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I like Fido funds and Fido Spartin 500 index fund in the about last paragraph of Ted's post from WSJ caught my eye. Great 3 year recovery - the 5 year chart is another story. Just getting back to where it was 5 years ago. I also like this fund's symbol - FUSEX!!
Marketfield MFLDX is a good option. The fact that it has been short emerging markets does not bother me at all. I have plenty of EM exposure in the rest of my portfolio, so their call is a good counter-weight. In a less choppy market, Forward Tactical Growth FTGWX may be worth considering.
Reply to @BobC: Seconding what Bob said - Marketfield (whose managers I don't agree with on some larger themes such as EM and prec metals among a couple of other things, but who I do respect) functions as sort of a counter-point in my portfolio and a mild balance against a significant allocation to EM.
Scott, BobC, and Gary, thank you for your suggestions. In case the market is heading to a correction, This asset class should provide additional downside protection other than the traditional bonds.
Reply to @Sven: I am not sure. Most of these funds fail to provide that downside protection. After a failed market cycle they are typically liquidated. I think this time will not be different.
Hi Investor, MFLDX has provided tremendous downside protection. It's 3-yr numbers show a beta of about 66, and an alpha of 5.01 vs. the S&P 500. It's STD is 25% lower than the S&P 500, and its Sortino ratio is also much better. Just out of the gate in 2008, it lost 12%, while the S&P 500 lost 37%. Its worst 3 months was a negative 14.5%, and we all know how many worse 3-month periods the S&P 500 has had since July of 2007.
This could, of course, suddenly change tomorrow. But given the history of Mr. Aronstein's career, it would be very unlikely. When combined with some other risk and volatility-reducing funds, MFLDX looks to be a darned good addition to many investor's portfolios.
And Sven, you might note that M* will soon recategorize FVALX to the Long/Short Equity group, a change that Forester agrees with. If you want more downside protection, FVALX is certainly worth consideration.
Reply to @BobC: You might be right but its 2008 performance as a new fund with assets not yet fully invested, with few bucks to manage per strategy does not provide guidance for next cycle. I think modete allocation/conservative allocation funds does a good job than some of these fancier strategies.
Reply to @Investor: fwiw - I considered MFLDX as a "low-risk-conservative" addition & shied away for some of the reasons you cite. Not to say it won't do well. But relatively new & type of things they're into could get them in lota trouble if they happen to lean the wrong way - just looked riskier than what I was looking for.
Comments
Any recommendation from the board here? Many of the funds discussed here have fairly short track record. Some have poor downside protection.
This could, of course, suddenly change tomorrow. But given the history of Mr. Aronstein's career, it would be very unlikely. When combined with some other risk and volatility-reducing funds, MFLDX looks to be a darned good addition to many investor's portfolios.
And Sven, you might note that M* will soon recategorize FVALX to the Long/Short Equity group, a change that Forester agrees with. If you want more downside protection, FVALX is certainly worth consideration.