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TCAF, an ETF Cousin of Closed Price PRWCX

13

Comments

  • The ask is 25.29, but I don’t see a volume figure at Schwab.
  • larryB said:

    @BenWP +1. Looks highly concentrated with the same stuff as any LC index.

    Agreed. I'm still inclined to go with Capital Group's CGDV versus TCAF, though I may throw some $$ at this pup as a diversifier -- their holdings don't overlap much.

    The initial holdings feels somewhat LCB-oriented .... almost PRBLX-like maybe?

  • edited June 2023
    LOL - All those newbies piling in today are causing the Dow & S&P to rise over 1%. MFO has become a big “market mover”.

    There’s at least a couple stocks I’d buy / add to first, if inclined to invest more …
  • NYSE (link) volume 34,410. Bid-ask 25.29-25.31. Not bad.
  • Both NYSE and Yahoo are reporting day volume as 190,276. So, the activity picked up near or at close.

    T Rowe Price is reporting 500,000 shares outstanding. So, there must have been private placement(s) or lots of shares in dealers'/market-makers' hands.
  • I just bought 100 shares and will track quarterly before adding more.

    where?

    Nothing avail at ML
  • edited June 2023


    Well! TCAF exceeded PRWCX today. What could be merrier?

    TCAF +1.21%
    PRWCX +0.95%
  • hank said:



    Well! TCAF exceeded PRWCX today. What could be merrier?

    TCAF +1.21%
    PRWCX +0.95%

    Don't forget PRWCX has a lot of fixed income in it --- so it won't ever move in tandem with a pure equity fund. But sure, it's nice to see on its opening day. :)
  • I bought TCAF @fidelity.
  • msf
    edited June 2023
    rforno said:

    hank said:


    Well! TCAF exceeded PRWCX today. What could be merrier?

    TCAF +1.21%
    PRWCX +0.95%

    Don't forget PRWCX has a lot of fixed income in it --- so it won't ever move in tandem with a pure equity fund. But sure, it's nice to see on its opening day. :)
    Yogi said it well: "As TCAF is 100% equity, but PRWCZ is moderate allocation, tracking will be poor for performance, beta and volatility (SD); but correlation (r) may be good."

    One expects these two securities to move in tandem (good correlation), though the size of movements (related to volatility and beta) of PRWCX should be muted relative to TCAF.

    Bonds are often referred to as "ballast" or dead weight in portfolios. Thinking about PRWCX as TCAF plus "ballast", it's not hard to envision it moving like TCAF. Except instead of moving through water, PWRCX moves through molasses with more resistance - both up and down.

    ---

    For anyone who "may add it during the next selloff", I wish you good luck but also wonder whether one might have done better by having already bought. Dips look like buying opportunities at the moment (short term reduced price) but as the saying goes, "the best time to invest is yesterday, the next best time is today." It depends on whether one is a trader or a long term investor.

    ---

    Regarding Merrill: The problem alluded to is that one could research TCAF there (it recognized the ticker) and click "buy" to get to a prefilled order page. But the system responded "ticker not found" when submitting the actual trade order. kings53man said he was able to buy at Fidelity. Vanguard likewise would accept a trade.

    Merrill has fixed that problem this morning. And substituted a new obstacle:
    Trading of this security is generally not permitted on the Merrill platform as it carries unique risks, as further described in the prospectus. Merrill maintains a Block List for certain Exchanged Traded products and this has been identified as one of them. This order has potential for volatile performance and/or significant tracking error and may have higher expense ratios, lower liquidity or higher risk of fund closure than other similar funds in the same peer group.
  • edited June 2023
    From @msf - For anyone who "may add it during the next selloff", I wish you good luck but also wonder whether one might have done better by having already bought.

    image
  • I am not in a fully-invested 100% equity camp. In retirement, my tactical asset allocation (TAA) is 40-60% equity, and due to my buys in 2022, it became higher than that. So, I am in profit-taking mode now to adjust my TAA.

    My short-term fixed-income includes stable-value (SVs; 5.50% from TIAA-SRA annuity), T-Bills (rolls will continue, as posted elsewhere), m-mkt funds, ultra-ST bond funds, even some short-term bond funds.

    In that context, TCAF is new to my potential buy list for future. I may add it later with cash, or shift $s from SCHD or SCHB.

    I have also been watching another cousin pair, global-allocation CEF TBLD and OEF TIBAX / TIBIX. Let us say, politely, that TBLD has been a disaster even with some bond allocation. Of course, there are other factors in play for CEfs (premiums/discounts; leverage, but none for TBLD), but the success of the so-called "cousins" isn't guaranteed. And, here, ETF TCAF with 100% equity is at best a "second cousin" of moderate-allocation OEF PRWCX.
  • @hank:-) Cute cartoon. Bears looking skyward like that for dips brings to mind Ursa Major (the Big Dipper, aka the Great Bear) and Ursa Minor (the Little Dipper aka the Lesser Bear).

    image
  • A famous, or should I say infamous, example of ETF pseudo-clones diverging from the originals is Pimco's Total Return ETF (BOND, originally TRXT). Out of the gate, it outperformed PTTRX by using odd lots (only practical for small funds) and mispricing its holdings, for which it paid a $20M settlement.
    https://www.ft.com/content/5db6b962-3c81-33a2-86c3-6b2d58bedcc8

    In addition, divergence was expected because because regulations at the time restricted what the ETF could do with derivatives; PTTRX did not have those restrictions. (The ETFchanged its objective, name, and managers in 2017.)

    The point is there may be many reasons that an ETF performs differently from the "original" fund. Even if their asset allocations are similar. I haven't looked closely at TBLD vs TIBIX, but whatever the cause, TBLD sure hasn't measured up to TIBIX.

    Portfolio Visualizer comparison - stats and graphs
  • >> Merrill has fixed that problem this morning.

    That 'trading of this security ...' etc. prohibition nonsense has been ML boilerplate for some time (recently), and has appeared for DIVO, CAPE, and CCOR as well as TCAF. DSENX is okay, though. I am thinking I have never seen trading prohibitions at Fido for anything.
  • "I am thinking I have never seen trading prohibitions at Fido for anything." Right there with you @davidrmoran. Never had a problem with anything I wanted from Fidelity.
  • I just moved considerable (for us) moneys from Fido to ML to get a $1k reward, and had several dealings w reps, and ML are really trying to up their game --- responsiveness, efficiency, savvy, frank advice --- it is clear. As for specific policies and ease of interface and that sort of thing, not so much.

    Of course Fido now if you make a large transfer of assets into them, you get nada, sorry, if you had done it a year ago ....
  • ML's reps are certainly hard working and enthusiastic. Unfortunately, they have a poor platform supporting them. That extends to the promotion you're referring to. I'm glad your participation went smoothly. Mine was more bumpy.

    I called three months ago to sign up for the promotion. The rules handed to the reps were apparently not clear, as the rep I spoke with had to verify that the offer was open to existing customers. While he acknowledged that I was eligible, he was unable to sign me up for the promotion and said he'd look into it.

    He got back to me as promised. He said that he was unable to register me as an existing customer, but that he would be able to sign me up if I transferred assets first. That was in conflict the promotion terms (sign up, then transfer assets). But I took a chance and transferred assets. He then signed me up. I made sure that there was a notation on my account that I had qualified for the promotion. Great system - operating with Post-it® notes.

    The ML automated system kept reminding me that I had yet to transfer assets. Fortunately those notes stuck, and I recently received my bonus. Still, this is not the way to run a smooth operation.
  • wow and huh

    Seems typical, yes, and yes about the platform. Prohibiting divo, ccor, cape, and now tcaf?? Seriously?

    the ML guy who helped me was better than enthusiastic, and when I called a few days ago about something else the notes to the xfer guy were right there in front of the second guy.

    Anent Fido, I was frankly more than surprised, possibly shocked, that they were as cavalier as they were, and cavalier may not be the right word. I foolishly did not consult them beforehand (xfer of perhaps $400k) and, when I did, promptly after, was told, Sorry etc. I harrumphed that I had been w Fido for 55y, they could check (true, more including adolescence) and some millions of dollars (meaning >1) over time, and the response was Sorry.

    I did get an invite to an in-person consult about planning and allocation and whatnot.

    There really seems an opp here for a rival to do it all, for boomers down to </=millennials, concierge-style or at least the appearance and vibe of same. Moderate promos and incentives, maybe 2-3% credit cards, prompt person pickup and service, competitive rates including margin, low or no fees on outside funds, etc.
  • I haven't opened a position in TCAF as of yet, though I had fully intended to. Doesn't mean I won't, but with us coming to within 5 years or less until retirement I find myself not wanting to add to risk assets and am considering adding to our fixed income holdings to bring our equity allocation down from its current ~57%---even though inflation is still an issue eating away at purchasing power.
  • edited June 2023
    @Roy,

    If you are adding to your fixed income holdings and are concerned about inflation,
    you may want to consider TIPS. The upcoming auction on Thursday, 06/22 seems attractive.

    "The U.S. Treasury on Thursday will offer $19 billion in a reopening auction of CUSIP 91282CGW5, creating a 4-year, 10-month Treasury Inflation-Protected Security."

    "This TIPS had its originating auction on April 20, 2023, when investors got a real yield to maturity of 1.32%. Its coupon rate was set at 1.25%. CUSIP 91282CGW5 now trades on the secondary market and at the close Friday it had a real yield to maturity of 1.81% and a discounted price of $97.43 for $100 of value."

    "If the real yield holds above 1.8% through Thursday’s auction, it would be the highest auctioned real yield for a TIPS of this term since October 2008."

    Link

  • I hope you're right, Observant1.
    I hold my TIPS in a fund, however. SCHP. Rock-bottom E.R.
  • I’m not usually an early adopter, but I bought 400 shares of TCAF yesterday. I’m pairing it with FADMX, and hopefully the combination will approximate PRWCX. I’ve been following PRWCX for a long time, with plans to transfer some of my other TRP funds to it, if it ever reopened. So this is my workaround.
  • edited June 2023
    The estimate Lewis Braham wrote:
    An imperfect alternative is to find a substitute for a closed fund that either ... is run by the same manager. This March, T. Rowe filed for a prospectus for the Capital Appreciation Equity ETF, run by the same manager as the mutual fund ... the ETF will give investors a chance to access Giroux’s stock picks, but only those. In the mutual fund, Giroux also buys unusual bonds and bank loans. Moreover, the ETF ...will hold 100 stocks, while Giroux typically holds only 30 to 40.
    That from his article on dealing with access to closed funds.
  • edited June 2023
    It appears based on todays NAV move, that TCAF is going to run hot (relative SPY). Not a problem if you want that. 25% of AUM are AAPL, AMZN, NVDA, MSFT, GOOGL.

    This brings up the question will the T/O be higher than I would have thought? IOW's will TCAF be more tactical in nature.
  • It appears based on todays NAV move, that TCAF is going to run hot (relative SPY). Not a problem if you want that. 25% of AUM are AAPL, AMZN, NVDA, MSFT, GOOGL.

    This brings up the question will the T/O be higher than I would have thought? IOW's will TCAF be more tactical in nature.

    I don't need to pay .31 to get a lineup like that.

  • edited June 2023
    I saw that top 25% of AUM was the huge high-flying tech stocks too. It makes me hesitate to add-to this ETF at this time (I did buy a few shares on the 2nd day to more easily monitor it's progress). All, except GOOGL, have 14-day RSI scores around 70. Maybe not a good buying opportunity. But that said, these tech stocks seem to have been more defensive than any other equity category this YTD.
  • edited June 2023
    MikeM said:

    I saw that top 25% of AUM were the huge high-flying tech stocks too. It makes me hesitate to add-to this ETF at this time (I did buy a few shares on the 2nd day to more easily monitor it's progress). All, except GOOGL, have 14-day RSI scores around 70. Maybe not a good buying opportunity. But that said, these tech stocks seem to have been more defensive than any other equity category this YTD.

    NASDAQ was up over 30% YTD as of yesterday. Apple hit an all time high. By contrast, the Dow was essentially unchanged YTD. What a disparity. Some pretty good funds aren’t doing much this year. VWINX was up less than 2% YTD as of yesterday. And we all know the sad tale of “safe” CCOR which was off 11-12% YTD at last check. Not meant to pick on any particular fund. Just to point out how crazy the markets have been lately.

    I have trouble dealing with fame (in this case Giroux’s), so vacated PRWCX early last year and am staying far away from the obvious attempt by TRP to capitalize on Giroux’s name with a semi-clone that’s much different than PRWCX by many accounts here. Hey, they’ve been losing AUM. Who can blame them?

    Re TRP - I think they generally do a good job with their diversified “spectrum-type” allocation funds. Some have reasonable fees. You can gain exposure to a literal rainbow of various equity or fixed income areas in one fund. And I’ve used TCHP in the past as a short term trading instrument. But you don’t want to be holding much of that one when tech tanks. It will be interesting to observe the extent to which TCAF sees use as a short term trading tool rather than a solid long term portfolio hold like its tamer cousin.
  • Not much discussed in this tread is the other non-stock allocation of PRWCX. On the surface, Giruox invests in bank loans, private bank loans, high yield, and treasury, but these % fluctuate considerably (via semiannual, annual reports, and interviews) as he weaves in and out of these bonds and stocks. It would not easy to mimic the PRWCX performance by using a multi-sector bond and TCAF.

    I invest some % in PRWCX, but there are already overlaps with other growth funds I have. Thus I am mindful NOT to over-concentrate the risk.
  • This ETF will stay on my watch list. I am not necessarily negative on it. Just stating some early facts regarding volatility....management trading skills are superb so we will know in the fullness of time. I like this ETF depending on how you use it in a portfolio. Upside/Downside Ratio + TO may be the key ratios to know how this ETF will be managed. My 2c.
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