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.
BRUFX vs OAKBX - lower expenses, smaller asset base, much more flexible mandate, able to own small market-cap holdings because of smaller size. Bigger loss in 2007-08, bigger gains 2009-10. Underperformed 2012-2013, outperformed 2014-2015. Just F…
There is no BEST option. They are different, some very different, and investors need to understand which one, if any, is most appropriate for their goals.
We have not added to the fund in a long time. We have a lot of clients with huge, unrealized gains, so will continue to hold until we can unwind the gains. Again, comparing this fund is difficult, since the lousy Moderate Allocation category inclu…
I will post this last comment, since this horse has been beaten to death already. Remember that wirehouses, banks, insurance companies, and independent BDs all seem to be pleased with the final regs. That alone should tell you there is very little…
If this were really going to make a change, the B/D, bank, and insurance industry would not be saying they like the new regs. And in fact, as I mentioned in another post, investments that had been targeted for exclusion in earlier versions of the r…
In many ways the new regs are a joke. This was supposedly all about insuring advisors do what is in the best interests of investors. But somehow non-traded REITs, variable annuities, and other high-commission products (things that were not in the …
Federated has long touted the viability of dividend investing. Folks should also note their international fund with similar philosophy IVFIX is near the top of its category this year, too.
We still have Crescent on our watch list. For them to suggest that the MSCI ACWI Index is a good benchmark is impossible to swallow. FPACX's make-up is 37% cash, 43% U.S. stocks (mostly very large cap), 8% international stocks, 5% bonds, and 6% Ot…
At the risk of ringing the same old bell, another take on this is that folks who pay off their mortgage prior to retirement and do not have other large debts to fund will most times do just fine in retirement, assuming they have done a good job of s…
Not surprising, since PRPFX has lost $14 billion (or more than 80%) of its assets since 2012. That's bottom 8% for 3 yrs and bottom 5% for 5 yrs. Yeah, this year in top 1%, but that's because of its gold allocation. So nothing changes in this fun…
There can be a big difference between long-short and market neutral. Some L-S managers make huge macro-economic bets and are pretty much long-long-short. This actually is much riskier than being in a simple stock index fund. True market neutral f…
My experience with hundreds of clients over the years (no matter how many projections we run prior to retirement, MonteCarlo or not) is that those with public pensions (after working 30+ years) seldom have spending problems. The public pension syst…
The rate is important, but living within ones means in retirement is even more important. I have said it many times before, and I say it again: Starting retirement with no mortgage and no burdensome credit card debt can be the most important goal …
And so now after he has loaded up on currencies, EM bonds, high yields and commodities in PAUIX, these will fare any better in a crash? Yes, the guy is smart. Yes, he will likely be right at some point. By adding to the sectors he likes, he has a…
Based on Seafarer's recent shift to have more focus on LA and less on Asia, there is clearly more diversification in owning MAPIX and SFGIX than there was previously. While SFGIX owned more mid and small cap stocks in the past, that is changing, to…
A concern for us has been Romick's continued reference on the fund's long-term positive numbers, and a lack of discussion on recent (1+ year) under-performance. The downside is especially surprising considering the huge amount of cash he has hoarded…
If we are in a period of rising interest rates, I would be cautious with bond holdings in terms of duration, maturity, quality. At some point, there may be an opportunity to lock in 3, 4, 5% in CDs and short-term bonds. That's a ways off, for sure…
Totally agree, MJG and Dex. The one thing I would add to any list of retirement planning scenarios, to-dos, best practices is to start retirement as debt-free as possible. As I have experienced on every occasion, no debt (especially no mortgage) i…
Fortunately OSTFX had the smarts to dump Valeant, unlike Sequoia and some others (Vanguard was also very late to dump, BTW). Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind is that Osterweis started as a firm that managed money for ultra-high net …
Overpricing can be as small as 0.5%, so this comment alone does not cause me to worry. He did get it right in early March, 2009, when he said "the train is leaving the station." Too bad his management company's funds have not done particularly wel…
Monte Carlo is ok to get a broad overview of the probability of maintaining the lifestyle you want until you die. For many people, however, the use of Monte Carlo is not so great. The majority of folks (not on this board) have never saved for reti…
I don't get the M* commentary. Nothing has changed with this fund's structure, style, process, or philosophy since it started. I have spent a lot more time than M* talking to the entire management team at Osterweis over the past 12 years. Interes…
Look out below! The average weighted price of bonds in Vanguard's Long-Term Treasury VUSTX is $110.58. If that is not a recipe for disaster somewhere down the road, I don't know what is. The average coupon is 3.67%. The actual 30-day yield is 2.…
The annuity idea is only valid if the product is bought with AFTER-TAX dollars. If it is IRA or other pre-tax money, the entire annual distribution amount is taxable. Unfortunately, the folks who are sold annuities are seldom, if ever, told this c…
Using a 4-5% withdrawal rate, the 100-age allocation could be very problematic, as it always has been. Unless there is simply more savings/investments than will ever be used, folks could find they are eating up principal much faster than their long…
Yes, these awards are mostly window dressing. They serve as advertising/marketing points for the fund companies and generate more publicity for the firm issuing the awards. Truly useless from an investor standpoint.
Before investing in any liquid alts, there are three, maybe four questions to answer for each potential position. 1) What is an acceptable return? 2) What is an acceptable downside? 3) Is the investment truly uncorrelated or at least very-low cor…
Great commentary, and very, very true. Most folks are "long-term" investors until bad times come around, at which they become "short-term" traders. Big mistake. Big mistake. We see this in every market sell-off period without fail. Had a client …
We don't get very venturesome with our fiduciary accounts, but we have used MAPIX for many years and never been disappointed. We tell clients MAPIX is "the chicken way to invest in China".
Centralized advice is ok, but it is often superficial. The fact that Vanguard might be getting some clients from the banks and full-service brokerages is not surprising, since those outlets are all about selling products (load funds and annuities).…
Value is doing quite well in many respects this year, especially when compared to the appropriate indexes. SPHD, SDY, EFAV, IVFIX, DHSCX, and others. It is not across the board, but value/dividend investing will lead the pack again at some point. …
Actually, the main Chinese exchange is up 3.27% as of 7:30 this morning. That's Hong Kong. It has always been where most Chinese stocks are traded, and most likely always will be. Folks who look to the Shanghai exchanges as a snapshot of China ar…
One might think that PAUIX has become less risky, since it has had such a dog of performance. But that is not the case at all. EM and other out-of-favor allocations have in many ways been increased, since management finds these even more 'under-va…
