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Matt, WAFMX is really heavy in consumer stocks, mainly staples, so I think your idea of diversifying within FMs is reasonable if you want to own more FMs. The only other FM fund I've looked at is MFMPX, and it's heavy M-East and banks, so it might w…
tp2006, I wasn't familiar with GWL, but it's pretty odd that they can call it "World Ex-U.S." and have basically zero in EMs (unless that's another M* data error).
VEU and IXUS are actual "world ex-U.S." etf's, if that's what you're after and you w…
Reply to @MJG: "Morningstar Star ratings should never be used as the sole criteria for mutual fund selection."
Of course not. Even M* says the star ratings should be only a beginning point of fund research.
There's another Pimco fund, CommoditiesPLUS, PCLIX, which according to M* does some active management, overweighting and underweighting by small %s within a mostly index-y approach:
"This fund also takes a more active approach to its commodity expo…
Reply to @Charles: M* would need to create a new category, on the order of 'short duration high yield.' Seems like it would be justified, with several funds & etf's either starting up or moving in that direction.
OSTIX is another case in point…
I don't know how your portfolio is stacked up risk-wise, so this is just a heads-up, not a recommendation: FMIJX is excellent if you want a lower volatility approach to international. They can and so far have hedged most of the currency risk, and th…
Reply to @davidrmoran: Yeah, that's roughly the kind of approach I was thinking of, so it would be the mechanical, mostly hands-off part of the overall portfolio. They're kind of light on foreign (light on foreign stocks, essentially no foreign bond…
Reply to @davidrmoran: There's a whole cadre over at M* who think that's the best approach, bar none. Rationale seems to be that (a) dividends can grow over time, but "fixed" income can't; and (b) it doesn't matter how much your portfolio is worth, …
John, in addition to David's profile, another good source is the last Consuelo Mack WealthTrack interview -- with Dan O'Keefe, the co-manager of both ARTGX and ARTKX. He does a good job there of explaining their value + quality investing discipline.
The WaPo article confuses some characteristics of multi-sector funds with what is usually thought of as "unconstrained" and what M* calls "nontraditional." M* defines nontraditional as a fund that can go outside the style box, i.e., can go negative …
Reply to @Crash: M* World Allocation Fund definition:
"World Allocation: World-allocation portfolios seek to provide both capital appreciation and income by investing in three major areas: stocks, bonds, and cash. While these portfolios do explore …
Reply to @cman: The thing is, when you look at the data, it's fairly straightforward what the parameters and assumptions are. No one should assume what a single word like "overbought" or "oversold" means without looking at the data and the context. …
That's the short term view. Here's their lookback at the pullbacks in the past year, for more perspective, with comparisons of oversold levels going back that far. There's a lot more context in this data set, which they also update from time to time…
I'm thinking this market shift is kind of reassuring, in that the 'traditional' correlations (at least the ones I keep up with) seem to be back in play: stocks down, taxable high yield down but not as much, interest rate-sensitive bonds up.
Right …
Another possibility is that M E-E may simply not be a good manager. Kicking managerial people who don't work out upstairs to a specialist, advisory role is a very common personnel move in situations like that.
So the contention is that there are two kinds of passive investing: cap-weighted and other. I think it's more useful to think of passive investing as consisting of a dozen or more different varieties, one of which is cap-weighting. This cap-weightin…
Blackrock and Allianz also have global allocation funds.
There's also a very interesting, actively managed etf of etfs, GAL, in that space. Last I looked the share volume was a little low for my taste, but if I had an allocation fund portfolio lik…
I don't know, Catch. The EM consumer trade became kind of fad-ish there for a while, so I think there's been a momentum + valuation component to the rise and fall of ECON. I don't think it'd be useful to try to draw any economic conclusions from it,…
Reply to @davfor: davfor, I'm considering GPROX too, along with a couple of other G. Peak and Wasatch funds. What tilted you toward GPROX -- was it the broad portfolio and inclusion of all of the names they consider good ideas, or something else? Th…
Reply to @Mona: Hey Mona,
#1, a little, but fund flows have turned, equities aren't cheap, core bonds (at least short term) seem to be returning to more normal correlations, and pressure if the 'recovery' continues may be as much at the short end …
* Beefed up VEUSX for more lg cap Europe.
* Put in 2nd half of a position in long-short PMHIX; it's now my largest stock holding.
* Bought half a position in BBB muni fund VWALX.
* Moved $ from SFGIX (a lot) and MAPIX (a little) to a new position i…
That's been the M.O. at this house since ~ 1980. Here's the IRS rule on underpayment (when a penalty may kick in):
"Generally, most taxpayers will avoid this penalty if they owe less than $1,000 in tax after subtracting their withholdings and credi…
Thanks for the link, JC. I didn't even know Matthews did webcasts.
From the MAPIX/MACSX owner's perspective, this may be an interesting inflection point happening now -- MAPIX fading a bit, MACSX picking up -- Indonesia is back to gains after the …
Reply to @PRESSmUP: First, as David pointed out earlier, the star ratings are quantitative, not based on opinion. (The medal ratings are opinion.) Second, the drill at M* is to change a fund's category if the holdings vary from their definition of t…
Reply to @EMinvestor: Guess I wasn't too clear; I didn't intend my comment to be about volatility, only that a growthy, high-P/E fund is not the same thing as a value-leaning, income-oriented, lower-P/E fund -- therefore the "asset allocation" comme…
Reply to @MarkM: Agree. Seems like more of an asset allocation move than a fund switch to go from SFGIX to WESNX. Not that it's a bad move on momentum grounds, just an observation.
It's ranked as low risk long-term, so I'd consider giving it a pass for not keeping up with the bull run since '09. The overall return:risk of Average: Low is probably the best way to think of it. Although I don't own it, I like that kind of stock f…
Reply to @Hrux: Heather, technically a P2P post should probably be under 'off topic,' although I'd point out that your critic doesn't pay a bit of attention to that distinction, so he has no room to talk. And he has no standing whatsoever to tell yo…
