What an interesting thread. Thanks Mike for starting it. Because of this site I've bought over the last 2 years SUBFX, RPHYX, RSIVX, RNCOX, GPIOX, HUSIX, MAINX, ARIVX and SFGIX -- half my fund portfolio. (My other, older positions, mostly due to M*, are ARTKX, FAIRX, FAAFX, MPACX, BRAGX, BRUSX, CIPSX and VPCCX -- all great funds.) I dropped ARIVX after six months and replaced it with half HUSIX and half RPHYX, a decision I feel has both increased my returns and lowered my risk. Aside from ARIVX, about which I've posted a few times already (I lost faith not because of poor performance, but because his management reports convinced me he was a tea partier, convinced that government debt was going to smother the recovery before it started and that the thing to do was load up on miners and precious metals) I've been happy with all these funds. Sure, MAINX is down a few points since I bought it, but it's way overperformed its category, and I do think you need to give a fund at least 3 years if its management seems talented.
In retrospect, like Mike I probably didn't need an Asian bond fund, but the excitement/groupthink about MAINX drove me into it. But MAINX is doing what it is supposed to (not its fault that I chose to buy right before mon pol tightening in the U.S. came into view), it is a small position, and I will probably hold on to it at least through the next cycle of irrational exuberance about Asia.

I would certainly include RPHYX as a GTF that has more than proved itself. Hopefully, RSIVX will follow its sibling's footsteps.

Do we have the mp3 recording of the call to David Sherman, the manager of the RiverPark Strategic Income RSIVX? Unfortunately I have missed it.
Thanks a lot

Reply to @AndyJ: Thanks, Andy, that helps. What about my second question on the projected return for RSIVX? Morty's explanation and conclusion don't conform to what I see in my own RSIVX portfolio. In contrast, the returns they quote for RPHYX perfectly match with mine.

Reply to @David_Snowball: Yes, the conference call was informative and very helpful. I'm still not sure about two things: 1) I didn't catch precisely the %securities overlap between RSIVX and RPHYX. He recited lots of numbers but I missed it; 2) I'm still not sure how they compute the target return for RSIVX on the basis of performance data to-date. Morty explained it but I didn't get it and had no opportunity to question him. David, could you shed some light on these two issues? Thanks.

Reply to @Maurice: Any reason you didn't consider RSIVX with the same management, a little more risk, and a little more yield? Curious mind wants to know...

Reply to @Old_Joe: Any reason you didn't consider RSIVX for the same management, a little more risk, and a little more yield? (And I'm still holding MAINX, but considering...)

Dear friends,
We're talking with David Sherman next Monday night, from 7:00 - 8:00 Eastern. It's a simple dial-in on an 800-number for you. Most of you are familiar with David work. For other folks who haven't already seen it, I'd encourage you to read our December article on RiverPark Strategic Income, which also contains the registration link.
If you're not able to drop by but have questions for Mr. Sherman, please let me know and I'll raise as many of them as I can. As always, we'll post the mp3 as soon as it's available.
As ever,
David

It appears the fund paid a dividend at an annual rate around 1.445 % per annum and the fund's NAV increased another $0.08 which approximates a return at an annual rate of 9.458 %. That increased NAV includes mostly accrued interest and possible capital gains that eventually will be paid out to shareholders in cash or additional shares.All accrued interest and cap gains held by the fund are accounted for on a daily basis in the day's end NAV. So if you sell shares on any one day,you will recieve your pro-rated accrued interest/cap gains amount.Most bonds do not pay interest monthly.This makes it difficult for a new fund to "pay " a dividend at months end but that accrued interest is included in the rising NAV.
http://financial-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/accrued+interest
A term used to describe an accrual accounting method when interest that is either payable or receivable has been recognized, but not yet paid or received.
From M* 12/02/2013
In October, RiverPark launched its second fixed income fund, the RiverPark Strategic Income Fund (RSIVX - Retail; RSIIX - Institutional), which seeks to deliver high current income and capital appreciation, consistent with conservation of capital. The RiverPark Strategic Income Fund, which takes a “go anywhere” approach, will also seek to remain nimble and because of its small size believes it can purchase securities with above market yields with limited risk if held to maturity.
In its first two months, the fund has gathered $88 million in assets through November 29, 2013, mostly from RiverPark Short Term High Yield fund shareholders. Both the Strategic Income and Short Term High Yield funds are managed by David Sherman of Cohanzick Management.
December Conference Call: David Sherman, RiverPark Strategic Income
We’d be delighted if you’d join us on Monday, December 9th, for a conversation with David Sherman of Cohanzick Asset Management and Morty Schaja, president of the RiverPark funds

I'd prefer PIMIX (better 3 year returns, lower volatility and far lower expenses) though my money is in SUBFX (whose returns are pretty remarkable if you consider it's nearly 50% cash) and RSIVX.

At least 7% is positive; some of my M* driven stocks remain negative 6 years later.
I stopped my AIP with ARIVX, leaving the money, but wishing the ER were lower. I have some more in my TDA IRA, where my allotment is finally in the green. I check in infrequently, but I expect to shift funds from RPHYX TO ARIVX, among others, when the market drops and let Mr. Cinnamond decide when it has dropped enough to justify investing. I assume this will occur within 2 years, which might qualify me as one of the too frequent traders (but which suggests to me that PRESSmUP might as well wait - can't imagine what one could confidently transfer funds to now, although RSIVX might work, if it didn't cost too much to leave when you want the money for equities - TDA has a fee for 6 months). I presume I will resume the AIP also, depending whether the 2 weddings next year have been paid for. Active management probably is justified in small caps and Cinnamond has now reverted to or below the mean, so I hope he's ready to outperform.
Still have my AIP going in FPACX - can't chase hot funds with AIPs, and Romick is still positive, even if he lags the indexes. Will see how I feel about this in 2015.

Your subset of narrower funds (short term, floating rate, high yield) suggests either a deliberate effort to tweak what the more flexible managers (such as Gaffney - EVBAX) are doing, or that you're collecting funds and perhaps inadvertently doubling down on some portions of the bond market.
If the former is the case, you would know your target better than we. If the latter is the case, I would be inclined to drop most of the funds and let the managers do their job of finding the right corners of the market to play in.
To that end, I somewhat agree with Art - that a multisector fund such as EVBAX can cover a good portion of the market for you. But multisector bonds tend to leave gaps in their coverage of domestic investment grade bonds, and a wide ranging total bond fund can both fill the gaps and provide management diversification. (For example, EVBAX has virtually no MBS, and FWIW, no inflation-protected bonds.)
You've got a couple of such bond funds - DODIX and MWTRX. I prefer the latter, because it seems to be more flexible. From its willingness to delve into junk when propitious, to its broader range of bond types, it is the more adventurous fund. Both of these funds currently like MBSs. D&C is pretty much split between MBSs and corporate bonds now, following conventional wisdom, as it is wont to do. MetWest has traded a good chunk of corporates for Treasuries (about 2/5 of that in TIPS), taking its own path.
While one might not agree with Treasuries now (I have my doubts), this does show that MetWest has its own ideas, and its record speaks for itself. Despite M* saying it has a similar risk profile (risk ratings, volatility) to DODIX, I tend to think of the latter as more conservative, and perhaps the strongest reason why you might prefer DODIX. Either way, I would eliminate at least one of these.
Aside from EVBAX (multisector funds tend to invest a bit outside the US), the other funds with significant international bond holdings are BHYAX (junk bonds), RSIVX (same emphasis on Canadian exposure as EVBAX, and for that matter LSBDX), and PGBAX. If it didn't have such a high slug of equities (about 1/3), PGBAX would be considered a multisector fund like EVBAX (which also has equity exposure), rather than a conservative allocation fund. It's an interesting fund, but given its bond focus on global junk (35%) and emerging markets (10%), and higher portion of equities, it seems to be even further out on the risk spectrum than Eaton Vance.
To boost international bond exposure (the "tweaking" I mentioned in the first paragraph), I would be more inclined to add a dollop of a pure international fund. The purpose of the fund would be to adjust exposure, so consider its risk in that context. I'm fond of TGBAX (or GIM, its closed end "half brother"). Highly flexible - don't expect to use this to fine tune emerging market vs. developed country exposure - it varies widely here.
If you want to adjust the overall portfolio to reduce risk, I think FPA New Market Income FPNIX can fit the bill. It won't give you high returns, but it also (probably) won't lose you money. Like the other funds I've tended to favor, it is very flexible and also tends to use esoteric types of investments. But also like the other funds I've highlighted, the managers have been there for years and have proven themselves capable of dealing with these securities.
You don't have a single fund I'd dump in isolation. They're all good to excellent. That's what makes selection so interesting.

I've recently realized that I've become a bond fund collector, compiling 9 bond funds in my current portfolio. They consist of:
Dodge and Cox Income (DODIX) - 15%
Eaton Vance Bond (EVBAX) 15%
PIMCO Income (PIMIX) 15%
Baird ST Bond - (BSBIX) 15%
Principal Global Div Income (PGBAX) 10%
Met West Total Return (MWTRX) 10%
Blackrock High Yield (BHYAX) 7%
Eaton Vance Float Rate (EAFAX) 7%
Riverpark Strat Income (RSIVX) 5%
Any room for consolidation? If so, how would you restructure the bond portfolio? I'm trying to put together a fairly moderate risk portfolio with moderate income. I'm not interested in reaching for yield. Am I missing a particular area of bonds? Thanks in advance for the input.

Dear friends,
As I've noted before, folks actually do notice your conversations (and are often struck by them). RiverPark's president, Morty Schaja, wrote this morning to give a little insight on the yield conundrum: the yield of the holdings being higher than the fund's yield. Morty writes:

I thought I would give you a heads up that given the growth of the fund, that the monthly dividend distribution will be seemingly less than normal for a few months. This is good news as the average income for each month is distributed over a large base of shareholders at the end of the month. I hope that this tax efficiency will last for a while.

We're trying to find time Monday to chat a bit more. I'll pass along what I learn. In the meantime, you might want to register for the December 9 call with David Sherman if you haven't already done so. I'll try to configure the call so that there's extra time for you to ask questions directly to him.
As ever,
David

Looking at the list of "holdings" leaves me rather uncomfortable, because what appears is not holdings at all, but simply names of issuers. There's often no way to identify the particular securities.
This becomes apparent when one compares the website's stated "holdings" of RPHYX with those stated clearly and explicitly in the SEC filing. (The date of each's list is different, so the holdings don't always match; that's not the point.)
Website (Oct 31): http://www.riverparkfunds.com/Funds/ShortTermHighYield/FullHoldings.aspx
Quarterly SEC filing (June 30) http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1494928/000113542813000441/riverpark-nq.txt
For example, the website lists PANORO ENERGY ASA twice (separated by a few lines), which I suppose means that there are two different securities. But what's the difference - yield, maturity, coupon, ...? There's no information at all. In contrast, the SEC filing shows that there are two different notes held, 13.5% and 12.0% coupons, with the same 11/15/2018 maturity. And one of these is a 144A placement, the other is not (per footnotes). But the website, which sometimes notes that securities are 144A placements, makes no mention of it on the Oct holdings. Is this an error, simply lack of detail, or did the Panoro holdings change between June and Oct? No way of knowing.
Since we don't have any SEC filings on RSIVX's portfolio, we really don't have much of a clue what's in its portfolio (i.e. the website only gives issuers, not securities). But here's a brief stab:
David asked about HOA Restaurant 144A. Given that this is (or at least appears to be) a Hooters (HOA Restaurant Group) private placement (144A to qualified institutional buyers), one has to wonder what's on David's mind. :-) Can't tell any details about this particular security, however.
It took me awhile to translate the largest holding - MAV 2009-2 A1 ABS 7/15/56. First guess was preferred securities (leveraging) of the closed end fund Pioneer Municipal Advantage Trust (MAV), but the rest of the data didn't match. Finally got to Master Asset Vehicle II, Class A-1, issued January 21, 2009, and maturing June 15, 2056. Canadian paper, seems to be part of Canada's handling of the 2008 meltdown. Haven't delved too deeply into it, but here are some background docs that might help:
Trust Document (long and painful)
Debt Restructuring Description (what MAVs are, what the classes are, etc. - shorter and clearer)
One paragraph description (incredibly dense, terse, and technical)
2011 Press Release (amounts outstanding in each MAV series and each class therein, along with ratings)
Note that this is just a guess on my part. For example, the docs that I found all refer to Asset Backed Commercial Paper (ABCP), not ABS (asset backed securities) that RiverPark used in identifying the issuer.
Personally, I want to know what securities are in a portfolio. Without that, I don't have enough information to figure out what's driving the yield. At least the next annual report (Sept 30th holdings) should be out shortly.

Why was the monthly dividend for RSIVX paid at the end of October nowhere close to 8%? It was more like 2.76% on an annual basis. I'm sure there's a good explanation for it. Does anyone know?

"El Pollo Loco bank loan" for 1.9%. Guess that's me, since I just put my mutual fund winnowings into RSIVX. 8% sounds WAY too good to be true - nearing Madoff territory, but I'll settle for 4% and capital preservation for the next three years.

Reply to @Vert: Hi Vert, no bond expert here, but my guess would be it's mainly a result of bargain-hunting management of a very small level of assets versus an enormous fund without a lot of room to add value. VWEHX is over $16 billion.
But don't use SEC yield to compare to the 8% current yield of RSIVX-- they're not the same thing. It's probably just the one month's dividend annualized for RSIVX, so you'd need to do that calculation for VWEHX to get a comparable number.

Reply to @Old_Joe: I dunno -- seems like this kind of fund is in a pretty sweet spot now, and maybe they're only rarely in a really bad spot because they've typically got some, but not a whole lot, of both kinds of bond risk. So it might not be a bad time to start a position, unless there's some credit wipeout on the horizon that nobody's talking about. But even in that kind of situation, OSTIX lost only ~ 5% in the 2008 credit fiasco.
I did see a piece of advice recently, forget where, to be at least a little price conscious in the HY space ... recommendation was to buy at ~ 103 or 104 at the priciest, and RSIVX is in that range. Not many that I've looked at lately are closer to par than that.
I may wait at least another month to see how it's doing, but if I do, it won't be because it's in overvalued territory or anything. I also have two other small initial/watch positions going, and don't like to get too strung out on that sort of thing.

I'm also interested in a starter position in RSIVX. I wonder what your opinions are with respect to going in now vs waiting for some sort of pullback? Thanks- OJ