You know this is the reason I simply don't own bond funds straight. PTTRX is one that I owned, and no more. The only other "bond" funds I own are RPHYX, RSIVX, RNDLX and ARTFX. At least that I know off...
I get very shaken instead of stirred talking about "bond".

Experience has taught me I am not good at market timing. So, I mostly let fund managers do this for me. My major fund holdings with substantial cash positions include FPACX, FPIVX, ICMBX, ARIVX, YAFFX, WEMMX, COBYX, and BERIX. The fund analyzing tool I use tells me my portfolio currently has 18% allocated to cash/near cash, with most of that coming from these holdings. I also have 6 % of my portfolio set aside in funds including RPHYX and MWCRX for use if there is a MAJOR (maybe 35% or more) decline in the stock market. I would be comfortable selling those two holdings with some loss in that situation. So, all told, I have about 25% of my portfolio currently waiting for a better time to invest in more volatile stuff. I also have just over 50% currently invested in the stock market and the remaining 25% in bond funds including OSTIX and RSIVX. The bond funds presently mostly tend towards short term and high yield.

Funds & Strategies I've looked at include:
RNOTX, RNDLX, ARTFX - because we're young and while these might be volatile/riskier thats fine.
OSTIX, EVBAX - why make allocation decisions myself when these guys look like they do it well.
FTBFX - the most convenient low-cost fund for us
RSIVX - stabler ballast, but still with growth
DLTNX - solid core, where our current bond money is.
Pass on them all?

FWIW. FPNIX is something to consider. Better to have fund non-celebrity fund managers I think.
On that note, I've always been bond challenged, but in my 401k I continue to hold some PTTRX. It would seem Bill Gross is officially no longer the bond expert according to recent press. I never thought that would happen. Bill Miller I think has remained the equity expert on the other hand. Time will tell which was the right celebrity call by the financial pron industry.

Funds & Strategies I've looked at include:
RNOTX, RNDLX, ARTFX - because we're young and while these might be volatile/riskier thats fine.
OSTIX, EVBAX - why make allocation decisions myself when these guys look like they do it well.
FTBFX - the most convenient low-cost fund for us
RSIVX - stabler ballast, but still with growth
DLTNX - solid core, where our current bond money is.
Pass on them all?

I would consolidate in the same way AndyJ suggested. I'd choose PIMIX as my moderate risk multisector fund and RSIVX as my 'more' conservative multisector fund. Just don't see the need for all those funds.
Actually, that is exactly what I did - those 2 funds plus a short term (conservative) HY fund. I'm looking at bonds more for protection against equity swings with a little growth if possible down the road. Hopefully choosing good management that can go most anywhere in the bond universe will decide what to be in.

Hi Will, on the "short-term, high quality bond fund with low risk," I'm not a big fan of THOPX either, but don't you already have something like that in the Baird fund? Also, keep in mind that Fed rates have the most influence on the short end of the curve, so short term, higher quality bonds do come with some Fed rate risk.
If you want to go short duration, I'd look for a fund that has some balance of credit and rate risk - RSIVX is in that ballpark - or you could look at DFLEX or maybe a short, high-yield muni fund. Or, maybe look at a multi-sector that barbells credit and rate risk, like PTIAX, or a mild 'non-traditional' fund that can shift rate exposure within a wide range, like say PMZIX.
I think in your situation I'd probably consolidate rather than take on a new fund, concentrating in PIMIX and RSIVX (RSIIX if you can comfortably get your stake up to $100k) and consolidating into just a couple of your several higher quality funds.
The only thing on rates I'm comfortable projecting for myself and my investments is that the Fed is highly likely to raise its key rate a smidgen sometime next year. Nothing else, imho, is sure enough to make a significant bet on.
FWIW, AJ
Edit: forgot to mention GNMA funds, but I see that you asked on M* and Yogi gave you a good answer.

Yes, I was looking at something like SNGVX, which isn't a pure GNMA fund but has higher quality bonds than BSBIX. Also, I'm looking at your suggestions PMZIX and DFLEX. Much appreciated !

Hi Will, on the "short-term, high quality bond fund with low risk," I'm not a big fan of THOPX either, but don't you already have something like that in the Baird fund? Also, keep in mind that Fed rates have the most influence on the short end of the curve, so short term, higher quality bonds do come with some Fed rate risk.
If you want to go short duration, I'd look for a fund that has some balance of credit and rate risk - RSIVX is in that ballpark - or you could look at DFLEX or maybe a short, high-yield muni fund. Or, maybe look at a multi-sector that barbells credit and rate risk, like PTIAX, or a mild 'non-traditional' fund that can shift rate exposure within a wide range, like say PMZIX.
I think in your situation I'd probably consolidate rather than take on a new fund, concentrating in PIMIX and RSIVX (RSIIX if you can comfortably get your stake up to $100k) and consolidating into just a couple of your several higher quality funds.
The only thing on rates I'm comfortable projecting for myself and my investments is that the Fed is highly likely to raise its key rate a smidgen sometime next year. Nothing else, imho, is sure enough to make a significant bet on.
FWIW, AJ
Edit: forgot to mention GNMA funds, but I see that you asked on M* and Yogi gave you a good answer.

This it the current makeup of my bond portfolio, but I think it may be leaning a bit too heavily in the direction of low credit and high yield rather than higher quality bonds. I just want to cover all my bases regardless of rate hikes. Thoughts on consolidation of funds or the absence of higher quality credit bonds? The percentages are approximates. Thanks in advance.
PIMIX (PIMCO Income) - 15%
EVBAX - (Eaton Vance Bond - lw) -15%
DODIX - (Dodge and Cox Income) - 12%
BSBIX (Baird Short-term Bond) - 12%
MWTRX - (Met West Total Return) -10%
MITFX - (BMO Intermediate Tax Free) -8%
RSIVX - (Riverpark Strat Income) 5%
THOPX - (Thompson Bond) - 5%
FPNIX - (FPA New Income) 5%
PRFHX - (TRowe Price Tax Free HY) - 5%
BHYAX - (Blackrock High Yield) - 5%

After listening to the interview, I considered reducing my FAGIX and SPHIX holdings since they represented the majority of my high yield bond funds (my 403b is in Fido); but I checked the graph at M*, where they regained their return slope in about a year after 2008, so I am really conflicted. Therefore, I agree with AndyJ as to from what?
I think I believe in gross market timing (CAPE says the next 10 years will be low return if one buys the broad market at current levels), so it looks like I should let my monthly additions molder in cash.
RSIVX, RPHYX seemed to have flattened out or declined, but FSAHX may have shown a gasp of life. My hopes that I could park my "cash" in short term bond funds are now muted (especially since I have 40 X as much in the first 2 and the latter was positive on
Fri, but it's only one day.)
In my IRA at TDA, EVBAX was relatively costly, as mentioned above, but there were no additional charges. This was a minimum investment to keep me attentive.
I think (hope) there is too much money waiting for an entry point for stocks to drop 30 -60%, and Gaffney's comment about the portion of Treasury debt that the Fed is buying suggests there is a high floor for the short term. I think I'll start adding money at the 10% drop and take the additional hit, if it occurs, and reassess if there is a 10 - 15% gain above the 10% drop. I don't think 2008 was a once in a lifetime event, but I don't think it was a once in a decade event.

Bonds seem like they should be simple, but for some reason my mind turns off when trying to understand them. I get the basics on duration, quality and bond sectors that are more or less volatile. But my decision is to give the money to managers who have demonstrated results and have flexibility to buy the different types of bonds they think best. Unconstrained, multisector, whatever - not even sure the difference there.
So I decided on splitting most of my bond allocation to 2 multisector funds, a somewhat aggressive fund/manager, Ivascyn/PONDX and to what I see as a more conservative multisector fund, Sherman/RSIVX.
As a side note, I chose PONDX over LSBRX because returns have been as good with less volatility. I could of held both but my mandate is to hold a minimal number of funds. But I did hold LSBRX for years and was very happy with Fuss.

I never thought about it bee. Certainly sounds like the new marketing buzz word. Don't forget about one of the new MFO darlings_ RSIVX. I just bought into that one the other day.

M* update on RSIVX portfolio dated 07/31/2014
http://portfolios.morningstar.com/fund/summary?t=RSIVX&region=USA&culture=en-US

Something new from Mr Sherman and the RiverPark folks... A real quarterly discussion / shareholder letter covering RPHYX/RPHIX/RSIVX/RSIIX.
I just found it on their site and thought other holders might be interested... :-)
http://www.riverparkfunds.com/downloads/News/RiverPark-Cohanzick-2Q14-SH-Letter.pdf
It's homed on a new 'Commentary' tab under each funds Overview. http://www.riverparkfunds.com/Funds/Overview.aspx
And they've also started publishing more detail on the fund distributions.
IMHO: A vast improvement to the RiverPark funds site and shareholder communications.

I purchased RSIVX based on the very favorable write-up it got from MFO in January. I'm retired and have placed money in this fund to balance some of my equity holdings. Should I move to a better fund? What conservative income funds would you recommend? [I've been tempted to put some money in FPA New Income]

RPHYX, RSIVX and FPNIX is where my "risky cash" is. So far so good.

As RPHYX nears a 3 year anniversary with almost $900 million in assets, I would have expected to see an expense ratio considerably below 1.17%. That's over $10 million being raked in annually for this fund. I guess the prospects for the RSIVX expense ratio to come down much from the current 1.24% are not too bright. I think that RSIVX is delivering about what I expected - 4.4% YTD with low volatility - but expenses ought to be lower.

David Sherman and his Cohanzick Team write in their 2nd quarter 2014 commentary that its funds are managed "very conservatively against most fixed-income risk categories."
However, he goes on to write "...a substantial percentage of the holdings in both funds are invested in below investment grade securities. Therefore, arguably the funds have above average credit risk. Our strategy to maneuver in current markets is founded in the belief that by staying small and nimble that we can take advantage of special situations where our perception of credit risk is different than the market or ratings agencies."
Once it gets three years under its belt, I would imagine RSIVX/RSIIX will have excellent standard deviation/return, Sharpe and Sortino ratings.
The only gripe - and it's a big one - is its expense ratio.

I purchased RSIVX based on the very favorable write-up it got from MFO in January. I'm retired and have placed money in this fund to balance some of my equity holdings. Should I move to a better fund? What conservative income funds would you recommend? [I've been tempted to put some money in FPA New Income]

Yesterday I noticed that RiverPark's June 30 fund fact sheet for RSIVX/RSIIX shows data that (to my knowledge, anyway) they haven't put in a document before: go to the fund page and click on "Fund Fact Sheet" to see the PDF.
They show the credit ratings for the holdings now, and it is pretty junky - 19% investment grade, 4% BB, 29% B, 39% CCC, and 7% unrated. It took a small hit during the recent credit risk-off days, but not as much as OSTIX did, for example.
So I'm thinking short junk does appear to be the personality, and the portfolio slot where it belongs.

Hi Skeet- I hadn't really thought of my setup as "sleeves", but the general organization is of a similar type, with four self-defined "areas"-
1) US Equity Funds: ANCFX, ACMVX, GABAX, GASFX, BUFBX, PRBLX, VVPSX, SCHD
2) US Balanced and Allocation Funds:ABALX, TWSMX, RSIVX, MFLDX
3) World and EM Equity Funds: SMCWX, CWGIX, ANEFX, MAPIX, ARTGX, SFGIX, WAFMX, GPROX
4) US Bond Funds: ABNDX, AIBAX, AHITX, ABHIX, RPHYX, LSBRX
As you say, it makes it easy to adjust balances within areas by adjusting various fund levels. The four areas are currently 20%, 20%, 31% and 29%, respectively. A series of graphs and charts in my spreadsheet give a good picture of the performance of each fund individually, as well as overviews of the total allocations as: US stocks, foreign stocks, US Bonds, foreign bonds, convertible, preferred, cash & "other".
BTW, am thinking about adding TOLLX.
Regards- OJ

Hey guys! Managed to find Internet on the beach. My brother who thinks his lil brother lost it a long time back, never invests in mutual funds. However thanks to this board and after I recommended RPHYX and RSIVX - the only funds he owns besides bunch of Vanguard in his 401k - he still introduces me to others as his brother. Sorry digressing...
When we discussed conservative (ahem) ways to get some yield, he says to look at PFF and the new VRP. Then he showed me how some preferred stocks have provided him good income over the past few years and especially after the financial crisis. Anyways, just some food for thought. I am going to research some preferred stock funds after I get back. Seems like a compelling diversifying opportunity to me
Wish my first generation IPad had a camera so I could post a picture of my first real vacation in years. I have already had enought beers in the name of each one of you.