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I’m looking to make changes to my US small-cap core holdings - I think I’m finally going to dump Charlie Dreifus at RYSEX who's been underperforming for some time. I’ve also have a position in JSCVX but that seems to be waking up lately.
HSCSX despite some manager changes a year and a half ago. It has easily beaten its peers across all periods and is very tax efficient.
I would hang on to JSCVX for now since small-cap value has been beaten up in recent years and it's hard to find a good fund in that area. Ever since management changed the strategy and composition of the fund in 2013, it has done very well compared to its peers.
Although it's not having a banner year, I hold HDPSX which has an excellent long term record, and will continue to hold. Small caps are not having a great year, but buying here and holding for the long term should reward you. My other small cap is FSCRX which is closed, still a keeper despite its large asset base.
I recently bought Vanguard's Strategic Small Cap for my kids Roth IRAs. Nice it's #1. Years ago my first purchase for them was Bridgeway Ultra Small BRUSX. Went gangbusters for a while (4K now 27K for each kid) Now languishing for some considerable time. I cannot recommend it to you at the moment, but perhaps astute members of this board can recommend what I do with it. I like Montgomery's shop, but...
I waited way too long to get into TRP quant small-cap PRDSX.. I like it a lot. VERY good performer. Also hold MSCFX Mairs & Power small-cap and Vanguard's Index VSMAX.
I use VTMSX in a taxable account, which is the tax-managed version of Vanguard's small cap index fund. IMO, it is very difficult to find consistent performers in actively managed small cap funds. It is easy to see who has hit home runs in the past... but not so easy to figure out who will hit the next home run going forward.
PRDSX and VSTCX are both attractive alternatives. Rather than going for home runs, they appear to aim for returns that are slightly better than the index at a relatively low cost.
A few others that I've looked at (that haven't been mentioned above):
- USBNX run by the Polaris team (disregard its prior performance, since Polaris only took over at the beginning of this year). Looks promising but I prefer (and hold) their all-in-one strategy PGVFX, which was profiled on MFO.
- Artisan's Global Small Cap ARTWX, run by the team behind ARTJX. Also profiled on MFO. Looks volatile but may be rewarding.
- BCSIX: One of the few consistent performers and a frequent MFO Great Owl. Currently closed but has reopened from time to time.
HSCSX and HDSVX, a recent offering from Hodges, with the same management team as the above-mentioned HDPSX, but much smaller. WSVIX, of which I have a lot, has under-whelmed for a couple of years.
Can someone help me understand why us news would rank GLDSX so highly -- at #2 -- when it lags the index (I used VSMAX) by over 2% annualized over the past decade? Seems like a proven tendency or ability to beat the index would be a prerequisite to a high ranking. I don't get it.
First all, the US news ranking is actually an average ranking of 5 other sites - M*, Lippers, S&P, Zacks, and The Street. For example Zacks, has the fund as a "Strong buy". However, I have never been able to able to understand how Zacks rates mutual funds as I have seen some very good funds get "Strong sell" recommendations from them. The only one of the 5 ranking services that I actually follow is M*. Second, whereas for the 10 year performance period GLDSX has underperformed, the 1, 3 & 5 year performances have been very strong - top 1 and 3%. M* uses 3, 5 and 10 year performance results for their rating. Hence the 4 stars from M*. Bottom line the US news rankings are a little like Mad Magazine, good for only entertainment value. I hope this helps a little.
@rabockma: "Bottom line the US news rankings are a little like Mad Magazine, good for only entertainment value." That's nonsense, U.S. News & World Report is an excellent website to screen mutual funds by their various categories. Regards, Ted
Thanks rabockma, that helps. There are 2 ways to look at performance such as we have here:
1. The 10 years numbers aren't so hot, but the fund has been doing excellently lately. Its performance has gotten lots better, and we expect the "better" to continue. A promising fund!
2. The 1 year is simply part of the 3 year which is part of the 5 year, which is subsumed by the 10 year number, which....is not so hot. A not so promising fund.
HSCSX and HDSVX, a recent offering from Hodges, with the same management team as the above-mentioned HDPSX, but much smaller. WSVIX, of which I have a lot, has under-whelmed for a couple of years.
My 2 cents. Hodges is a "boom bust" shop. I will never buy after market has run up, but all their funds are excellent 3 year trades after a slump.
Walthausen - I passed because I think manager is like 80 years old?
Comments
Regards,
Ted
http://money.usnews.com/funds/mutual-funds/rankings/small-blend?int=af9256
I would hang on to JSCVX for now since small-cap value has been beaten up in recent years and it's hard to find a good fund in that area. Ever since management changed the strategy and composition of the fund in 2013, it has done very well compared to its peers.
Years ago my first purchase for them was Bridgeway Ultra Small BRUSX. Went gangbusters for a while (4K now 27K for each kid) Now languishing for some considerable time. I cannot recommend it to you at the moment, but perhaps astute members of this board can recommend what I do with it. I like Montgomery's shop, but...
PRDSX and VSTCX are both attractive alternatives. Rather than going for home runs, they appear to aim for returns that are slightly better than the index at a relatively low cost.
A few others that I've looked at (that haven't been mentioned above):
- USBNX run by the Polaris team (disregard its prior performance, since Polaris only took over at the beginning of this year). Looks promising but I prefer (and hold) their all-in-one strategy PGVFX, which was profiled on MFO.
- Artisan's Global Small Cap ARTWX, run by the team behind ARTJX. Also profiled on MFO. Looks volatile but may be rewarding.
- BCSIX: One of the few consistent performers and a frequent MFO Great Owl. Currently closed but has reopened from time to time.
Regards,
Ted
1. The 10 years numbers aren't so hot, but the fund has been doing excellently lately. Its performance has gotten lots better, and we expect the "better" to continue. A promising fund!
2. The 1 year is simply part of the 3 year which is part of the 5 year, which is subsumed by the 10 year number, which....is not so hot. A not so promising fund.
I tend towards the latter philosophy.
Walthausen - I passed because I think manager is like 80 years old?