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.
Most of the time 5 years worth of doing nothing will turn a fund regret at least into a fund purchase that one can live with.
One bad choice that comes to mind was a Merriman Fund. It was a fund of funds market-timing fund. I was young and fey …
It is interesting to note that over the past ten year period (as of 2/28/2014) VTSMX is 21st out of the 30 funds and VDIGX ranks 14th.
(iow, they are in the middle of the pack, right where one might expect them to be)
If being profoundly lucky is the explanation, then I can accept that. But first I must understand that that is the truth. Are there truly lots and lots of funds that did worse than 5.55% annualized over the past 15 years?
Thanks for you thoughtful responses. I will try to answer your direct questions first.
Are you claiming that you only owned those 10 funds (in equities) the last 15+ years and no other fund you bought/sold during that time?
No. I have purchased…
Ted, I have owned the 10 funds marked with an asterisk for 15+ years. Yes, I suppose I could prove it if I had to. But I'm not trying to brag, just trying to understand.
Dear expatsp,
You are obviously a sophisticated mutual fund investor, and you are more familiar with these funds than I am, so I'm not sure if I can help you or not, but let's talk about it a little.
BRUSX is your favorite, so you're not g…
Dear rjb112,
Actually, the Yahoo data are consistent. I can see how you might make the mistake of adding the quarterly returns, but that's not the way it works.
What you are forgetting is that each quarterly loss is a loss from the value at…
I believe that David Winters knows what he is doing, and I consider him to probably be an above average fund manager.
The expense ratio of 1.89% is excessive, unacceptable, indefensible, and an absolute deal-breaker. Considering trading co…
I went and pulled out my copy of Jack Bogle's "Common Sense on Mutual Funds" to see what he actually says about "star managers". He makes a distinction between the true star managers and those who only shine brightly for a few years at most.
Of…
So just exactly what is a "star manager", and do we agree with Jack Bogle that they are to be avoided?
To paraphrase Bogle, a star manager is "lionised in the press", bragged on in advertising. His past record is held up for admiration and as e…
So what is the best interpretation of these record outflows? Should we think of them as evidence of unsophisticated, "weak handed" pseudo-investors who panic easily and create the wall-of-worry that stock prices love to climb? Or would one bette…
