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.
Anyone have any thoughts on the fund? Obviously, great performance since inception... PM, Henrik Strabo has past experience managing international small caps while at American Century. Has anyone done any work or know this one?
Thanks for raising the question. I'd completely forgotten that this is where Strabo was headed when he left AC; his fund there had some very good moments, while it was small. What's the ticker on the Rainier charge?
Strabo handily beat his category averages while at American Century while managing TIDIX (4/4/1994-3/1/2002, Foreign Small/Mid Growth) and TGRIX (8/1/1993-2/28/2005). And so far so good at Ranier. So I think his new fund looks attractive.
Oh, I guess I did check out his new charge, at inception, and I now I remember why I didn't follow it: e.r=1.5% (not a deal-breaker), but FEL=5.75% (anathema to me). The early returns you are seeing now are @NAV, not @MOP.
According to a test trade I just made, RAIIX appears to have a $500 minimum with an initial TF in Fidelity retirement accounts. In the past I have been willing to pay an initial TF because I typically buy a good chunk at one time.
@kevindow, sometimes you have to be careful about Fidelity with loads and transaction fees. The information they show suggests (strongly, IMO) that the load is waived because you pay a transaction fee. When I was interested in David Iben's Kopernik fund, I checked with them just to be sure and was told it was just the opposite- I would pay the load and not the transaction fee. I suggested they change what I considered misleading language on their website, but not sure if they did anything. In any event, I'd just suggest double checking before placing any trades so there's no surprises.
@LLJB, I've been following Iben's new fund as well, and my test trades in my Fidelity retirement account have always shown that KGGAX has had a front-end load enforced (not LW) and that KGGIX has been available NL for a low minimum with a TF. And Fidelity's web site has been consistent with reality at least with these fund classes. I continue to have the highest respect for Fidelity's trading platform and their customer service.
@kevindow, I agree with you, I've received great customer service from Fidelity and I think their trading platform is good. I wasn't intending to 'complain' about them, rather just to highlight something to be aware of.
Apparently there are differences depending on the type of account you have. Mine is a taxable account so KGGIX show a $1MM minimum and no load, but that's not in the realm of possibilities for me. KGGAX does indeed show the load when you start to place a trade, but on the fund information page there's a footnote attached to the transaction fee that says "For some funds available through Fidelity you are required to pay a transaction fee. However, you will not pay a sales load on Transaction Fee (TF) funds." In my mind that means even though it shows a load on the order entry box, I would have expected the load not to be charged because of the footnote. Luckily I checked and as mentioned the footnote was misleading to me.
As you mentioned previously, I would be willing to live with the TF, but I won't pay a load. Schwab offers KGGAX with the load waived in a taxable account, but I don't have a Schwab account and I'm not sure I really want to open one for one fund.
@Ted, sounds good. I've started to look at international small cap more and more for an allocation. I'm trying to get ahead of the curve on these strategies because of the capacity constrained nature of the market segment. It is tough because you want to see managers generate alpha, but also don't want to miss out on making an allocation to a strong manager because of a fund closing... GP is a great example. I missed out on International Opportunities, but did get in Emerging Markets Opportunities, which I've been very pleased with.
@LLJB, in the global multi-cap space, I continue to like VMNVX/VMVFX, HCOYX, and if you are amenable to infrastructure, GLIFX/GLFOX. Of these funds, we own HCOYX and GLIFX. Actually, right here, right now, I like all of these funds much more than Iben's fund.
the phrase "amenable to infrastructure" suggests that some people might have a bias against it. if you don't mind, what are the downsides to an infrastructure fund like GLFOX (which I own a good chunk of, btw.)?
@kevindow, thanks! I've been looking at global infrastructure for a while and just haven't pulled the trigger, partly because I've been trying to focus my investments recently on specific exposure to Japanese and Euro area stocks with a currency hedge in place. Is there a reason you chose the Lazard fund over something like TOLLX?
@linter: LLJB was discussing KGGIX, which is a "diversified" global all-cap fund which is really liking materials and Russia, whereas GLFOX is a non-diversified infrastructure fund with 39% in utilities and 43% in industrials. So I wasn't sure if infrastructure was of interest. Also, infrastructure funds, because of their exposure to utilities may not fare well in a rising interest rate environment, and hot money may migrate to other sectors. Surprisingly, GLFOX did well in the latest interest rate spike 4/21/2013 - 9/1/2013, when the 10 YR increased from 1.66 to 2.94%, whereas its competitors were no so fortunate as shown HERE.
@LLJB: Both funds are outstanding, but recent performance has been better for GLFOX which hedges its currency exposure. I suspect that GLFOX had some sort of hedge in place during the interest rate spike in 2013 as its performance was very different from its competitors.
Here is a nice white paper on infrastructure investing:
http://csinvesting.org/tag/david-iben/ David Iben is touting uranium, gold, and coal according to the linked article. Not surprising that KGGIX hasn't done anything since he opened the fund. Thanks to kevindow for the CS white paper. I have a position in GLFOX.
Comments
RAIIX
Strabo handily beat his category averages while at American Century while managing TIDIX (4/4/1994-3/1/2002, Foreign Small/Mid Growth) and TGRIX (8/1/1993-2/28/2005). And so far so good at Ranier. So I think his new fund looks attractive.
Kevin
Regards,
Ted
LLJB
Kevin
Apparently there are differences depending on the type of account you have. Mine is a taxable account so KGGIX show a $1MM minimum and no load, but that's not in the realm of possibilities for me. KGGAX does indeed show the load when you start to place a trade, but on the fund information page there's a footnote attached to the transaction fee that says "For some funds available through Fidelity you are required to pay a transaction fee. However, you will not pay a sales load on Transaction Fee (TF) funds." In my mind that means even though it shows a load on the order entry box, I would have expected the load not to be charged because of the footnote. Luckily I checked and as mentioned the footnote was misleading to me.
As you mentioned previously, I would be willing to live with the TF, but I won't pay a load. Schwab offers KGGAX with the load waived in a taxable account, but I don't have a Schwab account and I'm not sure I really want to open one for one fund.
LLJB
Kevin
@LLJB: Both funds are outstanding, but recent performance has been better for GLFOX which hedges its currency exposure. I suspect that GLFOX had some sort of hedge in place during the interest rate spike in 2013 as its performance was very different from its competitors.
Here is a nice white paper on infrastructure investing:
https://www.credit-suisse.com/pwp/am/downloads/marketing/infrastructure_ch_uk_lux_ita_scandinavia.pdf
Kevin
David Iben is touting uranium, gold, and coal according to the linked article. Not surprising that KGGIX hasn't done anything since he opened the fund. Thanks to kevindow for the CS white paper. I have a position in GLFOX.