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.
On the subject of Capital Group's mutual funds, I've been a happy shareholder of DODIX as a core bond funding. I know one year isn't much of a comparison, but CGCP (a core plus bond etf) has substantially outperformed DODIX over the past year. Ove…
You get into a certain way of operating, and it’s hard to break. Hard to teach an old dog … Like I said previously, roughing it out on a piece of paper works well. Of course, that requires you to know what’s inside each fund you own.
I’ve used Fi…
Thanks all for your answers! @yogibearbull Sorry if the following is too elementary of a question for this discussion. I don't understand why TIPs would be a substitute for I bonds. My understanding of TIPs is that you are only rewarded for unex…
@Lewis Braham That's why I've given up trying to select bond funds.
I used to own such bond funds as PIMIX, GIBIX, some Doubleline funds and VCORX. Now all of my bond funds are held as part of target date or balanced funds and I just look at t…
I lost a lot of money on QSPIX and sold it after a long time. I lost a little money on TMSRX and sold it after a short time. Both losses do not include gains that I would have realized had I invested in a 60/40 fund instead of QSPIX and TMSRX.
I le…
Higher Martin Ratios are better. When I search in an asset class, I look for high Martin ratios and a lot of blue colored rating boxes for a particular mutual fund and that's where I usually buy. Not foolproof, but the best fund finder that I ca…
Some years ago, I experimented with flexible (I call them "go anywhere") funds. The Pimco All Asset funds come to mind.
I found that the "go anywhere" funds that I chose seemed to go to the wrong places. I use mostly target date funds now.
@davidrmoran Yes, they were! I'm hoping PIMIX will see better days again in the current low interest rate environment. DSENX has done poorly recently compared to VTI (its companion in my domestic portfolio), but I will hold as I evaluate further.
Another good discussion... thanks to all contributors!
@msf I purchased DSENX as an index-ish companion to VTI in my domestic stock portfolio. Although PIMIX was "killing it" in the bond arena, I wanted to have a play on Gundlach's bond expe…
@Old_Skeet Thanks! I've looked at MIAQX before. I put it on hold for 3 reasons
1. short term record only,
2. I already own American Funds' target date funds and am concerned about putting too much bond money in AF's hands, even though man…
@msf Thanks, your questions have helped greatly in my thought process
I am concerned about my category selection rather than my fund selection.
I purchased an active bond fund because I think active management can add value over passive …
@davidrmoran Yes, trailing S&P500 by "only" 9% or so YTD. I've added DSEEX to my "good until it wasn't" list (along with PONAX, IOFIX, just about anything AQR, etc.), but will hold this one.
@davidrmoran Since I have limited tax deferred space, I hold my PONAX in a taxable. Despite holding it for many years, I am showing a loss due to taxable distributions and recent price declines.
I'm also going to get out (or mostly out) if/when PO…
The more I look at American Funds, the more I like them. I'm going to check to see how this fund differs from the ANBAX American Funds Strategic Income Fund mentioned in another thread.
@davidrmoran Again not trying to hijack this thread How would you evaluate DoubleLine's contribution to the "secret bond sauce" component of DSENX? @Mark pointed out a more suitable thread and I could move this discussion there.
I'm sure disappointed in DSENX's performance in the past year or so. It seems, though, to have "perked up" a bit since the stock market last bottomed (by my calculation March 23rd, or so).
I use this fund as a "core" domestic holding (could …
No intention to hijack this thread, but I wish you hadn't reminded me of AQR Long/Short :) I added that dog to my "good until it wasn't" list and sold it a short while ago.
The contributor who recommended it seems to have disappeared (at lea…
@fundfan The more I read SPIVA reports and the Spindices blog, the more I like them and the State Street target date (index) funds. I still like to have fun with my 10% "fun" investments (most of which I wish I had used to purchase index funds)
@MikeM I'm not trying to give you a hard time here, just looking to join the fun on a boring Sunday evening
Re: BTAL I took another look at BTAL against my favorite benchmark, VTI. Ok, I know VTI is the wrong benchmark, but that (or a target d…
From what I understand, Zoom has become "cool" to use among a certain crowd. I'm not suggesting that other services, such as Cisco WebEx and Microsoft teams, are bette (whatever that means), but I'll be interested to see how many customers stick wit…
@MikeM I got burned pretty badly on QLEIX, a L/S fund that I purchased on the recommendation of "Sam" who used to post on this board. Another fund that was "good until it wasn't". This experience helped formulate my "core and explore" strategy th…
@davidrmoran Folks could argue forever on what a fair benchmark for DSENX would be. For me, it's VTI, because that's what the balance of my domestic holdings is in. My takeaway is that DSENX has underperformed a domestic index fund. I know that's …
I've tried funds such as ARTKX and TBGVX but, at the end of the day, I'm done "skating where the puck was" as they say. and now use plain ole vanilla VXUS.
Thanks, Charles, for finding this comment. I don't quite understand what Mr Lee is trying to say but I do share in his pain.
It's painful to see $QMNIX, $QSPIX and $QLEIX get crushed over the past couple of months. Seems like they got caught up in t…
Sooner or later, the down cycle that Mr Minerd has been predicting for some time will materialize. But, I'm going to stick with his bond offerings only
Mr Sam Lee, if you are monitoring this board, could you please offer your current take on QSPIX and AQR Long/Short? The declines in both have been breathtaking and seem to be correlated. I'm trying to be patient and see these holdings through a comp…
@Old_Skeet Many years ago, I thought PIMCO was an overall good fund house and I would "shop" there for new and exciting products, much like I would at the grocery store.
I got burned by many PIMCO funds including PCLDX, managed futures and Ro…
@msf and @MikeM Thanks for the replies. I may be contradicting myself by saying this, but I don't make sector bets. Perhaps mistakenly, I treat DSENX as a core holding and that's why I compare its performance to the S&P 500 or a domestic multi…
Update on my October, 2017 post For the past year, DSENX's performance lags the S&P 500 by 3.66%, as measured by Lipper. Again, the S&P 500 may not be a fair comparison and I'm not going to make a sell decision on one year's performance, …
