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.
Gundlach is the darling of the media. He seeks them out, seems perturbed when they are not drooling at his every word. By contrast, Hasenstab is only in recent years been in the media. He is much less comfortable doing these things than the other…
Saying all of these have been disasters is simply wrong. The biggest problems have come with liquid alts that allow the managers to essentially go anywhere, do anything. From our experience, those equity long-short funds that make large macro bets…
Keep in mind that most preferreds have had a strong and long bull run. Many are priced at premiums. For example, the largest holding in PFF is HSBC preferred, currently priced at $25.58 or about a 2% premium. The second largest holding is Barclay…
Those of us who have been INVESTORS for decades, not timers or traders, can rightfully say the BREXIT thing will turn out to be a blip when we look back 5-10 years from now. It is difficult for folks to have any long-term perspective when we are bo…
Another reason to perhaps consider a good, active manager in this space. The volatility of these stocks means it could result in even more feast-or-famine moments for EM index buyers.
We have re-structured our bond allocation, replacing funds with higher volatility potential, regardless of how long we have held them. For example, we replaced Loomis Bond LSBDX with JPMorgan WOBDX. We wanted a fund that held investment-grade bond…
I really cannot put my finger on this. We have always though of the fund as more of a large value fund, even though John and his team use a multi-cap approach. Why M* labels it mid-blend is beyond me. It is definitely not mid-blend. The fund was…
Not mentioned is Korea. Having heard for years that the only thing keeping it from being moved to "developed" from "emerging" is its border with North Korea, it will be interesting to see how it fares going forward. Think there is no politics in M…
Comparing TGBAX to Barclays Agg makes no sense to me. We use the Citi World Govt Bond Index as a benchmark, and it stacks up well. Under-performs for 1 and 3 year (mostly because of last 12 months), beats 5 years and wallops 10 years. We have capt…
Yes, M* separates domestic and international large and small cap, but has failed to do this with emerging markets. When we do this on our own it is one of the best.
We look at bonds as a place to have relatively low volatility and to take risk if needed with equities. Thus we have never used HY Muni funds. The current prices on most of these are in the outer limits.
High expenses, a manager with no track record and just out of college, and a horrible loss of almost 20% in first 18 months. No wonder the fund has no assets. Run Toto, run!
We have put WAFMX and WAEMX (not actively managing the latter) on our watch list and will make a decision to sell or hold when we are able to review this change.
Love this commentary. We do lose some clients because we will say "no". We don't claim we are the smartest or have the best strategy, but we also know some things are way too risky or simply wrong for a client. All investors should read this arti…
Folks can use technical analysis to support ANY opinion. Pretty simple, really. Ignore the technical indicators that do not agree with your viewpoint. Talking heads do this all the time. Same for most newsletter writers. I subscribe to SentimenT…
The "best" fund in any category can be a moving target, but especially so with actively-managed EM funds. YTD vs. 3 Yrs? Does 10 years even matter? Some say yes, some say no. Because EM stocks carry higher volatility than developed international…
Technical research certainly has its merits, but it is tempting (and sometimes convenient) to verify one's viewpoints as this chart and the review of it point out quite well.
Weaker dollar definitely good for domestic exporters, for many international companies (except for those for whom a large part of their revenue comes from the U.S.) It is all part of an ongoing cycle. Chartists can pretty much 'prove' any point th…
This is a rather standard letter from the IRS anymore. It is legit, and is a way of verifying your identity. There is no so much theft of tax ID and false filing of returns that this is a way for the IRS to make sure you are who you say you are. …
Many of the top small cap value funds are closed to new investors, and this is an ongoing good news/bad news. Nuveen FSCCX and Wisdom Tree DES are both open and have among the best 3 and 5-year records. Mid cap value is also pretty bare, but Wells…
There is a big difference between the various kinds of "dividend" funds, and you need to do your homework (including actually reading the prospectuses) before you invest. I am always shocked when investors are surprised by something that happens to…
I'm a little late to this discussion, but here goes:
1. For domestic stocks, use a low-cost index fund/ETF as a core hold. Then, if you want to "explore", search for talented management (team) that runs a fairly concentrated portfolio for a reasona…
We have used 3-5% for years in our client projections, depending on the individual. Anything higher is really stretching. You have to assume that bonds, for the most part will yield their coupon and not much else. And most equity analysts suggest…
Not all ownership information is contained in the SAI. Many SAIs list only the holders of 5% or more of a fund's total assets. Some show only board members' holdings, not the managers' holdings. There is no requirement for how each fund must show…
If you own the fund in a taxable account and have a large, unrealized gain, maybe best to hold but watch. If in a retirement account, at least move to watch status with no additional purchases, or sell if you are so inclined. Keep in mind FPACX ha…
As a respected economist said some time ago, "The most unloved bull market in history." There are folks who bailed in late 2008 and early 2009 who are still sitting in cash and will never, ever recover the losses they realized.
Investors should be aware that most ETFs have similar language in them. Should there be a credit problem, a real credit problem, and shareholders of bond funds try to bale out, this is what the bond ETF could do...send them actual pieces of a bond …
MUHLX had a very good run late-90s to pre-recession meltdown around 2004 0r 2005 if my memory is right. Then it was like the fund was on a different planet. Assets went from maybe $3 billion to maybe $250 million now. I wonder how much of the dol…
My final comment, after listening to several attorneys "interpret" the new regs: Advisors will have to jump through a few more hoops and defend recommendations/decisions as being in "the best interest" of consumer. A few advisors will have to dras…
