There's a name I haven't heard in a while: https://mutualfundobserver.com/2013/06/bretton-fund-brtnx/

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1103243/000141304219000378/brtnpros497.htm
or
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1103243/000141304219000376/brtnsai497.htm

Hi VintageFreak,
Here's my take on your funds:
.....the good.....
BTBFX - FMIJX - GAIFX - BRUFX - BRTNX.
.....the bad.....
GAVAX - WHGIX - WSBFX - LCORX - So, what would I do? VWINX - and sleep well.
BVAOX - use DISSX.
BULLX - use PARWX.
GTSOX - too expensive.....look again.
.....the ugly......
Just me.....just saying. And Duke says he ain't ugly.
God bless
the Pudd

Definitely do not agree with all of your views but some interesting ideas nonetheless.

Hi VintageFreak,
Here's my take on your funds:
.....the good.....
BTBFX - FMIJX - GAIFX - BRUFX - BRTNX.
.....the bad.....
GAVAX - WHGIX - WSBFX - LCORX - So, what would I do? VWINX - and sleep well.
BVAOX - use DISSX.
BULLX - use PARWX.
GTSOX - too expensive.....look again.
.....the ugly......
Just me.....just saying. And Duke says he ain't ugly.
God bless
the Pudd

These are funds I'm looking to buy. Feels like I will never be able to pull the trigger the way the market is going. Like I said I will be patient because it is important to buy fund at right point so one can then truly hold it for long periods - just like they tell you in magazine articles in hindsight.
If I could buy a smattering of each, I would do right away like I did for some funds at TIAA. However buying normal minimum of each is plonking a bit too much money so for right now any profits I am taking I'm redistributing in my existing other funds.
So my list, and some of these are not necessarily risky, but I just don't think they are needed in this market. I'm also mentioning brokerage where I intend to buy
Vanguard
BVAOX, GAVAX, BULLX
Merrill
WHGIX
Fido
WSBFX
Schwab
LCORX (in taxable already have in IRA, and bought $100 just in case)
Direct
BRUFX, TILDX, BRTNX
TIAA
GTSOX, GAIFX
Scottrade/TD
BTBFX, PUBDX (in IRA), FMIJX (in IRA, sneaked in with $100)

In my inbox today
11/04/2015
MFLDX: MainStay Marketfield I
The Morningstar Star Rating for this fund has changed from 3 stars to 2 stars. For details, click here
RPHYX: RiverPark Short Term High Yield Retail
The Morningstar Star Rating for this fund has changed from 2 stars to 1 star. For details, click here
HHCAX: Highland Long/Short Healthcare A
The Morningstar Star Rating for this fund has changed from 4 stars to 3 stars. For details, click here
NEFZX: Loomis Sayles Strategic Income A
The Morningstar Star Rating for this fund has changed from 3 stars to 4 stars. For details, click here
MINDX: Matthews India Investor
The Morningstar Star Rating for this fund has changed from 3 stars to 4 stars. For details, click here
WSCVX: Walthausen Small Cap Value
The Morningstar Star Rating for this fund has changed from 4 stars to 3 stars. For details, click here
BRTNX: Bretton Fund
The Morningstar Star Rating for this fund has changed from 3 stars to 2 stars. For details, click here

Hmmm.
I think both the SP500 and the category are down YTD 2% or more.
I've always liked Stephen Dodson and BRTNX...his value approach, concentrated portfolio, communication with shareholders, and performance.
Here's a look since inception...

The low AUM has never bothered me, more of a positive actually. It's not going away, if that's your concern. My sense is that if there is a Steven Dobson there will be a BRTNX.
My only issue would be the 1.5% er, but I believe most mutual funds charge too much. If his past performance continues, suspect he will gain AUM going forward and hopefully er will decrease.

Chip's updated Search Tools with ratings data through December 2014.
The update shows 470 Great Owl funds, or about 6 percent of all evaluated. Of these, about 100 are also Honor Roll funds, meaning they are top quintile performers for both risk adjusted and absolute returns.
Some notables:
Akre Focus Instl (AKRIX)
AMG Managers Intermediate Duration Govt (MGIDX)
Artisan International Value Investor (ARTKX)
Guinness Atkinson Global Innovators (IWIRX)
Hennessy Focus Investor (HFCSX)
Janus Triton D (JANIX)
Pear Tree Polaris Fgn Val Sm Cap Instl (QUSIX)
PIMCO Foreign Bond (USD-Hedged) I (PFORX)
PIMCO Intl StksPLUS AR Strat (UsD-Hg) A (PIPAX)
PIMCO StocksPLUS Absolute Return Instl (PSPTX)
PIMCO StocksPLUS Long Duration Instl (PSLDX)
PRIMECAP Odyssey Aggressive Growth (POAGX)
RiverPark Structural Alpha Institutional (RSAIX)
Smead Value Investor (SMVLX)
T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation (PRWCX)
T. Rowe Price Diversified Sm Cap Growth (PRDSX)
T. Rowe Price Global Technology (PRGTX)
T. Rowe Price Instl Mid-Cap Equity Gr (PMEGX)
T. Rowe Price Instl Small-Cap Stock (TRSSX)
T. Rowe Price New Horizons (PRNHX)
T. Rowe Price Small-Cap Stock (OTCFX)
Tweedy Browne Global Value (TBGVX)
Vanguard Strategic Small-Cap Equity Inv (VSTCX)
Vanguard Struct Large-Cap Eq InstlPlus (VSLPX)
Vanguard Wellesley Income Inv (VWINX)
Vanguard Wellington Inv (VWELX)
Vulcan Value Partners (VVPLX)
Of the 1800 or so surviving funds that have been around 20 years, only about 30 are top quintile across all five evaluation periods (20, 10, 5, 3, and 1 year), yes even in 2014.
Some of them are:
American Century Equity Income Inv (TWEIX)
AMG Managers Intermediate Duration Govt (MGIDX)
Elfun Trusts (ELFNX)
Franklin Mutual Global Discovery Z (MDISX)
Meridian Growth Legacy (MERDX)
PIMCO Foreign Bond (UsD-Hedged) I (PFORX)
T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation (PRWCX)
T. Rowe Price Small-Cap Stock (OTCFX)
TCW Total Return Bond I (TGLMX)
Tweedy Browne Global Value (TBGVX)
Vanguard Wellesley Income Inv (VWINX)
Vanguard Wellington Inv (VWELX)
A few notable funds on our latest Three Alarm list...Calamos and Royce spending some time in the barrel:
Aegis Value (AVALX)
AMG Managers Brandywine Advs Mid Cap Gr (BWAFX)
Artisan Small Cap Value Investor (ARTVX)
Calamos Focus Growth A (CBCAX)
Calamos Growth A (CVGRX)
Calamos Opportunistic Value A (CVAAX)
Calamos Total Return Bond A (CTRAX)
Davis NY Venture A (NYVTX)
Delafield Fund (DEFIX)
Evermore Global Value A (EVGBX)
FpA Capital (FPPTX)
Greenspring (GRSPX)
Hussman Strategic Growth (HSGFX)
Janus Aspen Overseas Instl (JAIGX)
LKCM Fixed-Income (LKFIX)
Loomis Sayles International Bond A (LSIAX)
MainStay Cornerstone Growth A (KLGAX)
MainStay Growth Allocation A (MGXAX)
Muhlenkamp (MUHLX)
Old Westbury Fixed Income (OWFIX)
Royce Global Value Svc (RIVFX)
Royce Low Priced Stock Svc (RYLPX)
Royce Micro-Cap Invmt (RYOTX)
Royce Premier Invmt (RYPRX)
Royce SMid-Cap Value Svc (RMVSX)
Third Avenue International Value Instl (TAVIX)
Thornburg International Value A (TGVAX)
Valley Forge (VAFGX)
Couple other interesting observations...
Bretton Fund (BRTNX), which David last profiled in June 2013, is a Great Owl.
As are three RiverPark funds, as seen below, all also profiled by David:

David Sherman's RiverPark Short Term High Yield Fund (RPHIX) actually holds distinction of having highest 3-year risk adjusted return of more than 8000 funds evaluated...twice the Sharpe and seven times higher Sortino and Martin than closest competitor. In a league all its own. A GO since eligible, but M* still only gives it one star for reasons discussed in last February's commentary, "Impact of Category On Fund Ratings".
Good progress continues on our MFO Premium Search Tools site, currently in so-called beta or check-out phase. If you are interested in being a beta tester, please drop David a note. Still trying to figure out how we want to roll-out.
If you see anything amiss in latest ratings update, will work to correct soonest. And, feedback always welcome.
Enjoy.
c

Consumer discretionary. Your mention of it reminded me of BRTNX. Not doing very well. But maybe that's to be expected since that sector has underperformed.
http://portfolios.morningstar.com/fund/holdings?t=BRTNX&region=usa&culture=en-US

Does anyone here practice looking at low turnover funds to look for ideas to buy individual stocks?

Have started doing this, yes, but nothing actionable yet. My concern remains that by the time I know what any manager has bought, its been several months. Still can get some ideas to look around for some value.
Would add D&C and Wellington to the list, and second Parnassus, which led me to look at CHRW. Also BRTNX, which led me to look at microcap AMNF.

I'll weigh in here since I think most active funds are over priced.
Better than active
http://quote.morningstar.com/fund/chart.aspx?t=BRTNX&region=USA&culture=en-US&statePara={securities:[{n:"Bretton Fund",ids:"F00000J732|0P0000P5VU|CU$$$$$USD|1|1|FO|2010-9-30|||false|USA|16"},{n:"Mid-Cap Blend",ids:"$FOCA$MB$$|$FOCA$MB$$|CU$$$$$USD|1|1|CA||||true|USA|0"},{n:"S&P 500 TR USD",ids:"XIUSA04G92|0P00001MK8|CU$$$$$USD|1|1|XI||||true|USA|0"},{n:"Vanguard Extended Market Index ETF",ids:"FEUSA00037|0P00002DB2|CU$$$$$USD|1|1|FE|2001-12-27|||false|USA|16"}],chartType:"GrowthChart",range:"2010-9-30|2014-3-6",period:9,region:"USA",tc:"USD",isD:"0",isR:"0",rM:3,scale:"1",bMenu:"",sma:"0,0,0"}
I compare everybody against D&C, which is only 0.53 for DODGX and 0.65 for DODWX (global). Single share class. No load.
My back goes up at anything over 1%, unless it is long short, hedged, or perhaps EM.
I'm OK with young funds to be higher on low AUM. But, I really want to see that come down as AUM grows.
If I remember, BB capped ER at 1%, even when FAIRX launched.
Reading David, I think he's a bit more fundamental and flexible. He looks to see if the manager adds value, evidenced ultimately by superior returns over long run.

BRTNX did well protecting against loss in Q3 '11, and it's the only U.S. stock fund I've followed that was positive in Q2 '12, other than health care sector funds. The up-down capture ratio numbers are good ... but not hugely compelling. I'd put AKREX a notch above it for return:risk, but it's still very good by that metric. A fund like BRTNX shouldn't be expected to beat funds that don't do much if any risk avoidance during a very bullish market run.
The M* quantitative rating pretty much has it pegged: Avg+ return, Low risk.

Hey, MPGFX is very good, but it has spent time in the barrel (like -55% drawdown in 2009).
Given that you seem to be more risk averse, I like Bretton Fund more and more...BTRNX. Maybe you too should consider.
Here is M* performance plot since inception:

Something tells me that Stephen Dodson will turn out to be for mid caps/all caps what the great Charlie Dreifus (RYSEX) has been for small caps.
And, I trust that as AUM increases, ER will come down...substantially.
Here is David's profile: http://www.mutualfundobserver.com/2013/06/bretton-fund-brtnx/

Bottom Line publishes a number of micro-articles each issue, say 150 - 500 words. This was one of those.
At base, Mark called me and said their readers were fretting about volatility and he asked my thoughts on minimum-vol or low-vol ETFs. I am, eternally, skeptical in part because traditionally low-vol sectors are bid up and undergoing structural changes (utilities, for example).
I suggested that there were three basic volatility management strategies: absolute value investing with a concurrent emphasis on cash, long-short investing, and long hedged with an options overlay.
They asked for three examples in each category (BRTNX, ARLSX, RGHVX ... )but they like larger funds with longer records, and they were a bit hesitant on hedging strategies so ...
David

Reply to @DavidV: On Beck, Mack, click on the Featured Funds tab at the top of the page to get to our profiles (written and audio) of the fund, plus an mp3 of a call with the manager and links to other resources.
On the second, it depends on the family. Tweedy, Browne has the same team manage each fund and they use the same discipline with each. F P A has six different strategies, two of which (absolute return income, SMid-quality growth) are quite distinct from the others.
In general, "absolute value" managers buy only when they find compelling values. Many of them have found nothing attractive in months, and have let huge cash warchests accumulate. These folks offer fair downside protection, though at the cost of some upside. Such managers include Mr. Romick at F P A Crescent (FPACX), Messrs Cook and Bynum of Cook & Bynum (COBYX), Mr. Pye of F P A International Value, Mr. Dodson of Bretton (BRTNX), Mr. Cinnamond of Aston River Road Independent Value (ARIVX) and Mr. Wydra of Beck, Mack. They often have very fine five (ten, fifteen and twenty) year years, but often look like slack witted losers in the one-to-three year range.
On the general topic of risk management, you might look at a long/short fund. I have a minuscule position in Aston River Road Long/Short (ARLSX), which I opened as a way of motivating much closer examination of the fund. We've already profiled it and I wouldn't be surprised to find myself move more money in before too long.
For what it's worth,
David

John and I had a nice chat over the noon hour yesterday. His general theme was "now we can get back to normal finance topics, rather than 24/7 debt crises." Mine was, "yep, but it's not going to get any easier." John does read MFO (you might be surprised by the wide variety of folks - from the WSJ, Baltimore Sun, NY Times and a slug of fund firms - who scan both the board and the fixed content) and suggested that he'd rather talk first, instead of just "borrowing" ideas.
My suggestion was to look for managers who'd help investors make it through turbulent, rapidly shifting markets. I clustered those into two groups:

• risk conscious managers with experience and flexibility in their investment mandates - Seafarer (SFGIX), F P A Paramount (FPRAX), RiverPark Strategic Income (RSIVX).
  
• risk conscious managers who have a sensible, steady investment discipline that they might actually be able to get investors to understand and buy into - Beck Mack & Oliver Partners (BMPEX), Oakseed Opportunity SEEDX), Frank Value (FRNKX), Bretton (BRTNX), Cook & Bynum (COBYX).

Afterwards, we talked about international travel and John's observation that being perceived as disrespectful was a much bigger problem than not speaking the local language. Romans, he noted, mostly spoke enough English to help you get by and enjoy the city -- unless you were wearing shorts and ball caps and galumphing around.
For what interest it holds,
David

Chip has just posted:
http://www.mutualfundobserver.com/fund-index/
Work continues on searchable/sortable tables and profiles for readers to utilize in future.
Currently, 479 Great Owls Funds, just over 6% of all 7573 funds evaluated: 69 - 20 yr, 104 - 10 yr, 149 - 5 yr, and 157 - 3 yr.
Some notable inclusions:
ASTON/River Road Sel Value N (ARSMX)
Artisan Mid Cap Inv (ARTMX)
Artisan Mid Cap Value Inv (ARTQX)
Berwyn Income (BERIX)
Bretton Fund (BRTNX)
Buffalo Discovery (BUFTX)
Chou Income (CHOIX)
DFA Five-Year Gbl Fixed-Inc I (DFGBX)
Fidelity Freedom 2000 (FFFBX)
FMI Common Stock (FMIMX)
Hodges Small Cap (HDPSX)
Hennessy Japan Institutional (HJPIX)
Huber Capital Eqy Inc Inv (HULIX)
Intrepid Income (ICMYX)
JHFunds2 Blue Chip Growth 1 (JIBCX)
Loomis Sayles Inv Grade F/I (LSIGX)
Mutual European Z (MEURX)
Mutual Quest Z (MQIFX)
PIMCO EMs Corp Bd Instl (PEMIX)
T. Rowe Price Div Growth (PRDGX)
T. Rowe Price Dvrs Sm Cap Grw (PRDSX)
T. Rowe Price Global Tech (PRGTX)
RiverPark Short Tm High Yld Ins (RPHIX)
T Rowe P Inst Conc Intl Eq (RPICX)
RiverPark Large Growth Inst (RPXIX)
RiverPark/Wedgewood Inst (RWGIX)
Templeton Frontier Markets A (TFMAX)
TCW EMs Income I (TGEIX)
T Rowe P Personal Strat Grw (TRSGX)
Thornburg Strategic Income A (TSIAX)
Vanguard Materials ETF (VAW)
Virtus International Eqy A (VIEAX)
Vanguard Tgt Retire 2015 Inv (VTXVX)
Wasatch Strategic Income (WASIX)
Weitz Balanced (WBALX)
Westcore Small-Cap Val Div Rtl (WTSVX)
Artisan now has six Great Owl Funds!
Some notable drops:
AQR Managed Futures Strat I (AQMIX)
Commerce Bond (CFBNX)
Frost Low Duration Bond Inst (FILDX)
James Bal: Golden Rainbow R (GLRBX)
GMO Global Asset Alloc III (GMWAX)
LKCM Equity Instl (LKEQX)
T. Rowe Price Small-Cap Stock (OTCFX)
PIMCO All Asset Instl (PAAIX)
Prospector Opportunity (POPFX)
T. Rowe Price New Horizons (PRNHX)
Vanguard Cnsmr Staples ETF (VDC)
Vanguard Equity-Income Inv (VEIPX)

Reply to @VintageFreak: Nope. The link msf provided states:

...fund supermarkets such as Schwab and Fidelity add to the fee layers because they charge fund companies between 30 and 40 basis points to be included on their no-transaction fee platforms. Some funds pay part of this cost with a 12b-1 fee, and others pay it from their management fee.

Implication here is that the hidden NTF fee is not necessarily covered by the 12b-1 fee.
It's certainly not just WB. Here's extract from FUNDX SAI, which we profiled last month:

The Funds’ Advisor, out of its own resources and without additional cost to the Funds or their shareholders, may provide additional cash payments or other compensation to certain financial intermediaries who sell shares of the Funds.

The practice is widespread. It was actually the interview David did with Steven Dodson, where I started becoming aware of it. Mr. Dodson's reluctance to embrace such practices is one reason BRTNX does not have widespread availability at the "fund supermarkets."

Reply to @VintageFreak: Ha! If Mr. Dodson is ever lucky enough to score an Avis like 2009 trade, BRTNX would be inundated. But that's just not happened with OSFDX.
If you get any response from Mr. Wang, please share with the board. Thanks Vintage.

Frankly I was worried if this was a Madoff like situation. Not sure if David called the fund. I'm thinking I will call and figure out what's happening with this fund.
And assets are not too shappy at around $35M. I mean see some other funds like BRTNX have less than $7M. Who has more publicitiy? :D