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David Snowball's April Commentary Is Now Available
The write-up on Brown Advisory Sustainable Growth is very revealing. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the 33 stocks held by the fund are practically household names, ones that I feel very comfortable owning: Microsoft, Danahaer, American Tower, Amazon, Visa, Intuit, Alphabet, Thermo Fisher, Ecolab, Verizon Analytics. The top ten constitute 41% of assets, so the managers have conviction. My personal bogey for a LCG fund is AKREX; however, BIAWX edges out Akre over most time periods. AKREX is more tax-efficient, so shareholders in taxable accounts may be realizing some additional gains compared to the Brown fund.
Surprised tha in the ESG discussion the only Parnassus fund mentioned was their Mid-Cap. Really expected to see PRBLX show up on that section ... IIRC it was (is?) a Great Owl.
Kudos for incorporating As You Sow's Fossil Free Funds site/data in the ESG analysis. Besides the fossil fuel holdings info, they also provide fund holdings of the Clean 200, defined as companies "leading the way with solutions for the transition to a clean energy future."
In case anybody's interested, you can get to the Clean 200 Excel list by hitting the green "Download Data" bar a short scroll down from the top of this page. You can also check fund holdings of those companies from the main page.
Quick note on Parnussuses. There are 18 socially-conscious Great Owl funds (inception to date). Only one of those is from Parnassus. If I modify the criteria, for example a 5-year rating of "5" without the GO requirement, that pops to three funds: Midcap, Core and Endeavor. That said, they're an exceptionally solid family. I do worry about the consequence of Mr. Dodson's (eventual) departure but investors - ESG and otherwise - really have little to complain about.
I was intrigued by the absence of Janus from the short best balanced list, and of Wasatch from the short best SC list, and must investigate that further. What was most striking to me, though we all know how conservative DS tends toward in this long richly valued market, was:
"In general, for non-retirement investors, stocks should be treated like cooks treat habañero peppers: cautiously and with a clear understanding that a little bit is good and a lot is disastrous. Asset allocation research from T. Rowe consistently illustrate the risk: stock-light portfolios make a bit above 5% annually, stock-heavy portfolios make a bit below 6% annually while nearly quadrupling your risk."
If I had followed that thinking for long at almost any point during the last 40y, I would have had great difficulty privately educating my two kids, and my wife and I would have never been able to endure forced retirement ~6y ago.
@David_Snowball enjoyed your analysis of BAFWX. Thank you. In the article you mention that: " With an 18.0% lifetime APR, BAFWX is an MFO Great Owl in the multicap growth category. That means it has consistently received a return rank of 5 (Best) for all periods three years and longer. It joins only nine other GO funds in that category. Investors have not sacrificed returns or experienced a tradeoff from using ESG characteristics in the portfolio." Could you please provide a list of the other 9 GO funds with a return rank of 5 for all periods? thank you
Quick note on Parnussuses. There are 18 socially-conscious Great Owl funds (inception to date). Only one of those is from Parnassus. If I modify the criteria, for example a 5-year rating of "5" without the GO requirement, that pops to three funds: Midcap, Core and Endeavor. That said, they're an exceptionally solid family. I do worry about the consequence of Mr. Dodson's (eventual) departure but investors - ESG and otherwise - really have little to complain about.
(Apologies - A bit late reading all of the April 1 Commentary).
Ed Studzinski never fails to entertain, inform and enlighten (sometimes more of one than another). Just a brief snippet (actually the closing lines) from his look at the creative process in designing and marketing new funds by purveyors of the art (“Brand or Generic?”).
“And understand something that is too often not emphasized enough. Or it is glossed over. Your mutual fund manager and his firm are in business to make money, first for themselves. The fund is a product. You are the consumers. As consumers, you should feel free to pull your money and go elsewhere if the product changes in ways you don’t understand, is cheapened, or does not meet your goals, objectives, and expectations. Loyalty is not a two-way street in the investment world. It is strictly buyer beware.”
Comments
Surprised tha in the ESG discussion the only Parnassus fund mentioned was their Mid-Cap. Really expected to see PRBLX show up on that section ... IIRC it was (is?) a Great Owl.
In case anybody's interested, you can get to the Clean 200 Excel list by hitting the green "Download Data" bar a short scroll down from the top of this page. You can also check fund holdings of those companies from the main page.
"In general, for non-retirement investors, stocks should be treated like cooks treat habañero peppers: cautiously and with a clear understanding that a little bit is good and a lot is disastrous. Asset allocation research from T. Rowe consistently illustrate the risk: stock-light portfolios make a bit above 5% annually, stock-heavy portfolios make a bit below 6% annually while nearly quadrupling your risk."
If I had followed that thinking for long at almost any point during the last 40y, I would have had great difficulty privately educating my two kids, and my wife and I would have never been able to endure forced retirement ~6y ago.
" With an 18.0% lifetime APR, BAFWX is an MFO Great Owl in the multicap growth category. That means it has consistently received a return rank of 5 (Best) for all periods three years and longer. It joins only nine other GO funds in that category. Investors have not sacrificed returns or experienced a tradeoff from using ESG characteristics in the portfolio."
Could you please provide a list of the other 9 GO funds with a return rank of 5 for all periods? thank you
Derf
BTW what's the plural of Parnassus? Parnassi?
I was flashing back to high school Latin class...
Ed Studzinski never fails to entertain, inform and enlighten (sometimes more of one than another). Just a brief snippet (actually the closing lines) from his look at the creative process in designing and marketing new funds by purveyors of the art (“Brand or Generic?”).
“And understand something that is too often not emphasized enough. Or it is glossed over. Your mutual fund manager and his firm are in business to make money, first for themselves. The fund is a product. You are the consumers. As consumers, you should feel free to pull your money and go elsewhere if the product changes in ways you don’t understand, is cheapened, or does not meet your goals, objectives, and expectations. Loyalty is not a two-way street in the investment world. It is strictly buyer beware.”
(Underlining mine)