=ICMAX+Interactive#symbol=ICMAX;range=1y
Actually yahoo finance graphs do not account for reinvested distributions. The right graph to compare is
http://quotes.morningstar.com/chart/fund/chart?t=ICMAX®ion=usa&culture=en-US
You can add IWM to compare.
@LLJB
I see your point. However, this is not Hussman with a complicated strategy. They claim not to find enough companies worth investing in this climate and as a result their cash position has increased. It is not a big position (<5% of my portfolio). Actually, I would find IWM tough to hold around 2008.
I'm not criticizing your position at all, regardless of its size. I was trying to suggest that I like how these guys approach things and to reflect that I don't have the discipline to stick with them when they trail everyone else even knowing a time will come when they beat everyone else. Their long term record is enviable and if I had the discipline you seem to have I would be very happy. I just don't think I'd be around long enough to make it there.
Includes all distributions