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.
VWINX is my top pick. I'm too young (and aggressive) to use it for retirement savings, but for all of my other mid-range financial goals, there's no beating Wellesley.
@BrianW: Agree with you that AKREX is top of class. But I respectfully disagree with calling them a value shop. Their primary concern is a company's ability to compound its growth over time. They aren't overly concerned with price, they don't hol…
FMIJX returned 15.5% in 2017. I'll take that every single time, thank you!
Know what you own and why you own it. FMIJX is exactly where one would expect it to be. If you are even looking at 2018 performance--which is to say around 12 trading d…
I'll preface this by saying that I am not an LPL advisor directly; however, my firm uses LPL as our platform for clients.
For the $25,000+ account, the fee is actually set by the advisor. The range I see among colleagues is between 1-1.5%. As for …
It's worth mentioning that LPL also has a fee-based open-architecture platform, so it isn't accurate to suggest that all advisors who use LPL are commission based.
Recent SFGIX performance is exactly what I expect; in fact, it's the very reason I own it as my primary EM exposure. @rforno hit the nail on the head: don't compare yourself (or a particular fund) to others, as long as it is accomplishing your objec…
Curious if others, who are in the accumulation stage, would share their savings strategy. My wife and I are both 30 and we contribute 15% of pretax income to our work 401k's--we started at 25, and have obviously benefited from perhaps the greatest …
Let's not forget there are plenty of advisors who are fee-based, don't receive commissions or kickbacks, and use low cost/index core funds for clients.
@bartab makes a valid point that AKREX is not squarely in the mid-cap space, which is important if you are looking for pure mid-cap exposure. It would be more accurate to say that AKREX is an all-cap fund and sector agnostic--they are looking for a…
AKREX is still open, but probably not for much longer. Chuck Akre has a long record of outperformance. But my primary concerns with the fund are the high e.r. and succession.
I am a Schwab enthusiast--banking, brokerage and retirement accounts all there. Some of my favorite things about Schwab:
1. Awesome customer service
2. An extensive list of NTF/load-waived funds, including T. Rowe funds now.
3. Minimum fund invest…
Buffett and Munger would say that temperament is more important that conventional "intelligence." Attitude, outlook and the willingness to admit what you do not know are traits that make successful investors.
For what it's worth, I was able to add SFGIX to a Vanguard IRA yesterday. I did not previously have a position in the fund at Vanguard. So it is still available to new investments on some platforms.
I generally have a positive opinion of the firm; however, when an asset manager is a public company, it always raises a bit of a stewardship concern in my mind (even a great firm like TRP). Manning & Napier has also been expanding their liquid a…
@Ralph--Morningstar's "star ratings" are 100% data based. They do not "upgrade" or "downgrade" star ratings. The number of stars is based on the fund's performance, which of course changes based on whatever rolling performance period is being cons…
Another option is Saturna Capital (which runs the very good Amana Funds). The firm has a brokerage arm with a very good list of no-load, NTF funds available for investment--including T. Rowe funds.
@BenWP Chuck Akre ran the Hennessy Focus Fund (formerly called FBR) for many years before launching AKREX in 2009, so much of the long-term track record you see is his. Kudos nevertheless to the current managers who continue to deliver great return…
@joe I couldn't agree more. How FPACX has held ~35% in cash for more than a year, plus a smattering of bonds, and still managed to do so poorly is beyond me. I think I'm still a long-term believer, but I have many more doubts than I used to.
Depends on how this may fit into your larger investment strategy for college savings, as these two funds are quite different. But in terms of an "all-in-one" solution I would go with GLRBX. The fund has a healthy slice of stocks--50% currently--to…
With a 30+ year time horizon, I'm always in buy and hold mode. I keep a little in cash (5-10%) so I can pounce the next time there's a major bloodbath in equities.
My aunt likes to brag about what a financial whiz my uncle is. He pulled all thei…
I haven't invested in it yet, but I'm rather drawn to PRAFX, TRP's real assets fund. Almost half the fund is real estate, the rest is materials, commodities and energy. It could serve nicely as an all-in-one diversifier for maybe 5% of a portfolio…
Given the quite limited menu (only PRGFX stands out as a good contender), perhaps consider contributing enough to receive any company match and then invest additional funds, if you can, in a Roth IRA, with Vanguard, Schwab, or Fidelity, where you wo…
