MFOHome About Commentary Discussions Funds The Best Resources Support Us!

Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

Sign In Register

Categories

In this Discussion

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.

    Support MFO

  • Donate through PayPal

SLADX, FAIRX, MetWest Total Return and GIM

ET91
edited October 2023 in Fund Discussions
I found out today that Morningstar has downgraded SLADX to neutral. It used to be bronze.

They removed rating from MetWest total return a while ago due to turnover of managers. Two managers are retiring this year and next (not 100% sure about dates). They still have not restored the rating.

Berkowitz will be on Wealthtrack next week. After being quiet for a very long time, it seems that he is back in the headlines a little bit. There was an article on FAIRX in Barron's this week. In the sign of the times, there were no comments on the article. Hopefully, Consuelo will ask him the following:
- Who is on his team now? Fernandez and the people that replace him have all left. Of course Pitkowsky and Trauner left when Fernandez got promoted to co-manager. Info about his team is absent from Fairholme site. A long time ago they were listed.
- What has Bruce learned from Sears and Fannie Mae preferred mistakes? I noticed that he trimmed the preferred position lately. I am assuming that all the lawsuits against US gov are all done and failed. Not sure if imperial metal is going to pan out.
- He seems to buy and sell quickly now (Intel, Commercial metal,...)?
- Not sure who the shareholder that are left are? Lots of money in FAIRX is his and his family money.
- Now that Joe is 80% of portfolio there is no downside protection as he used to carry a lot of cash in the past

So it looks like Hasenstab will be fired from running GIM. Saba is taking over. He was a darling in the 2000s and since 2010 has been terrible. At some point TPINX had a LOT of $ under management. Now it is a $4.4 bil fund. Morningstar has it rated neutral

Not sure how much QE, 0% interest rates, and rise of ETFs has contributed/magnified underperformance of active managers vs. indexes. Most active managers run mutual funds although that is changing a little bit.

I own all four funds.

Comments

  • sma3
    If you want exposure to JOE just buy it! Why pay the fee? FAIRX owns 35%.Berkowitz lost me years ago with his erratic concentrated positions
  • yogibearbullyogibearbull
    edited October 2023
    Franklin Templeton, GIM, Saba (owns 31%) https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230825635490/en/Templeton-Global-Income-Fund’s-Board-of-Trustees-Selects-Saba-Capital-as-New-Investment-Adviser
    https://seekingalpha.com/article/4636244-saba-takes-over-gim
  • Observant1
    edited October 2023
    Michael Hasenstab started co-managing Templeton Global Bond (TPINX) on 12/31/2001.
    He started managing Templeton Global Income (GIM) on 02/28/2002.
    The two funds generated excellent returns for years.
    Mr. Hasenstab was subsequently named M* 2010 Fixed-Income Manager of the Year.
    However, Hasenstab's funds have underperformed for a long time after he lost his mojo.
    I owned GIM for several years but exited long ago.
    There is a 2022 MFO thread regarding GIM and Saba Capital Management.
    Link
  • Sven
    I too invested with Hasenstab awhile back. As I recalled, he invested heavily in emerging market bonds such as Ukraine and others, and did not shift his sectors before 2008. Tough to be a global bond manager especially he has sizable AUM at that time.
  • ET91
    edited October 2023
    Unfortunately, I am very slow in picking up when a manager loses his mojo. I keep hoping for a turnaround. hope springs eternal in my world. Thank you for your replies
  • rforno
    edited October 2023
    Sven said:

    I too invested with Hasenstab awhile back. As I recalled, he invested heavily in emerging market bonds such as Ukraine and others, and did not shift his sectors before 2008. Tough to be a global bond manager especially he has sizable AUM at that time.

    Same. I was in his TGBAX but bailed when his Ukraine bets began to go south way way way back when. It was also the last time I'll go into an investment with a 'rock star' media darling fund manager (Arnott's PAUIX being my first experience around the same time.)
  • Sven
    Reading annual reports really helped to assess the risk. He took on a lot of sovereign risk in emerging market debts. It worked until the table turned.
  • Observant1
    edited October 2023
    GIM had a sizable allocation to emerging market bonds.
    M* categorized GIM as an EM bond fund from at least 2013 until 2018.
    From 2019 through 2021 M* placed the fund in the nontraditional bond category.
    Since 2022 GIM has been categorized as a global bond fund.
    Hasenstab's management style was contrarian.
    During the eurozone crisis in 2011, he swooped in and purchased
    dollar-denominated Ukranian bonds, Irish bonds and Hungarian debt.
    Hasenstab also made currency bets - I recall short yen/euro positions.
  • yogibearbullyogibearbull
    edited November 2023
    Saba is doing a tender offer for 45% of GIM and will rename it SABA. The AUM is $437 million. It will become a big fund for Saba (existing ETF CEFS & CEF BRW).

    Twitter LINK
    https://www.cefconnect.com/fund/GIM

    Edit/Add. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231106482750/en/
  • yogibearbullyogibearbull
    I did some research on Boaz Weinstein & Saba. Guy has an interesting background. He is a hedge fund "genius" but question is whether his magic translates into his public/listed funds. This doesn't always work - look at Robert Goldstein and his funds (GSPY, GVLU, etc), Carl Icahn and his investment vehicle (IEP).

    In 2021, Saba followed a similar strategy to takeover Voya PPR and turn it into a different hybrid fund BRW. A recent report for BRW shows mix of investments in stocks, bonds, CEFs, cryptos. GIM/SABA will probably do the same on a bigger scale (it’s 4x BRW); for now, the current ER will be maintained but may go up later.

    Another unexpected CEF development occurred in 2020 when Franklin Templeton/Franklin/BEN bought Legg Mason whose subsidiary was Western Asset Mgmt. Western had many bond CEFs and this change in control triggered the renewals of all Western CEFs’ advisory contracts. Saba and other CEF activists took advantage of this by buying positions in several Western ETFs that they wanted to target.
Sign In or Register to comment.