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.
I stand corrected on portfolio disclosure of actively managed ETFs (though Vanguard has already finessed this, as I'll describe below). Now that you mention it, I do recall having read this, but never in an authoritative place. Given all the peo…
What difference does that make for a mutual fund?The dividend will cause the price to drop. Hopefully some of that dividend is qualified.
If you've held the shares for less than a year, selling after the dividend will increase a short term los…
"Active managers have largely shied away from offering ETF versions of their products because ETFs are required to disclose all their holdings every day, revealing their investing strategies."
Wrong, and the reality is worse.
From ETF.comBy law an…
Do only the direct holders get the proxy materials? I have an IRA through Fidelity brokerage and don't get any notifications about them.
All share holders of record as of 2/14 are entitled to vote. The link is here. You'll need to contact your b…
Hank - my first point was not so much that Buffett has been recommending this particular allocation to most investors. Just that he has been referring to "most investors" in one way or another for many years, and it seems no one (okay, a slight exa…
Thanks for posting this - I was thinking of asking as well; I hadn't read through it yet - just read the items they are asking to change.
The timing was somewhat coincidental. There's a recent thread here on investments one regrets, that starts of…
With so many people disagreeing with Buffett, it's nice to see such civility. So I'm hoping not to need to heavy an asbestos suit when I suggest that IMHO he is making a lot of sense, if you read him carefully.
Who are most investors? It's inter…
Agreed.
She also says she doesn't trust Contra's classification, so let's test it against different benchmarks. She comes up with MSCI US large growth - a virtually preordained result, since her other benchmark candidates included a blend inde…
I'm not clear on how $19.90 round trip at TradeKing for all funds (i.e. no NTF funds) is better than Scottrade's $17 round trip, including short term trading fee, for its NTF funds.
Perhaps if one is planning on trading a lot of TF funds, TradeKing…
I like Scott Burns, but he is playing fast and loose with facts and figures here.
Burns writes: "When Social Security was created one of the fundamental promises was that benefits would never be taxed."
SSA responds:Myth 5: President Roosevelt pro…
Different people use different parameters to evaluate what is good. The parameters given were NTF list (and holding period to avoid fee), total number of funds, and research/tools. Fees were not in that list - rather the opposite - how easy is i…
Class P shares are specifically designed to be offered through fund supermarkets:Class P shares are only available to investors purchasing shares through a no-load transaction fee network or platform that has entered into an agreement with NYLIFE Di…
Reply to @TheShadow:
Thanks! It seems I found this just about when you did. MFWire botched their story (see my post below). These are, as you discovered, Columbia funds.
A lesson I learned - look at the normal (non-print) version of pages b…
Okay, here's the answer - VA was the right idea, and MFWire doesn't seem to understand fund structures.
Columbia Funds (not American Century) offers a set of variable annuity funds; as the manager of those funds, it (Columbia, not AC) is responsibl…
That is a good guess, and I'll look into it further, but so far I have my doubts.
Several years ago, Am Cent tried going mostly load - adding A,B,C shares, closing investor class shares of many funds. They used to show all the classes on their we…
Say what?
The wire story asserts that (per SEC filings) American Century is hiring Loomis Sayles to subadvise American Century Growth Fund (TWCGX), and that Am Cent currently offers a fund, "PIMCO Mortgage-backed Securities Fund", which will become…
Reply to @mrdarcey:
Thanks for the reminder. There was a similar thread (alternatives to RPHYX) a year ago where I mentioned FPNIX.
http://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/index.php?p=/discussion/5865/looking-for-another-fund-somewhat-like-rph…
Very good suggestions from all.
Expanding on davidmoran's comment - the attorney should also be local. All of this stuff, from wills to state taxes to POA forms vary from state to state, so you need that local expertise from all the profession…
Reply to @BenWP: This fund is marketed (branded) as American Beacon. American Beacon, like several other fund families (Vanguard, Harbor, Litman Gregory Masters come to mind) outsource the management of some or all of their funds.
So, even tho…
A few highlights:
- Designed to be pretty flexible (nondiversified, may include EM, use derivatives to tinker with currency exposure/hedge, to adjust durations, to provide leverage), but at least 80% must be investment grade and fund does not appe…
Reply to @Dennis1:
If rate of activity/participation determined when to close up shop, all the mutual fund families but one should roll up the carpets now. Vanguard is taking in all the money (well, 98%). I'm sure they get more dollars in a day …
Reply to @BobC:
I'm not quite sure what point you're trying to make by saying (in caps) that TIAA treats annuity dollars as their money. Of course they invest those dollars as they see fit, just as a corporation invests the money it receives from…
What I meant by not putting one's eggs in a single basket ...
I was not talking about risk (I regard TIAA Traditional as pretty close to riskless), but rather maintaining flexibility. Until reading some other posts here, I would have said that I …
Reply to @Jim0445:
Jim, I'm not sure how much more I can add, though I'll try.
What TIAA says about how much it pays: TIAA has paid additional amounts in addition to the minimum guarantee each year since 1948. Additional amounts of interest are d…
TIAA-CREF Traditional is just what it says - a traditional, old school GIC, from one of the three(?) AAA-rated insurance companies in the US. (Well, it would be AAA, but it seems companies can't be rated higher than their country, and there's that…
Reply to @Ted: Is this the same S&P that downgraded the US - slamming the political process, and not joined by other NRSROs in its opinion?
That's AFAIK, (certainly true of Fitch and Moodys), I haven't checked all the minor NRSROs (e.g. M*). O…
I don't know how some people make ends meet (I was always amazed at how my grandmother lived with low SS payments and small savings).
There are programs that help, especially with the necessities you allude to. Medicaid rather than, or in additio…
Reply to @scott: It's higher than the figures provided.
"Government" to the Census Bureau appears to mean "federal" - all of the programs listed look like federal programs (though some, like Medicaid and unemployment insurance, are state/federal). …
Hi Catch,
A couple of sites I use are:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/ - best for reading code (statutes) and regulations, but also good for background info (somewhat like a legal encyclopedia written for nonlawyers)
http://www.findlaw.com - this sit…
Reply to @Anna: The case for the higher earner in a couple postponing benefits is much more clear than postponing for a single, let alone the lower earner of a couple.
As you pointed out, when one half of a couple dies, the other takes the higher o…
I wonder whether such a tax would affect funds like Matthew 25 (MXXVX - great ticker), which are structured as Pennsylvania companies. (Vanguard reorganized its funds into Delaware trusts in 1998.)
Just trying to get this thread on topic.
Official announcement from Allianz:
https://www.allianz.com/v_1390337998000/media/investor_relations/en/announcements/140121_irrelease.pdf
Consistent with Ted's comment is the curious ordering of statements - first that there are leadership changes…
With thanks to ibartman for pointing out IEMG (and the MSCI index that tracks the "full" EM, including smaller stocks - MSCI EM Investable Market Index), here's an updated graph. The new red line is IEMG. As M* wrote in its analysis, the small c…
Reply to @ibartman: She did state EEM was the broadest market.
And let's not forget Greece, which only MSCI downgraded to an EM last year. So it too isn't in funds tracking other indexes.
Edit: Your suggestion of IEMG is not only cheaper, b…
BobC, Good point, and I was surprised to see how much developed market stocks EM funds held.
The odds are not quite as bad as one might guess from your post, though, at least if one sticks to funds that are supposed to be EM. I looked at M*, u…
About three years ago I went through this same exercise, same constraints. The three funds I came up with were Blackrock Equity Div MSDVX (now available NTF in a slightly cheaper share class MDDVX), Becker, and Invesco Diversified Div (LCEIX).
In …
Here I was thinking you were going to advise us whom to root for, to give the NFC the best chance of winning the Superbowl, and thus the best chance for a good year in the market.
The $5K bank balance is to avoid the $3.95/mo fee. Regardless, you're required to maintain $2K in the bank (earning 0.2%) before investing. Not exactly free, but not a huge drag, either.
Here's the list of investment options.
https://www.smart-…
Saturna is one of the lowest cost options. It offers two plans, each with its own terms.
Their mutual fund plan (the one you are referring to) offers a choice of nine house funds.
AMANX - Large Cap Blend, 1.18% ER
AMAGX - Large Cap Gr, 1.11% ER
A…
Reply to @bee:
From Bruce's (we're on a first name basis) HSA application: Please note that a $15.00 annual maintenance/custodian fee will be charged.
Nevertheless, nice option. I didn't realize that there were any funds that offered HSAs direc…
