Of course the return on cash is laughable, I've loaded up my max I-bonds for this year (which I like because of the tax-deferred nature, they make a good emergency fund.) I'm in my mid-40s and still have a ways to go until retirement - hopefully an early one - and I need a place to park cash since I'm a bit risk averse. And I have a lot of cash, way too much for an emergency fund.
So - more RPHYX? Maybe intermediate bond ETF like BIV? Switch my cash into large cap growth and transfer my 401k/IRA to be more heavily into bonds to avoid the tax on dividends (which I did with VIPSX years ago)?

Waggoner said this in the article about RPHYX, which is closed anyway.
"It invests in short-term, low-quality bonds that have a very low probability of failure. It's designed as a place where you can park your money and earn more interest than you would in a money fund."
Parking your money in a HY fund means keeping an eye on it. How many seniors are going to do that? Wait, USA Today will run an article when it's time to get out, right?
Hopefully not too many readers get their investment advice from USA Today.

@Ted
Staying with Mr. Waggoner's choices, there now exists several other short duration high yield bond funds.
A quick check could be to use FSAHX. I only indicate this one fund; as I was familiar with its existing within Fidelity. Lower fee and competitive YTD, vs RPHYX .
I have not reviewed any of the short duration hy funds; as I am not interested in this area, at this time. I have no idea how these funds from different vendors operate their funds; as to whether one may compare these funds against one another.
YTD:
FSAHX = +2.47%
RPHYX = = +.38%
Obviously, something is different with the investment styles.
Edit: since RPHYX was born; the competition has expanded into this sector type

Mr. Waggoner missed the fact that RPHYX is closed to new investors; so this fund, 20% of the monies per his write, would need a replacement for this list.

Well, I know that it makes little sense, but I have to compare my mess portfolio to something, so I arbitrarily use the 500, striving for reduced volatility both up and down. Seemed to work OK today: 500 down 1.4%, our stuff down 0.8%. Solid red today, except for RPHYX, which stayed even. Good thing too, as there's a lot of cash stashed there.

Solid red today, except for RPHYX, which stayed even. Good thing too, as there's a lot of cash stashed there.

Here is an update about the recent performance of ICMUX. Per M*, its performance since 8/31/14 and the performance of some other funds mentioned in this thread are as follows:
ICMUX: -4.4%
RPHYX: +0.3%
RSIVX: -0.8%
DLINX: -0.6%
M* High Yield Bond Index: -4.4%
Per M*, ICMUX has an effective duration of only 1.19 years and has 34% allocated to cash. But, its loss since 8/31/14 is as great at M*'s high yield bond index!
Looking at their holdings, there is a substantial allocation to the energy sector including the top two holdings. This probably explains the size of the loss.
Perhaps this fund will rebound quickly and demonstrate the difference between volatility and risk. Allocating some of their cash at the right time could help.
But, recent performance suggests ICMUX is a market cycle fund and not a fund for someone looking for a smooth ride and an easy exit if the need might arise to sell shares in a relatively short period of time.

At 5:35pm PST it looks as if M* finally caught up to Google, except for ARTGX, which is down 55¢ because of a distribution today.

M*
.INX 	2048.72	OK	-	
ABNDX 	12.75	OK	-	AF
AIBAX 	13.53	OK	-	AF
AHITX 	10.99	OK	-	AF
ABALX 	26.11	OK	-	AF
ANCFX 	55.54	OK	-	AF
SMCWX 	49.47	OK	-	AF
CWGIX 	47.28	OK	-	AF
ANEFX 	39.97	OK	-	AF
TAFTX 	17.73	OK	-	AF
AMHIX 	15.45	OK	-	AF
AMCPX 	29.69	OK	-	AF
ACMVX 	17.8	OK	-	AC
TWSMX 	7.59	OK	-	AC
ABHIX 	6.02	OK	-	AC
BUFBX 	14.87	OK	-	
PRBLX 	41.09	OK	-	
VVPSX 	19.3	OK	-	
GABAX 	68	OK	-	
MAPIX 	15.62	OK	-	
LSBRX 	15.42	OK	-	
SFGIX 	11.52	OK	-	
MFLDX 	16.47	OK	-	
GASFX 	31.2	OK	-	
ARTGX 	16.05	Error	No Update	
RSIVX 	10.23	OK	-	
RPHYX 	9.95	OK	-	
WAFMX 	3.23	OK	-	
GPROX 	12.71	OK	-	
SCHD 	40.19	OK	-	

As you can see, at 4:15pm PST google has it's act together. M* certainly does not. Note the unevenness even within the AF (American Fund) and AC (American Century) fund families.

M*		
.INX 	2048.72	OK	-
ABNDX 	12.75	OK	-		AF
AIBAX 	13.53	OK	-		AF
AHITX 	10.99	OK	-		AF
ABALX 	26.11	OK	-		AF
ANCFX 	55.6	Error	No Update	AF
SMCWX 	49.7	Error	No Update	AF
CWGIX 	47.38	Error	No Update	AF
ANEFX 	39.97	OK	-		AF
TAFTX 	17.72	Error	No Update	AF
AMHIX 	15.44	Error	No Update	AF
AMCPX 	29.81	Error	No Update	AF
ACMVX 	17.84	Error	No Update	AC
TWSMX 	7.59	OK	-		AC
ABHIX 	6.04	Error	No Update	AC
BUFBX 	14.87	OK	-	
PRBLX 	41.21	Error	No Update	
VVPSX 	19.37	Error	No Update	
GABAX 	68	OK	-	
MAPIX 	15.62	OK	-	
LSBRX 	15.42	OK	-	
SFGIX 	11.52	OK	-	
MFLDX 	16.47	OK	-	
GASFX 	31.08	Error	No Update	
ARTGX 	16.05	Error	No Update	
RSIVX 	10.23	OK	-	
RPHYX 	9.95	OK	-	
WAFMX 	3.23	OK	-	
GPROX 	12.71	OK	-	
SCHD 	40.19	OK	-	

Perhaps M* isnt the only one with reporting issues. Yesterday, after 8:00 pm PST, I updated my spreadsheet using Google Finance. I happened to check Google again a few minutes ago, and look at the discrepancies! I also happened to download the same report from M* yesterday, again after 8:00pm local. Note that yesterday's M* agrees with "today's" Google posting:

Was:	Now:		M*
ABNDX 	12.76	12.76	OK	12.76
AIBAX 	13.53	13.54	Error	13.54
AHITX 	11.11	11.04	Error	11.04
ABALX 	25.96	26.04	Error	26.04
ANCFX 	55.23	55.32	Error	55.32
SMCWX 	49.73	49.35	Error	49.35
CWGIX 	47.01	46.99	Error	46.99
ANEFX 	39.85	39.85	OK	39.85
TAFTX 	17.74	17.73	Error	17.73
AMHIX 	15.46	15.45	Error	15.45
AMCPX 	29.71	29.58	Error	29.58
ACMVX 	17.75	17.74	Error	17.74
TWSMX 	7.58	7.57	Error	7.57
ABHIX 	6.08	6.05	Error	6.05
BUFBX 	14.81	14.87	Error	14.87
PRBLX 	40.92	40.92	OK	40.92
VVPSX 	19.53	19.29	Error	19.29
GABAX 	67.72	67.73	Error	67.73
MAPIX 	15.69	15.62	Error	15.62
LSBRX 	15.42	15.45	Error	15.45
SFGIX 	11.53	11.45	Error	11.45
MFLDX 	16.56	16.43	Error	16.43
GASFX 	31.11	31.01	Error	31.01
ARTGX 	15.89	15.95	Error	15.95
RSIVX 	10.24	10.25	Error	10.25
RPHYX 	9.94	9.95	Error	9.95
WAFMX 	3.24	3.23	Error	3.23
GPROX 	12.82	12.71	Error	12.71
SCHD 	40.01	40.1	Error	40.01

WTF!!

Short term bonds vs Savings/checking accounts for cash..the difference is like 1% and no safety....are they worth it?

Completely agree. Even RPHYX and RSIVX I'm viewing as just any other fund holding. Not exactly a substitute for cash.

Hello David
Any indication on when RPHYX may open to new investors ?
I do own it thru Vanguard Brokerage in an Ira account and
would like to buy it for another but seperate Ira account @ VBS
Thanks
Ralph

@Vert.
It's because of the way they handled ICMYX.
They merged it into ICMUX this past January and touted the reduction in fee.
ICMUX, which only dates back about 4 years, is a Great Owl Fund.
Top quintile performer. Max drawdown only -1.4% (September 2011).
Folks on the board have compared it to David Sherman's conservative funds (RPHYX and RSIVX).
All good right?
Except ICMYX was actually the oldest share class with about 7 years performance.
And, it contained performance for a steady-eddy income fund that would be disconcerting for very conservative investors.
It drew down -14.6% in November 2008.
Here's current performance snap shot from their website:

Note the inception date of Intrepid Income. Performance before August 2010 does not appear, since it was in the different share class.
To their credit, they do show the earlier quarterly performance in the fund's summary prospectus.
But most fund screening tools and performance plotters (eg. M*) will just not pick this up.
As if the poor performance never happened.
I think it's borderline non-disclosure, calling into question the firm's integrity. So, hard for me to recommend.
Maybe this stuff is common practice and I'm being too critical.
Just does not seem right.

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.

it wasn't... bond funds accrue daily dividends in their NAV, not like stock funds. the decline you saw was a market decline - movements in spreads -- see my previous explanation.

Some bond funds (like PIMCO's) do that. Others, like RPHYX, declare monthly, while a few even declare quarterly (Loomis Sayles used to do that until they switched to a monthly calendar a few years ago).
As always, read the prospectus. The PIMCO bond fund prospectus says that its funds covered in that prospectus (with a couple of exceptions) declare daily.

Calling all Quack Doctors. Hush!!!
Now then, 3-alarm funds if I understand correctly are compared against returns for its category. I surmise someday because of this even RPHYX will become one. Who's going to sell when that happens?
One needs to look into why one bought a fund before selling. 3-alarm is a flag. I wouldn't rush into buying one that was already a 3-alarm. However I'm not going to sell just because fund I owned became a 3-alarm fund.
The is the Vintage Freak, and I approve this message.

About the time I bought RPHYX I bought some of the Vanguard Short Term TIPS fund. I'm looking at it as a "cash substitute".

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.

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.