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.
Reply to @bee: hi bee, unfortunately i don't follow funds generally, except for those few available to me in my 401K and a couple of others. "total return' in the name sounds better and have been more popular recently. it is safer than to concentrat…
i kind of assumed that MSSGX had twitter; there was no other possible explanation of the agressive small cap growth fund losing only 57 bps on a day like yesterday. these guys get first dips of many tech IPOs and hold them, don't flip them, which w…
since you stated that "TEGBX" is closed to you right now, why wouldn't you use its sister fund, TEI, no leverage, run by the same manager, often trades at premium and currenty at a small discount. also, by hasenstab, GIM - a tamer version - also cu…
Dear Dex, the only way to avoid "plunging" due to high valuation is to invest in generally little correlated assets. vanguard high qual investment grade bonds and good quality large caps are combined in wellesley in the proportion that should match…
Reply to @Investor: the big kahuna set up strategic allocation and any changes to it -- you can be assured. strategic allocation doesn't change daily (usually annually, if at all) but everything is based on it. that's why their names are on these …
Reply to @Investor: actually, SEC requires Prospectus amendment every time there is a porfolio manager change. Portolio Manager is someone who is involved in daily management of the fund.
i would think that MEE runs pre-market meetings with his P…
Reply to @ducrow: please note that the income % of JNBSX might temporarily suffer as the PMs are very sensitive to total return which they want to protect. so if you compare this to other income builders, some might offer higher yield today, but thi…
depends on volatility i would think. less volatile positions could be much larger, while individual equities or micro-caps should be limited to under 3%, in my opinion. but the sizing also depends on one's age and/or investment horizon and risk tol…
well, at least institutions are less negative on EMD (in local ccy term) than on EME... provided the US rates stabilize...(it should read 'our institution') fa
there is a strong market perception -- i would even call it anticipation -- that the rates would reach 3% and will stabilize there for a while. our strategists speculate that the 10 yr will close a bit below that level at year-end. if you believe th…
Reply to @Joe: dear Joe, PDI is not an ETF, it is also highly leveraged and hedges, in part, its interest rate exposure -- so it's not PIMIX in a different coat (even though many positions overlap, no doubt). i am not saying that it is not a good pu…
in cef space: pdi, bgh -- their NAVs were up on days of interest rate jumps... you need to be confortable with premium/discounts, leverage and resulting volatility, however
in the past several months moved with the herd to reduce duration of my bond funds and add to equities: exited pimco core bond, pimco real return (PRRIX) and pimco foreign bond (PFUIX) in my 401k and placed the proceeds into PTLDX. more recently, st…
Reply to @Charles: really? how about individual's risk tolerance? how about when someone's employment, let's say, correlates with equity markets? i respect many of your skills and contributions, Charles, but be careful with such advice.
efficient markets are mostly large cap equities, for which you have an index fund; developed countries large caps (example etf would be EFA); midcaps; US treasuries and investment grade bonds -- for which you also have a representative fund. there i…
March 22 Ben started the Tapergate -- communication of timing tapering bond purchases slightly before it had been widely expected. in many minds "tapering" equated with "tightening" and the volatility ensured. Since then, the Fed was careful to make…
many model-run funds have struggled this year. highbridge stat arb hedge fund is down YTD and so are many others. none of these funds are created to work every day, every week or even every year. they all should be evaluated over full market cycles.…
yes, Max, you need US stocks in your portfolio, if anything, just to really diversify your Latam, EM and Asia exposure that is most of your investments. you might even need, gasp, US large caps...
@Joe: if you have never invested in CEFs, I would keep out. If you want to start, start small and watch your own reaction to the volatility. by the way Dan Ivascyn keeps buying PDI with the latest 30k shares completed yesterday.
Reply to @Hrux: what happened recently wasn't "a pocket of inflation", it was increase in real interest rates. it is an important distinction for understanding the recent asset move. jr
Reply to @Charles: Thanks, Charles. it's not just the short-term performance that stands out. its youth, its tiny size ($2mm), and its generous fee reimbursement until March 31, 2015..i am giving them a small allocation..
Reply to @David_Snowball: right on, David. they have all their collateral (from commodities and other derivatives) invested in TIPs. worked wonders for them in prior years, not only generating highter yield than cash, but also some capital appreciat…
bee, it doesn't make sense to have both. they both are managed by the same guy and, basically, have the same holdings. pdi has fewer restrictions and uses more leverage and 'sexier' securities that the closed-end structure allows. you can cut a por…
"Mortgage rates climb for fifth week: Freddie Mac"
mortgage rates derive their value from the 10 yr treasury, with a bit of a delay. you can see the reaction to the dramatic move in some of our fixed income funds holding mortgage backed bonds. even…
it was 17 officially and 13 on the streets when i was there. so don't complain! it's a good time to go and try their beer, among other things, one of the best out there.
Reply to @kevindow: what helps is that PDI is totally hedged and has in fact negative duration.. it's harder to do for PIMIX, so PDI's NAV held up better than that of its OEF sister. it is indeed a great buy at the current discount.
Reply to @Sven: funny.. it makes my daughter's porfolio better perform than mine -- which is being tinkered with constantly. i guess when faced with a single annual ability to rebalance, i am much more thoughtful re strategic asset allocation. isn'…
what you listed, Cathy, are all very decent funds with solid management. let's hope that they will use their skills to pair down on the most rate sensitive securities. despite the dramatic speed of rate adjustment in the last two weeks, changes in …
the short answer is no. they are one of the worst assets going forward if you believe that the rates will normalize, i.e. will go higher. these funds outperformed similar maturity treasuries and will start underperforming during the rise in interes…
Cathy, i usually stay clear of advice, but if you do indeed hold GNMA or other agency MBS fund, i would probably exit that. The problem with traditional mortgage bonds is that they have something called 'negative convexity', i.e. as interest rates …
Reply to @msf: " rather than paying commissions for a round trip" is not quite relevant for fixed income securities. the price of trading is 'spread', not 'commission'. i do agree however that nothing is spent if the notes keep maturing and principa…
