FPACX - er 1.11 vs VWELX - er 0.23 -- std dv. comparable

Ralph

'cut & paste' from Vang. site compare feature. vwelx 'beats in all time frames shown, except from'inception date !!

Average annual performance—quarter end
FPA Crescent Fund Vanguard Wellington Fund Inv
YTD -0.19% 1.91% — — —
YTD as-of date 03/31/2016 03/31/2016 — — —
1-year -2.39% 1.11% — — —
3-year 5.84% 7.77% — — —
5-year 6.71% 8.51% — — —
10-year 6.55% 7.15% — — —
1-, 3-, 5-, 10-year as-of date 03/31/2016 03/31/2016 — — —
Since inception 10.26% 8.22% — — —
Inception date 06/02/1993 07/01/1929 — — —
SEC yield — 2.53% B — — —
SEC yield as-of date — 04/22/2016

so why should anyone ;hold' fpacx, especially with an ER almost 500% that of vwelx ??
comments appreciated THANKS
RALPH

Ted

@MFO Members:
FPACX vs. VWELX (Returns)
http://www.marketwatch.com/tools/mutual-fund/compare?Tickers=FPACX+vwelx&Compare=Returns

FPACX vs. WVELX (Fees)
http://www.marketwatch.com/tools/mutual-fund/compare?Tickers=FPACX+VWELX&Compare=Fees

FPACX vs. VWELX (Risk)
http://www.marketwatch.com/tools/mutual-fund/compare?Tickers=FPACX+VWELX&Compare=Risk
Regards,
Ted

Soupkitchen

Hold on there Ted. Hate to be the one defending fpacx ( even though I happen to own the fund), but lets compare the 20 year returns, available at marketwatch. Fpacx: $43,123 since 1997. Vwelx: $28,589 since 1997

kevindow

Very few investors have owned FPACX for the past 20 years. According to BrightScope.com, FPACX had only $37M in AUM on 12/31/1996, and only $1.4B on 12/31/2006. As for VWELX, it had $16B in AUM on 12/31/1996 and $29.6B on 12/31/2006. So for me, the 20 year performance of FPACX is meaningless as its current $17B in AUM bears no resemblance to the tiny fund it was 20 years ago. I would like to know if anybody on this forum has owned FPACX continuously for the past 20 years ?

The keys to the excellent performance of VWELX and VWINX have been solid stock and bond selections, low portfolio turnovers, very low exposures to cash, and very low expense ratios. FPACX on the other hand, has had comparably low portfolio turnover, but has tried to time the market with relatively large cash positions. Also, FPACX has had much higher expense ratios since inception, and has not changed its 1% management fee in recent memory despite ballooning assets.

As I have stated previously, I would prefer a low cost combination of VWIAX and VYM over FPACX going forward.

Kevin

davidrmoran

I held it until a couple of years ago, and since 1998. Fwiw.

chap

Why own FPACX? Well, in 2006 when I bought FPACX, my crystal ball was broken and remains broken to this day. Actually, FPACX and VWELX have been pretty comparable up until recently and, having reinvested dividends, FPACX has been a good investment.

What does not work for me is to thrash around from one fund to another. But, out of curiosity, I would like to know what fund should be bought now that in 10 years will be a general winner.