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.
FYI: The task of balancing equity risk with the goal of achieving meaningful returns is top-of-mind for many investors and advisers. Long/short equity strategies, which allow managers to assume both long and short positions and to vary their exposure to the equity market over market cycles, may fill this role. Regards, Ted http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20150317/BLOG09/150319924?template=printart
Back in May 14, there was a discussion title re ARLSX which became a broad discussion of L/S and a number of funds in the category. I own WBMIX and it's been okay and I would like to try another fund with the idea of doing better than a bond funds and getting better returns in the event of a serious meltdown in US. Seems like there is a lot of risk in the equity mark. Any suggestions?
QLEIX continues to be my top pick in the L/S space with its attractive returns and very reasonable actual ER of 1.39%, which is dirt cheap for L/S funds. And this class is available for a $100 minimum + transaction fee in both types of accounts at Scottrade.
You could try RSAFX or FMLSX or HFXIX or BRBPX. They are each a bit different animals, but all have more volatility than bonds. RSAFX may be the most conservative of this bunch, albeit in a short track record during a bull market. GABCX acts more like a bond fund than any of the others I mentioned with an Ulcer around 1.1
Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Kevin this is a new fund, but quite record in it's short tenure. I wonder how short they might go if they preceive the mariets due for a significant correction? I like RSAFX but the ER is so high that in the long run it makes it difficult to beat a balanced fund with low ER for example Wellington and Wellesly. it makes it hard to beat balanced funds with their low ER's. GABCX looks good for a low risk reasonable ER, but it's only available @ Wells Fargo and Fidelity where I have accounts as GADVX withn an .25 ER for a total of .83.
golub, in addition to the slightly long-biased Equity Long-Short fund Kevin mentioned, AQR also has Equity Market Neutral (QMNIX & QMNNX are the TF + cheaper E.R. and NTF + more expensive E.R. share classes, respectively).
The long-short and the neutral fund use the same basic stock assessment discipline but QMNIX is a little more conservative; QLEIX runs well ahead of it when stocks are on an upswing and QMNIX more or less catches up when there's a downtrend. (By the way, the prospectus for QMNIX says it's designed to be 'neutral' over a market cycle, and can go slightly long or short the market at any one time, depending on AQR's outlook.)
Balanced funds or allocation funds are different from long short funds. That's not to say that they aren't exactly what you are looking for, though. Maybe we won't have to worry about bonds in a rising rate environment, yet. But my time line is measured in decades. And do I take an interest in long short funds as a diversifier.
Comments
Kevin
The long-short and the neutral fund use the same basic stock assessment discipline but QMNIX is a little more conservative; QLEIX runs well ahead of it when stocks are on an upswing and QMNIX more or less catches up when there's a downtrend. (By the way, the prospectus for QMNIX says it's designed to be 'neutral' over a market cycle, and can go slightly long or short the market at any one time, depending on AQR's outlook.)