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Might want to take a look at the Appleseed Fund APPLX / APPIX. I have been using this as a go-anywhere fund with a defensive bias. It lagged the S&P somewhat for most of 2012, but I expect it to perform better if we get more volatility in 2013…
Also noticed that a new monthly commentary from Rob Arnott is available: http://investments.pimco.com/insights/External Documents/Arnott_on_All_Asset_January_2013_PCAAA009.pdf
Reply to @andrei: You can also get this information on the fund page: http://investments.pimco.com/Products/pages/283.aspx
The "Portfolio" tab gives a basic overview of holdings categorized by "strategy".
The "Documents" tab includes "PIMCO FUNDS …
Reply to @prinx: I do not necessarily disagree with your post. But remember, when you buy a fund, you are not getting its past performance, only its future performance. As every investment disclaimer will tell you, past performance is not a guarante…
At one point I noticed that PVFIX (which has a similar cash position as ARIVX) and MSCFX both had a large position in financials. Financials have obviously done well this year (look at FAIRX) so this might explain these funds outperformance.
I hav…
Reply to @bee: I believe sales of municipal bond fund shares are subject to capital gains tax (or loss), just like sales of any other mutual fund. Only the interest income (distributions) from municipal bonds are tax exempt.
Reply to @Investor: GPIOX / GPGOX are fully small-cap (and micro-cap) funds, so "a portion in small caps" is an understatement. Or maybe that was a typo and you meant "a portion in emerging markets," which is more accurate.
Reply to @BobC: DEFIX has done well this year, but the smaller, more concentrated TSELX (profiled previously on MFO) from the same managers has not done as well. My impression is that TSELX is supposed to be more representative of the team's best i…
Definitely PAUIX. I assume that Rob Arnott is always well positioned regardless of the situation (or at least that he will do a better job of positioning than I would).
RPHYX -- but I don't know if that counts. It has a very specific purpose and …
I'm withholding judgment on ARIVX for the time being. On the one hand, it's performing more or less as expected, and I do not have any problem with the manger's assessment that stocks are overvalued. On the other hand, PVFIX, another small-cap fun…
Reply to @Investor: I don't think the market has anything to do with how people keep track of time. Mechanical watches are simply a fashion accessory and they are targeted for an older, wealthier demographic. Much like sailing or whatever hobbies …
Vanguard announced two international bond index funds last year but has been continuously delaying their launch: https://personal.vanguard.com/us/insights/article/international-bonds-01172012
Probably unrelated, but I wonder if the PIMCO patent has…
Apparently "high yield" these days means an SEC yield of 4.83%: https://personal.vanguard.com/us/funds/snapshot?FundId=0029&FundIntExt=INT
I know high yield bonds have been expensive, but still, I wondered if Vanguard's fund was on the more con…
Reply to @Mark: Basically RiverNorth has a CEF strategy that they feel pairs well with several asset classes. These funds are designed for people who exposure to the underlying asset class plus RiverNorth's added value (and expenses -- had to menti…
I think this is a helpful link as well, so you can see long/short performance compared to other categories: http://news.morningstar.com/fund-category-returns/ (also posted by Ted in another thread)
Note that as a group, their returns have trailed…
Your summer commentaries were very interesting, but they mostly left me with the impression that long/short funds have generally performed quite poorly and it is not clear that the trend will be reversed. Possible exceptions might be the Robeco fun…
Reply to @hank: Sorry, I was just offering my personal thoughts about the fund and this asset class and it was not intended to be directed at you. Apologies if I suggested otherwise. I do appreciate your bringing up the article and fund for discussi…
Reply to @hank: Forward is a pretty big firm from what I remember. I used to invest in their International Small Cap fund before there were so many options. My general impression is that their fees are too high, even on their no-load classes (note…
The actual fund being profiled is a foreign real estate fund, FFIRX. I think the article's use of "U.S. mutual fund" in the headline is a little misleading.
Also not really mentioned in the article is that foreign real estate in general has had …
Reply to @MJG: Actually I think OSFDX should be properly placed in the "Factor Bets" category. The fund is making a *huge* bet on financials and consumer cyclicals. Almost no other sectors are represented. According to Mauboussin's article, funds…
This is very interesting reading but also takes a little time to digest. Here is how I read it (and let me know if I am wrong):
Say you are looking at a fund manager that seems to have decent returns. There are a few possibilities for how the man…
This would be big news if it was PIMCO Total Return PTTRX (which is in fact having a blockbuster year), but instead the fund being downgraded is PIMCO Global Multi-Asset PGAIX, i.e. just one of of PIMCO's 50-or-whatever other funds. Personally I th…
I added to my REIT allocation a few days ago since that sector has gotten pretty close to June 2012 levels. I'm using VGSIX, but I note PRRSX is actually even closer to the June low.
I still have a lot of cash but I am not willing to go all in (to…
Wow, FAAFX now at +2.33% YTD? Compared to FAIRX which is still at +27.52% YTD.
Although on paper it seemed like FAAFX should be superior to FAIRX (lower expenses, more flexibility, less assets, similar mandate), and indeed I believe FAAFX outperfo…
Reply to @bee: I've seen BRUFX mentioned on this board a few times. Interesting fund because of the difficulty of access and the $400+ per share NAV. It hasn't done very well this year -- YTD +6.06% -- but that's a similar story as other conservati…
I don't know if this is what the original poster was referring to, but father-and-son teams seem to be fairly common among mutual funds. Yacktman YACKX / YAFFX is a better-known example. Also Appleseed APPLX / APPIX, which I own.
In general I am …
Reply to @VintageFreak: From the original post: "Aberdeen installed a new team at the fund in 2009 and the good results ensued." I didn't verify the change in management, but the post-2009 returns definitely look better.
Reply to @TheShadow: Looks like ARIVX will be seeing a large short-term capital gain distribution, around 5.69% of its current NAV. Something to note for tax planning.
I added this fund to my portfolio about a year ago as I gradually got rid of BRAIX. It has lagged the market, but for now, I consider its performance to be "as expected." I feel similarly about my other conservative stock holding, ARIVX.
For Van…
There is some good discussion and comparison at this Bogleheads thread. One interesting point is that Vanguard's emerging markets fund VEIEX is expected to lose South Korea because FTSE classifies it as a developed market. VEIEX has a 15.5% weight …
Personally I am not rushing to get into Whitebox WBMAX / WBMRX either, but I was a little surprised at David's reaction to the fund. There were several commentaries and profiles over the summer specifically on long-short funds (which I thought were…
Reply to @VintageFreak: That may be an accurate description, but it is not helpful for portfolio allocation purposes. Adding PAUIX to your portfolio means reducing your allocation elsewhere, so you need to consider whether the alternative fund is l…
According to the Zero Hedge article, Braeburn "invests in the public equity markets." Without any more details, "hedge fund" is a probably a close enough description. I think these operations are separate from Apple's strategic investments in priv…
I put PAUDX / PAUIX in its own category and allocate about 10% to it. To get the 10%, I reduced 5% from my bond allocation and 5% from my stock allocation. My asset allocation without PAUIX was 70/30 (stocks/bonds). I expect PAUIX to be a little …
