Unlimited Dreams for Retirement vs Sleep Well at Night
"A recent television advertisement for
Prudential that is intended to encourage
you to save for retirement is on point with
my life. “If you could do anything you
wanted and be paid for it, what would that
be?” the narrator asks viewers. “That is
what retirement is supposed to be about,”
he goes on." Ron Baron Sept.30,2013 Baron Funds Shareholder Report http://www.baronfunds.com/BaronFunds/media/Quarterly-Reports/Baron-Funds-Quarterly-093013.pdf
From Mutual Fund Observer's David Snowball's October 1,2013 Commentary http://www.mutualfundobserver.com/2013/10/october-1-2013/
RSIVX represents the next step out on the risk-return continuum. David Sherman believes that this strategy might be reasonably expected to double the returns of RPHYX. While volatility will be higher,Mr. Sherman is absolutely adamant about risk-management. He intends this to be a “sleep well at night” fund in which his mother will be invested. He refuses to be driven by the temptation to shoot for “the best” total returns; he would far rather sacrifice returns to protect against loss of principal. Morty Schaja affirms the commitment to “a very conservative credit posture.”
One notch up in the risk/reward equation from the aforementioned Merger Arbitrage Fund(s) would be Berwyn Income BERIX. Often mentioned on this board as a good choice for risk adverse investors. A Morning* 15 year standard deviation of 6.02 and 15 year annual return of 8.23% would seem a good choice for you.

John and I had a nice chat over the noon hour yesterday. His general theme was "now we can get back to normal finance topics, rather than 24/7 debt crises." Mine was, "yep, but it's not going to get any easier." John does read MFO (you might be surprised by the wide variety of folks - from the WSJ, Baltimore Sun, NY Times and a slug of fund firms - who scan both the board and the fixed content) and suggested that he'd rather talk first, instead of just "borrowing" ideas.
My suggestion was to look for managers who'd help investors make it through turbulent, rapidly shifting markets. I clustered those into two groups:

• risk conscious managers with experience and flexibility in their investment mandates - Seafarer (SFGIX), F P A Paramount (FPRAX), RiverPark Strategic Income (RSIVX).
  
• risk conscious managers who have a sensible, steady investment discipline that they might actually be able to get investors to understand and buy into - Beck Mack & Oliver Partners (BMPEX), Oakseed Opportunity SEEDX), Frank Value (FRNKX), Bretton (BRTNX), Cook & Bynum (COBYX).

Afterwards, we talked about international travel and John's observation that being perceived as disrespectful was a much bigger problem than not speaking the local language. Romans, he noted, mostly spoke enough English to help you get by and enjoy the city -- unless you were wearing shorts and ball caps and galumphing around.
For what interest it holds,
David

At a brokerage you will always have imposed "early redemption" fees regardless of any the fund company levies. So that's why I made the subtly point of being able to put "only $1000". I plan to buy once a month so I can start withdrawing in 60 days to avoid charges.
However I would reconsider your options. "Parking Place for Money" is really bank or other money market fund. RPHYX and RSIVX are bond funds at the end of the day, and NEVER the same thing.

RSIVX available NTF @ Scottrade finally. My IRA will have it to now.

Reply to @Old_Joe: Thanks, Joe. That's a POV I can relate to.
RSIVX sounds to me like it could be an expanded opportunity-set version of OSTIX (short junk and convertibles), which in the past has been a 6-8% kind of fund (5 yr return right at 8%), but it's slipped to where it probably won't make 6% this calendar year. Pimco's straight short junk etf HYS is on course to make 6%, with a standard deviation of ~ 2.0.
So in theory the Riverpark objective sounds at least halfway reasonable, but I'd like to see (a) how they do initially; and (b) what the portfolio looks like. I guess I want to see what it can do beyond OSTIX and HYS, which I've plunked a chunk of change into over the course of the year. Short junk is by far the #1 asset class in this house's portfolio at this point.

Oddly, in my IRA account Schwab seems to accept a purchase of either RSIVX or RSIIX at the minimum $1000 amount. No need to pick RSIVX.
Joe

Reply to @David_Snowball: Hi David, I just want to make sure you can confirm the yield for the new RSIVX - the manager said in the neighborhood of 7.5% ?

I think RSIVX would make a good pick for a conference call. bought small just now; want to see what happens. He definitely can manage cash. What I liked David was he said basically "you will not lose any money over any 90 day period" with original fund. If he can say the same thing IN A RISING RATE environment over a 1yr period, I'm in larger.

Reply to @David_Snowball: Hi David - thanks for the clarification. In my case, a cash management account is money not needed for 3-5 years so RSIVX fits the bill.

You know, I bought some PDRMX thinking it would be a "cash substitute". Of course entirely my fault. I've always been bond challenged. Mental block. I know how they work, but can't get past the BS.
RSIVX will have severe expectations from investors. Hope it meets it.

I own Baird Short-Term Bond (BSBIX) as a cash substitute but I'm thinking about moving the funds to RSIVX instead.

Happy October David!
Very much enjoyed the commentary this month, once again.

Thirty-three percent of the currently fantastic funds were not so distinguished twelve months ago.

Suspect that is true of so many "Best Funds" lists! In this case such wisdom only cost $250.
I'd venture to say you believe FPA Paramount looks pretty promising, despite its strategy change and new manager (ie., David's Take of FPRAX is Positive). High marks for parentage and its manager's performance with FPIVX, even if the September's profile proper seemed a bit ambivalent.

There is one and only one bright spot in the picture for active managers: international small cap funds, nearly 90% of which outperform a comparable index. Which international small caps qualify as Fantastic you might ask? That would be, none.

Gotta love it.

The bottom line: invest your intellectual resources where your likeliest to see the greatest reward. In particular, managers who invest largely or exclusively overseas seem to have the prospect of making a substantial difference in your returns and probably warrant the most careful selection. Managers in what’s traditionally the safest corner of the equity style box – large core, large value, midcap value – don’t have a huge capacity to outperform either indexes or peers. In those areas, cheap and simple might be your mantra.

Nice!
Tealeaf Fund "will eventually ask you for 2.62 – 3.62% of your money each year." No words.

Nice graphic.

What does the large-cap growth or small-cap value manager do when there are no good opportunities in their style box? They hold cash, which lowers your exposure to the equity markets and acts as a lead-weight in bull markets, or they invest in companies that do not fit their criteria and end up taking excess risk in bear markets. Neither one of these options made any sense when I was managing family-only money, and neither one made sense as we opened the strategy to the public …

My thoughts precisely!
"If there is no opportunity, we leave the space." But Mr. Frank remains invested in equities, of some market cap, looks like. FRNKX came into its own during current bull run:

OBIOX ranks top honors in the MFO risk-adjusted rating system for the past 3 and 1 year periods. "Indeed, OBIOX in 2013 isn’t even the OBIOX of 2009." Good thing. Between October 2007 and March 2009, OBIOX incurred a horrifying -70% drawdown. It rates a 2 in risk-adjusted return over past five years. After six years, the new strategy is producing new highs.

Just registered for the Beck, Mack & Oliver Partners (BMPEX) call. Absolutely love these calls. You're changing landscape here David.

In early December we’ll give you a chance to speak with the inimitable duo of Sherman and Schaja on the genesis and early performance of RiverPark Strategic Income, the focus of this month’s Launch Alert.

Looking forward to this!
As of Friday, 10/4, RiverPark Strategic Income Fund (RSIVX, RSIIX) was still not available at Schwab.
Looking forward to reading Greener Pastures.
"Virtus Dynamic AlphaSector Fund (EMNAX)...Class A Shares, 2.56%; Class B Shares, 3.31%; Class C Shares, 3.31%; and Class I Shares, 2.31%." No words.

FMI Focus (FMIOX) will reorganize itself into Broadview Opportunity Fund in November. It’s an exceedingly solid small-cap fund (four stars, “silver” rated, nearly a billion in assets) that’s being sold to its managers.

Interesting.

Meridian Value (MVALX) is Meridian Contrarian Fund. Same investment objective, policies, strategies and team.

Wow.
"They are killing off three funds that were never a good match for the firm’s core strengths." Good for M&N.
Just don't know how you pack so much in every month! In any case, can't thank you (and Chip et al) enough.
Off to farmers' market.
Charles

Dear psuche98: For your information, I'm linking David's October Commentary. Scroll down near the end to 'Launch Alert:' RiverPark Strategic Income (RSIVX RSIIX).
Regards,
Ted
http://www.mutualfundobserver.com/2013/10/october-1-2013/
RiverPark Website: http://www.riverparkfunds.com/downloads/FactSheet/RiverPark_Strategic-Income-Fund_Fact-Sheet.pdf

Hello, I am a long time lurker and 1st time poster. Any feeling out there on how susceptible RSIVX would be to a rising interest rate environment? I have held RPHYX for a couple of years for supplemental cash and love it. It has held up well during the concerns of the Fed easing up on QE. Would RSIVX be closer to RPHYX or more of a traditional short or even intermediate bond fund. Thanks....

Reply to @David_Snowball: Incidentally, I opened a starter position with RSIVX for tomorrow's close. Thanks for the info about this fund. It doesn't show up on the Fidelity website yet, but when I called, a trader did say the fund is available for purchase and sure enough, it was available when I placed a trade tonight.

FYI:
Regards,
Ted
http://www.mutualfundobserver.com/2013/10/october-1-2013/