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.
Direct indexing provides several potential benefits.
Investors can personalize portfolios by removing select companies from an index and tax-loss harvesting opportunities are optimized. Just Invest's technology will only be available to advisers at …
@JD_co USAA has USBLX similar but a slightly higher ER. I also believe Vanguard has a Small cap Tax managed fund (VTMSX) that might be a nice addition to VTMFX.
Click here -
Allocating VTMFX with VTMSX
Good call. VTMSX would be a nice addition to…
Here's a more detailed history of AMG:
https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/13/Affiliated-Managers-Group-Inc.html
Until I checked, I also thought: "Affiliates operate independently" and "AMG invests in independent investment managers and a…
@Dennis,
Thanks for bringing this planned acquistion to our attention!
Jerome Dodson retired from active management last year and the Parnassus sale allows him to cash out.
Since ESG funds are currently popular, this may have been an an opportune …
I think there is definitely a rivalry between Fido, Vanguard and even Dodge & Cox. From what I can tell ,Vanguard and Dodge & Cox funds are the only funds that Fido charges a $75 transaction fee to purchase !
Vanguard and Dodge & Cox cho…
It’s not a bad idea at all. Yes, crypto is volatile, but the participants make the elections for their 401(k)s so if they are willing to take the risk then so be it.
I respectfully disagree.
The "average" investor often buys high and sells low whe…
The upcoming fire season may be very destructive in the West because of the dry conditions.
Due to climate change, less precipitation is forecast in many western/southwestern U.S. areas in the coming decades. Water rights will become an extremely co…
A stand-alone password manager will usually be more secure than saving passwords via a web browser.
I use the free, open source KeePass program as my password manager*.
KeePass is very capable from a security perspective but it may not be the most i…
The former DFA CEO established Avantis Investors in 2019 and poached some key DFA personnel.
Avantis launched five ETFs in September 2019 and three more in 2020.
They also offer separate mutual funds which are essentially the same as these ETFs.
L…
China has been working on the development of a national digital currency since 2014.
In 2020, China started real-world trials for the digital yuan in several major cities.
Increasing international use of the yuan is one of their primary goals.
This…
I knew some top Georgia election officials received death threats because they challenged the ex-president's baseless stolen-election claims. However, I wasn't aware of the vast number of threats made or that low to mid-level election workers were a…
@Mark,
A CIT is a Collective Investment Trust.
CITs may be available via some defined contribution plans [401(k), 457(b), etc.].
They are similar to mutual funds but have less reporting requirements and are not governed by the SEC.
CITs usually hav…
Taxable 1 - 3 mutual funds, 1 ETF
Taxable 2 - 1 individual stock
401(k) - 2 mutual funds (one fund will be replaced by a CIT "clone" on 07/01), 1 CIT
Roth IRA - 3 mutual funds (one fund is also owned in Taxable 1 account)
HSA - 1 mu…
Oh, I am thinking I would fault them a bit. They know how their star system is used, and when it lacks nuance and context to this extent, and when star changes seem capricious, what's a consumer to do? (As an instructions writer, I know the answer: …
Yesterday, in the June M* Fund Investor newsletter, I noticed that VPMAX was now classified as a Large Blend fund. As you noted, a mutual fund's star rating and category rank can change dramatically when a fund is moved to a new category.
I've ha…
Ben Carlson discusses historical real returns for commodities, stocks, bonds, and cash.
"Many investors want to be invested in commodities today because of worries about inflation. And commodities can have high returns under inflationary environ…
This added efficiency should be true for most ETFs, except for Vanguard's, which for complicated reasons I'm too tired to explain aren't more efficient than Vanguard's index mutual funds as they are actually another share class of those funds.
IMH…
I’m very interested in more discussion on the advantages of ETF’s vs MF and not just in taxable accounts but in retirement accounts + in retirement accounts where the investor has no interest in being an active trader.
Ben Johnson, director of glob…
@hank,
The 'Charging Bull' sculpture produced by Arturo Di ModicaI is amazing.
There is a reason this is an iconic work of art!
I agree that the above photo is striking and very well-composed.
The landscape for actively managed mutual funds will be increasingly competitive.
Prerequisites for most of the remaining open-end funds (OEFs) will include low costs and good returns.
Some OEFs will continue to exist since corresponding ETFs are no…
The USPS Tracking Plus service enables extended tracking history for up to 10 years.
It's available for packages shipped via Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, First-Class Package Service, and Parcel Select service.
I considered PIMIX a few years ago but didn't invest in the fund.
For many years, Pimco Income Fund delivered excellent returns with muted volatility.
The fund's managers made shrewd investments in legacy, non-agency residential mortgage-backed se…
The M* fund category assigned to a fund may not be a good fit.
For example, NWFFX is classified as a Diversified Emerging Markets fund but it allocates substantial capital (averaging ~ one-third of total assets) to developed markets.
Also, all Worl…
I've purchased items via Overstock.com several years ago without issue.
I haven't used them recently so I'm not familiar with their current operations.
Agreed. David Swenson's passing points to the initial success he had with Yale's endowment in Private Equity because he was the first one to the game and had good choices, and the where withal to evaluate them. Many endowments who jumped in latte…
Here are some snippets from Ms. Richardson's May 20th newsletter:
"Dramatically, Republicans have come out this week against an investigation into the January 6 insurrection. This is a transparent attempt to protect former president Trump, as well,…
Typo: not Capital Hill. It's Capitol Hill. :)
Yes, the current crop of elected gaslighters are in fact TRAITORS.
Thanks - the typo was corrected.
I agree that the gaslighting politicians are traitors!
The Capitol Hill politicians who are ignoring the CAPITOL INSURRECTION (or gaslighting) have abdicated responsibility and should be removed from office. I find it difficult to comprehend how one very flawed individual can be so influential over many…
It's interesting to hear Mr. Rubenstein's opinion regarding cryptocurrencies.
I don't necessarily share the same enthusiasm, but enjoy watching "The David Rubenstein Show".
Link
Thanks for sharing.
I didn't realize that just 20 firms are responsible for 55% of the world's plastic waste.
Regarding ESG funds, there are different definitions of what constitutes ESG.
Some investment firms have implemented "greenwashing" in or…
I transferred my Roth IRA from Fidelity to a new Vanguard account in 2019.
Fidelity required a Medallion signature guarantee to complete the transaction.
My credit union provided the Medallion signature guarantee.
If I remember correctly, the first …
John D. Rockefeller was credited as being the first American billionaire in 1916.
When a reporter asked him "how much money is enough?", he replied "just a little bit more."
A snippet of Morningstar's CTFAX analysis dated 04/30/2021.
"In 2018, when the current managers took over the fund, a new layer was added to the process that includes an assessment of whether the stock market is 'expensive' or 'normal.' This is det…
Article:
4-investing-lessons-from-david-swensen/
I viewed David Swensen's talk (72 minutes) referenced in Nick Maggiulli's blog post.
Highly recommended!
Link
