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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.

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My basic screen. What's yours?

WABACWABAC
in MFO Premium
I find the following to provide a manageable starting point for me to drill down:

Period Metrics & Ratings
• Sharpe Rating In Category: 3 - 5 Average or Better
• Sortino Rating In Category: 3 - 5 Average or Better

MFO Designations
• Family Rating: Top , Upper , Middle

Purchase Info
• Expense Ratio (ER) Rating In Category: 3 - 1 Average or Less
• Front Load: None

Portfolio Info
• Turnover, Annual: 75% or Less

I'm curious where others start from.

Comments

  • Old_Skeet
    edited May 2020
    Hi @WABAC, On the MFO Quick Search Tool ... Main Search Criteria(Category, MFO Rating, MFO Risk) from there some of my sub search criteria is APR%. Yield & MAXDD. Why yield? Income never goes out of fashion.
  • Old_JoeOld_Joe
    edited May 2020
    My basic screen:

    image
  • WABACWABAC
    Old_Skeet said:

    Hi @WABAC, On the MFO Quick Search Tool ... Main Search Criteria(Category, MFO Rating, MFO Risk) from there some of my sub search criteria is APR%. Yield & MAXDD. Why yield? Income never goes out of fashion.

    Got to have some yield.
  • Sven
    Sortino Rating, Full Cycles and Down Cycles, Recovery period.

    For bonds, one can analyze the credit quality breakdown, i.e. % in AAA, BB and below. It is a delicate balance between having decent yields and not have large exposure to junk bonds.
  • CharlesCharles
    edited September 2020
    Since that awful time in March, I've never used MultiSearch and Portfolios tools more.

    I find myself setting the Display to periods before March (like Trump Bump, Obama Bull, GFC Bull), to see which funds performed best in last bull market.

    I'll also set Ferguson ratings, looking for that sweet-spot Brad defined of performance and consistency.

    As well as Alpha and Tracking Error ratings (thank you Michael).

    I'll save the resulting funds (symbols) to a Watchlist, then run them across current cycle or YTD to see how bad the damage could be ... and if they're old enough, across GFC Bear. Similarly, across December 2018 Selloff and Normalization (of interest rates) periods.

    c
  • CrashCrash
    1) I look for funds that don't own the Behemoths: Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Google. And Big Pharma. Then there's private, for-profit prison outfits. Nukes. Armaments. Tobacco. Gambling. Also, the companies whose technologies are assisting Israel to screw the Palestinians. Israeli companies, for the time being, too. Because they don't deserve my money.

    2) None of those exist. So, I take solace, knowing that I've seriously reduced my equity holdings by now, to just over one-third of my portfolio.
  • WABACWABAC
    edited September 2020
    Charles said:

    Since that awful time in March, I've never used MultiSearch and Portfolios tools more.

    I find myself setting the Display to periods before March (like Trump Bump, Obama Bull, GFC Bull), to see which funds performed best in last bull market.

    I'll also set Ferguson ratings, looking for that sweet-spot Brad defined of performance and consistency.

    As well as Alpha and Tracking Error ratings (thank you Michael).

    I'll save the resulting funds (symbols) to a Watchlist, then run them across current cycle or YTD to see how bad the damage could be ... and if they're old enough, across GFC Bear. Similarly, across December 2018 Selloff and Normalization (of interest rates) periods.

    c

    It's a wonderful resource. And I tout it every chance I can.

    It was helpful picking my shopping list in March. And I expect to be using it quite a bit as I reflect on our holdings between now and the end of the year rebalancing.
  • JonGaltIII
    I hope I'm posting this question in the right discussion. Here goes...

    Using Quick Search criteria:

    Category – Large-Cap Growth
    MFO Rating – 4-5 Above Average
    Display Period – 10 years

    I picked 3 random funds in the top APR

    FBGRX = 4 MFO Risk, 4 MFO Rating, 4.8 Ulcer, 3.91 Martin, -17.2 MAXDD, ER .79
    RYOCX = 4 MFO Risk, 5 MFO Rating, 4.1 Ulcer, 4.54 Martin, -17.4 MAXDD, ER 1.38
    LCGFX = 4 MFO Risk, 5 MFOR Rating, 4.0 Ulcer, 4.24 Martin, -17.6 MAXDD, ER .65

    All 3 of these funds apr is between 17.9 and 19.4. The criteria I listed above is very close to one another except perhaps for the ER in RYOCX. So, how would you go about using MFO to pick the best 1 of the 3. What other criteria is absolutely critical to you within MFO Premium to select the best fund in the category?

    Notice that I chose Large Cap Growth on purpose. I’m just trying to understand how I will use MFO premium and what criteria you all use from it. @Sven just pointed out that the Asset Correlation is important as I'm trying to refine my portfolio to be balanced and diversified. Asset correlation is contained in premium per sven.
  • WABACWABAC
    edited January 2021
    Hi Jon, I would look at expense ratio. You can buy the NASDAQ 100 cheaper than RYOCX. Turnover on the Fidelity fund is higher than I like. Are they that smart?

    I would also look at the structure of the fund family. I lean against publicly traded companies. I would look at how much the managers are putting into the fund. And then I would look at the over-all success rate of the family. Is the particular fund a one-off? Is it out of their typical area of expertise?

    I'm assuming you have read their documentation. So you have a solid grip on their investing thesis. And it makes sense to you at the moment.

    Not all of those factors can be determined from MFO premium.

    Good luck
    JonGaltIII said:

    I hope I'm posting this question in the right discussion. Here goes...

    Using Quick Search criteria:

    Category – Large-Cap Growth
    MFO Rating – 4-5 Above Average
    Display Period – 10 years

    I picked 3 random funds in the top APR

    FBGRX = 4 MFO Risk, 4 MFO Rating, 4.8 Ulcer, 3.91 Martin, -17.2 MAXDD, ER .79
    RYOCX = 4 MFO Risk, 5 MFO Rating, 4.1 Ulcer, 4.54 Martin, -17.4 MAXDD, ER 1.38
    LCGFX = 4 MFO Risk, 5 MFOR Rating, 4.0 Ulcer, 4.24 Martin, -17.6 MAXDD, ER .65

    All 3 of these funds apr is between 17.9 and 19.4. The criteria I listed above is very close to one another except perhaps for the ER in RYOCX. So, how would you go about using MFO to pick the best 1 of the 3. What other criteria is absolutely critical to you within MFO Premium to select the best fund in the category?

    Notice that I chose Large Cap Growth on purpose. I’m just trying to understand how I will use MFO premium and what criteria you all use from it. @Sven just pointed out that the Asset Correlation is important as I'm trying to refine my portfolio to be balanced and diversified. Asset correlation is contained in premium per sven.

  • Derf
    @Jon : Take some of the stimulus money & give Premium a chance to work for you! I believe all of Charles webinars are on tape for your viewing.
    Just my 2 cents, Derf
  • JonGaltIII
    @Derf That's fair. I won't receive any stimulus money - I'm not eligible. But I recently took a trial with Steele Mutual Fund and after playing with it for a few days, I think it's not serving me. Perhaps I'm not sophisticated enought to customize it to my needs. MFO Premium seems better suited and I'll likely purchase. But... I'm still learning and wanted to know how users are currently filtering MFO to select the best funds. That was the purpose of my question. I am looking for a program that can assist me in analyzing the best mutual funds that beat the S&P over a long track record. I watched his recent webinar with Lynn and that's what made me really interested in it. Although - I'm not as advanced with buckets and Excel as Lynn. Already appreciating the community here and their insight.
  • Sven
    I won't receive any stimulus money - I'm not eligible.
    Why you are not eligible? While we welcome you to the MFO discussion board, can you tell us something about yourself since you asked many questions? Investing is a lifelong learning process and everyone's situation or goal is unique. What are you seeking?
  • Observant1
    edited January 2021
    WABAC said:

    Hi Jon, I would look at expense ratio. You can buy the NASDAQ 100 cheaper than RYOCX. Turnover on the Fidelity fund is higher than I like. Are they that smart?

    I would also look at the structure of the fund family. I lean against publicly traded companies. I would look at how much the managers are putting into the fund. And then I would look at the over-all success rate of the family. Is the particular fund a one-off? Is it out of their typical area of expertise?


    This is very good advice. High costs make it extremely difficult (although not impossible) for a fund to generate good long-term performance. I agree with you regarding mutual fund company structure.
    Jack Bogle said "No man can serve two masters" (quoting Matthew 6:24) when referring to publicly owned mutual fund firms. Mutual fund companies are not often scrutinized during the fund selection process.
    Here are some other considerations:
    1) manager/analyst tenure and turnover
    2) manager and board investment in funds
    3) number of funds which were liquidated or merged
    4) propensity to launch "trendy" funds (130/30, .com, etc.)



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