My impression is that PIMCO generally uses derivatives to boost income as opposed to using them to mitigate risk. Likewise, it can be more aggressive with junk bonds.
Foreign exposure? PIMIX is weighted negative 30% in non-USD developed markets. It is also 14% long in emerging markets.
See excerpts below from the funds' prospectuses and fact sheets. They may be meaningful or may signify nothing. Reading these docs is like reading tea leaves. They can mean whatever you want to read into them. For your amusement to compare and contrast.
Objectives:
PIMIX: The Fund’s primary investment objective is to maximize current income.
Long-term capital appreciation is a secondary objective.
RPIEX: The fund seeks high current income.

Investment strategies:
PIMIX: The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objectives by investing under normal circumstances at least 65% of its total assets in a multi-sector portfolio of Fixed Income Instruments of varying maturities, which may be represented by forwards or derivatives...
RPIEX: The fund also uses [derivatives], primarily to manage interest rate exposure and limit the fund's overall volatility.
High yield (junk) bonds:
PIMIX: The Fund may invest up to 50% of its total assets in high yield securities rated below investment grade by [an NRSRO] or if unrated, as determined by PIMCO (except such 50% limitation shall not apply to the Fund’s investments in mortgage- and asset-backed securities). [Note that 77.6% of the fund is presently in securitized debt.]
RPIEX: The fund focuses mainly on holdings that are rated investment grade .... However, the fund may invest up to 30% in high yield bonds, also known as junk bonds, and other holdings (such as bank loans)
Fund home pages (with links to fact sheets, prospectuses, etc.)
PIMIX: https://www.pimco.com/en-us/investments/mutual-funds/income-fund/inst
RPIEX: https://www.troweprice.com/personal-investing/tools/fund-research/RPIEX

My own portf. gives me good growth AND income. We'd all like to see higher income. I have bonds in my PRWCX (and soon, VLAAX) but my 3 dedicated bond funds yield an average of 3.726% among them. PTIAX, RPSIX, PRSNX. RPSIX also serves up a small capital gain at the end of the year. I suppose that's included in the yield statistic. Eventually, I might add PTIMX. (Munis.) And I don't worry that my risk is too great.

Boost Your Retirement Income With Tricks The Pros Use
https://www.investors.com/etfs-and-funds/retirement/retirement-income-strategy-pros-use/
Finding retirement income is still a challenge. Interest rates remain low. But you can borrow a key trick financial advisors use to solve this puzzle.
For every $100,000 you invest in this group of funds, you could have created. Bond Fund (PEBIX) for a 4.5% yield plus gains from the bond prices."

I agree withe the basic premise of the article but then maybe because I'm a dividend growth investor I tend to be biased. According to Ned Davis Research, from 1972 to 2018 dividend growth stocks outperformed the broader market by 2.3% CAGR and with 12% less volatility. If one invests in a company with sufficiently stable cash flows to generate a long dividend growth streak (e.g. Dividend Aristocrat) they are less likely to bail during times of increased market fear. I am in it for the income and patient enough to buy these stocks when they get trashed for no discernible reason. While no dividend stock is a true bond alternative, quality dividend growth stocks (like the famous aristocrats) tend to have much lower volatility over time. Volatility, dividend growth, quality, and value are four proven alpha factors that have beaten the market over the long term.
I was intrigued enough to seek out the Goldman Sachs basket and found this article below. Apologies if it's been linked before.
Goldman Basket Possibilities
Edit: and I suppose I should back up that Ned Davis statement with a reference.
Long Term Performance of Dividend Paying Stocks

Many nearing retirement seem unaware of the IRS “Catch-up“ provisions. Appears current law allows persons over 50 who were unable to fully fund their retirement plan in prior years to make generous catch-up contributions later on in addition to the current yearly limit. I’m unclear whether it pertains to IRAs, but it appears that at least in some cases it does. My experience more than 2 decades ago (with a 403-B) may no longer be representative. But in my case the “catch-up“ came in darned handy in shoring-up earlier insufficient contributions as retirement neared.
Quick search pulled up 3 reads:
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/catchupcontribution.asp - Invesropedia / general description
https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/401k-plan-catch-up-contribution-eligibility - IRS / 401K
https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topics-catch-up-contributions - IRS / mentions IRAs - but I’m unsure of types and amounts.
PS - I should have read John’s article first: “ The maximum amount you can contribute to a traditional IRA for 2020 is $6,000 if you're younger than age 50. Workers age 50 and older can add an extra $1,000 per year as a "catch-up" contribution, bringing the maximum IRA contribution to $7,000. You must have earnings from work to contribute to an IRA, and you can't put more into the account than you earned.”
Perhaps my added emphasis may be helpful to some. :)
From Simon - “Inflation (Consumer Price Index) was up 2.1% in 2019 as of last November” -
While that sounds trite in the face last year’s near 30% return on the S&P, it really depends on perspective. A 2% rise in cost of living (if you believe the numbers) would look quite different following a 30% decline in equities, especially if bonds languished or fell in value. And even at 2% a year, over 5 years you’re looking at well over a 10% increase in COL. (Remember that inflation compounds in a manner similar to how interest does.)

A couple more factoids:
- M* rates it bronze; though I have my doubts about how much intelligence there is in M*'s artificial "intelligence" ratings (done by machine, not analyst)
- Its 165% turnover rate is not a mere artifact of being a bond fund. 90%+ of the cap gains it has distributed in the past four years are short term. On the other hand, it distributed no cap gains in two of those four years (losing years, perhaps?)
The fund did well out of the gate, for its first two years, but has been essentially flat over the past three. My guess is that the star rating will nevertheless go up in a couple of weeks when the fund hits the five year mark. The way M* calculates stars is to compute a weighted average of a fund's three year rating, its five year rating (if available), and its ten year rating (if available). The two good years of the fund aren't getting counted because the fund is just short of five years. In a couple of weeks that will change, and those good years will be included.
To continue the fund description that Lipper quoted from T. Rowe Price:
The fund also uses interest rate futures, interest rate and credit default swaps, and forward currency exchange contracts, primarily to manage interest rate exposure and limit the fund's overall volatility.
If I'm going to buy a nontraditional fund that uses these techniques to manage interest rate risk and volatility, I'll buy one that does it well: FPNIX. It doesn't seek high current income, just the opposite (though it still sports a very similar SEC yield of 2.59% vs. 2.69% for RPIEX). Slow and steady wins the race.
Here's a chart comparing their performance over the lifetime of RPIEX.

This month Jan. 2020, I've added a number of bond institutional class OEFs in my main brokerage account. Besides high yield munis, they fall in the multisector or flexible categories. Sold two BL OEFs Fall 2018. As of Friday, the NAV of one of them is 20% lower than my selling price. I am not a bargain hunter and skeptical of interest rate predictions, so I will avoid that niche for the time being.

Thanks, John.
Inflation (Consumer Price Index) was up 2.1% in 2019 as of last November, so it's not surprising that IRA contributions would remain the same for 2020. Some years (in fact most years) I struggle to find the max to contribute anyway!
IRA contribution limits last increased by $500 for tax year 2019. With inflation so low I wouldn't bank on another increase for 2021. The increase for 2019 was the first since 2013.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/11/wall-street-strategists-recommend-stable-dividend-paying-investments.html
Dividend stocks look attractive with a volatile year that nets measly returns expected ahead
KEY POINTS
Unlike growth stocks, dividend stocks typically don’t offer dramatic price appreciation, but they do provide investors with a steady stream of income.
This type of strategy can bode well for investors in a much riskier year ahead grappling with Middle East unrest and a U.S. presidential election.
Wall Street market analysts largely see much more modest returns in 2020 following a historic run last year. The average year-end target for the S&P 500 comes to 3,345, a measly 2% gain.
A slew of banks including Goldman, UBS and Bank of America started advising clients to shift to dividend-paying stocks and strategies to hedge against rising risks and seek outperformance.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/much-contribute-traditional-ira-2020-195814096.html
How much you can contribute to traditional or roth ira 2020
Unfortunately for retirement savers, the maximum amount that can be contributed to a traditional IRA in 2020 remains the same as it was in 2019. Let's hope the limit is increased for 2021.
IRA Contribution Limits for 2020
The maximum amount you can contribute to a traditional IRA for 2020 is $6,000 if you're younger than age 50. Workers age 50 and older can add an extra $1,000 per year as a "catch-up" contribution, bringing the maximum IRA contribution to $7,000.

I'd thought I make a second comment about this months edition of Dr. Madell's newsletter.
I find it interesting that Dr. Madell chose five year periods for his study to determine what the next five years might offer investors. This is because I use a rolling five year period to determine what my portfolio's distributions will be. What I do is take (up to) a sum equal to what one half of my five year aveage returns have been as a retirement distribution and I have also found that principal grows over time by leaving the other half for capital formation. This is the way I ran my parents money years back (when they were retired) and it worked well for them growing their principal over time while providing them income to live off of. With this, I figured well if it "aint" broke why try to fix it. Thus, I do the same for me and my wife.
Thank you Dr. Madell @tmadell for writting about your five year study concerning capital formation as I found it to be extremely interesting.
Cordially,
Old_Skeet

This post is about Bank Loan/Floating Rate bond oefs. This category of bond oefs is being mentioned more often for a 2020 investment, after a good 2019 performance. Typically these funds perform very well in rising interest rate and flat rate markets, and so the 2019 market was supportive, and 2020 is projected to be a flat interest rate period. They generally get punished in a falling interest rate environment. This is a sector of HY Bond funds, with the average fund in this category will have a credit rating of B and about 7.5% of its total portfolio in investment grade categories. The average standard deviation in this category is about 2.77, and the risk level in this category is highly correlated with how much yield the fund earns, with the assumption that junkier bonds pay higher yield. With that background, one might wonder if there is any bond oefs in this category, that might appeal to a more conservative investor. I did some searching in this category and I found 3 funds that a conservative investor might be interested in. The following 3 funds are offered for consideration for the conservative investor:
1. RCRIX/RCRFX: This fund has a standard deviation of 1.0, almost 1/3 of the category average, has a portfolio with a credit rating of BB compared to the typical B rating, has 21.4% of its portfolio in investment grade assets compared to the typical 7.5%, and in the strong downmarket of 2018 this fund was in the top 2% percentile of performance.
2. MWFLX/MWFRX: This fund has a standard deviation of 2.18, has a portfolio with a credit rating of BB, has 24.2% of its portfolio in investment grade assets, and in the 2018 downmarket it was in the top 15% percentile of performance.
3. FRSAX/FFRSX: This fund has a standard deviation of 2.34, has a portfolio with credit rating of B, has 24.7% of its portfolio in investment grade assets, and in the 2018 downmarket it was in the top 22% percentile of performance.
I use to invest in this category quite a bit in the past, but exited this category early in 2018. I have thoughts about re-entering this category in the future, when rising interest rates look more likely, but have considered a small investment in 2020 because of a projected flat market. RCRIX and MWFLX are 2 funds I would consider due to their strong performance history in downmarkets,their portfolios having a higher credit rating of BB, and because they have over 20% of their portfolios in investment grade assets.

What Schwab says when placing a test order:
1. This BUY order will be executed 01/13/2020.
2. This buy order does not have a transaction fee.
3. This buy order will be subject to a short term redemption fee if redeemed within 90 days.
4. This fund has a 1 % redemption fee if sold within 60 days.
A wild guess, with nothing to substantiate it, is that perhaps it is not marked as NTF because the fund is not paying Schwab the full fee it charges for NTF/OneSource marketing. But it is still paying Schwab some amount for shelf space, and Schwab for whatever reason is still selling it without charging a transaction fee.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2020/01/10/best-countries-for-fixed-income-in-2020/?ss=markets#5b37112930d2
Best Countries For Fixed Income In 2020
Forbes
That means the passive index funds will basically be mandated to buy. More money flowing into China bonds pushes up bond prices
Unless you’re happy with junk bonds and 2% yield on ten-year Treasury debt, then the best place for fixed-income investors is outside of the advanced economies. That’s always been the case, but they have been avoided, for the most part, due to risk and the fact that quantitative easing made the U.S. the only game in town since 2009.

@dtconroe - please read my post. An investor will be charged more than 1.45%.
From the Semi-annual report, dated Sept 30, 2019: "The Fund's total annual operating expense ratio in effect as of period end were .... 1.45% for Class A shares."
Note that the summary prospectus (July 31, 2019) says that the "Other Expenses" component of the ER "include[s] interest expense of 0.55%. Interest expense is borne by the Fund separately from the management fees paid to ... PIMCO." It goes on to say that if one backs out these interest expenses (which the fund pays), the ERs would be lower. That's how M* gets the adjusted ER.
Fee waivers have nothing to do with the ER adjustment for PONAX. The prospectus says that
"PIMCO has contractually agreed, through July 31, 2020, to reduce its supervisory and administrative fee for the Fund's I-3 shares by 0.05% of the average daily net assets attributable to I-3 shares of the Fund." There is no similar fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement for PONAX (class A shares) to subtract.
Finally, the reason why I say that investors are charged more than 1.45% is because in addition to the stated ER expenses borne by the fund, the fund also pays transaction costs on trades.

Hi @Gary1952,
Welocme to MFO.
Thank you for your question.
This should help provide an understanding of how I govern my portfolio along with how the pieces fit into a master portfolio. The hybrid income sleeve is a big part of my portfolio and is detailed below.
Consolidated Master Portfolio & Sleeve Management System ... Last Revised on 12/31/2019
Now being in retirement here is a brief description of my sleeve management system which I organized to better manage the investments held within mine and my wife's portfolios. The consolidated master portfolio is comprised of two taxable investment accounts, two self directed retirement accounts, a health savings account plus two bank savings accounts. With this, I came up with four investment areas. They are a Cash Area which consist of two sleeves ... an investment cash sleeve and a demand cash sleeve. The next area is the Income Area which consist of two sleeves ... an income sleeve and a hybrid income sleeve. Then there is the Growth & Income Area which has more risk associated with it than the Income Area and it consist of four sleeves ... a global equity sleeve, a global hybrid sleeve, a domestic equity sleeve and a domestic hybrid sleeve. Then there is the Growth Area where the most risk in the portfolio is found and it consist of five sleeves ... a global growth sleeve, a large/mid cap sleeve, a small/mid cap sleeve, an other investment sleeve plus a special investment (spiff) sleeve. The size of each sleeve can easily be adjusted, from time-to-time, by adjusting the number of funds held and their amounts. By using the sleeve management system I can get a better picture of my overall investment landscape. I have found it beneficial to Xray each fund, each sleeve, each investment area, and the portfolio as a whole quarterly for analysis. All my funds with the exception of those in my health savings account pay their distributions to the Cash Area of the portfolio. This automatically builds cash in the Cash Area to meet the portfolio's disbursement needs (when necessary) with the residual being left for new investment opportunity. Generally, in any one year, I take no more than a sum equal to one half of my portfolio's five year average return. In this way principal builds over time. In addition, most buy/sell transactions settle from, or to, the Cash Area with some net asset exchanges between funds taking place. My rebalance threshold is + (or -) 2% of my neutral allocation for my Income Area, Growth & Income Area and Growth Area while I generally let the Cash Area float. However, at times, I can tactically position by setting a target allocation that is different from the neutral weighting to overweight (or underweight) an area without having to do a forced rebalance. I do an Instant Xray analysis of the portfolio quarterly and make asset weighting adjustments as I feel warranted based upon my assessment of the market(s), my goals, my risk tolerance, my cash needs, etc. I have the portfolio set up in Morningstar's portfolio manager by sleeve, by each area and the portfolio as a whole for easy monitoring plus I use brokerage account statements, Morningstar fund reports, fund fact sheets along with their annual reports to follow my investments. In addition, I use my market barometer and equity weighting matrix system as a guide to assist me in throttling my equity allocation through the use of equity ballast, or a spiff position, when desired. I also maintain a list of positions to add (A) to, to buy (B), to reduce (R), or to sell (S). Generally, funds are assigned to a sleeve based upon a best fit basis. Currently, my investment focus is to position new money into income generating assets. The last major rebalanced process was started during the 4th Quarter of 2018 and was completed in the 1st Quarter of 2019 along some sleeves being reconfigured along with the movement to a new asset allocation.
Portfolio Asset Allocation: Balanced Towards Income ... 20% Cash, 40% Income, 30% Gr & Inc and 10% Growth
CASH AREA: (Weighting Range 15% to 25%, Neutral 20%, Target 15%, Actual 14%)
Demand Cash Sleeve ... Cash Distribution Accrual & Future Investment Accrual
Investment Cash Sleeve ... MMK Funds: AMAXX, TTOXX, PCOXX, CD Ladder & Savings
INCOME AREA: (Weighting Range 35% to 45%, Neutral 40%, Target 40%, Actual 39%)
Income Sleeve: BLADX(A), FLAAX(B), GIFAX, JGIAX(A), LBNDX, NEFZX, PGBAX, PONAX & TSIAX
Hybrid Income Sleeve: APIUX(A), AZNAX(A), BAICX, CTFAX, DIFAX, FBLAX, FISCX, FKINX, FRINX(A), ISFAX, JNBAX & PMAIX
GROWTH & INCOME AREA: (Weighting Range 25% to 35%, Neutral 30%, Target 30%, Actual 32%)
Domestic Equity Sleeve: ANCFX, FDSAX, INUTX(A) & SVAAX
Domestic Hybrid Sleeve: ABALX, AMECX, HWIAX & LABFX
Global Equity Sleeve: CWGIX, DEQAX, DWGAX(A) & EADIX
Global Hybrid Sleeve: CAIBX, TEQIX & TIBAX
GROWTH & OTHER ASSET AREA: (Weighting Range 5% to 15%, Neutral 10%, Target 15%, Actual 15%)
Large/Mid Cap Sleeve: AGTHX, AMCPX & SPECX
Small/Mid Cap Sleeve: AOFAX, NDVAX & PMDAX
Global Growth Sleeve: ANWPX, NEWFX & SMCWX
Other Investment Sleeve: KAUAX(A), LPEFX & PGUAX
Equity Ballast & Spiff Sleeve: No position held at this time.
In addition, my all weather asset allocation might be of some interest to you as well. Below is my blurb arbout it.
Old_Skeet's All Weather Asset Allocation.
My all weather asset allocation of 20% cash, 40% income and 40% equity affords me everything necessary to meet my needs now being in the distribution phase of investing. The benefit of this asset allocation is that it provides sufficient income, maximizes diversification, minimizes volatility, and provides long-term returns.
The 20% held in cash area provides me ample cash should I need a cash draw over and above what my portfolio generates plus it can provide the capital necessary to fund a special investment position (spiff) should I choose to open one during a stock market pullback. In addition, cash helps stabilize a portfolio during stock market volatility. Example of investments held in this area are cash, money market mutual funds and CD's.
The 40% held in the income area provides me ample income generation to meet my income needs in retirement. It is a well diversified area that incorporates a good number of income generating type funds. Some examples of investments held in this area are ISFAX, PONAX & PGBAX.
The 40% held in the equity area provides me some dividend income along with some growth, that equities generally provide, that offsets the effects of inflation over time. Some examples of investments held in this area are NEWFX, SVAAX, SPECX
Generally, for my income distributions, I take no more than a sum equal to what one half of my five year average total return has been. In this way principal grows over time.
@Gary1952 ... Thanks again for your question. I'm thinking the above information will provide the answer(s) you seek (or might seek) about me (going forward) as to how I govern.
Old_Skeet

You can edit a post you make by clicking on the icon in the upper right corner of the post. That brings up a bubble where you can click "edit".
The history of the fund's day-to-day management is one of continuity. Kevin Booth was an original manager of the fund (first with Guardian Investor Services, then with Guardian's subsidiary Park Ave) and continues as a co-manager for Park Ave. Victory acquired the management firm RS Investment Management and retained Park Ave as the sub-adviser.
Technically, Guardian was the sub-adviser through April 30, 2015. Then it switched to Park Avenue Institutional Advisers, which according to the 2015 prospectus was "organized in 2015 [as a] wholly-owned subsidiary of GIS [Guardian Investor Services]."
The SEC filing announcing Victory's acquisition of RS Investment Management Company (not Guardian) said that it would keep the subadvisory contracts in place except for a few funds. RSFYX kept its sub-adviser.
The fund's best performance has come since it joined the Victory family. So it's not a matter of the fund "still" earning a 5 star rating, but rather that it's now at the top of its game. It has a 5 star rating for its past 3 and 5 years, but "only" 4 stars over its past ten years, i.e. its lifetime.
For completeness, according to the current prospectus, "Victory Capital Management Inc "is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Victory Capital Holdings, Inc. (“VCH”), a publicly traded Delaware corporation." It is not a subsidiary of Guardian.
USAA Investment Management Company was recently acquired by Schwab, and AFAIK never had anything to do with RSFYX.
https://mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/51485/charles-schwab-corporation-to-acquire-assets-of-usaa-s-investment-management-company

https://www.npr.org/2020/01/08/794648421/the-popularity-of-and-problem-with-municipal-bonds
Short programs to listen to
The Popularity Of (And Problem With) Municipal Bonds
Municipal bonds, or "munis," are having a moment. With interest rates at near-historic lows, investors are thirsty for yield. They're also keen to maximize any tax advantages that might be available to them, following recent changes to the tax code. Munis fit the bill in both cases, as riskier issuers come to market, with lower-rated and higher-yielding bond

"Gary1952">What is too conservative? I have a basic AA of 50/50. But the 50% bond OEFs have 50% (25% overall) in low duration/lower yielding "safer" type funds. The other 50% (25% overall) is in higher yielding multi/non-traditional funds. I own no "ballast" funds such as core/core plus OEFs. Is this too conservative or not conservative enough? My goal is to target 3-4% yearly income from divs, CDs and growth.
My market correlation for 10 years is .35%. The max draw down is -.42% for the bond OEFs.
I know it is my judgment but I am curious what others think.
Gary, In a more specific response to your post, you and I use very similar kinds of funds, although I break my funds down into funds for my taxable account, and funds for my tax exempt (IRA) account. In my taxable account if use more of the "safer" bond oefs, but with a wide variation if diversity. So, for example, DHEAX is the short term bond fund I use, but I consider it more risky than DBLSX and less risky than FIJEX. There is an argument that you could use just one of these short term bond funds, or you could use more than one of these funds for more diversification. I use 4 very different nontraditional bond oefs in my taxable account because they are all "conservative" for me, but they don't always perform the same in a given set of market conditions. PUTIX is my most risky nontraditional bond oef, MWCIX is my least risky nontraditional bond oef. I also own a municipal bond oef which is a HY MUNI (AAHMX) and this is one of the least risky HY Munis you can own. I used it to replace BTMIX, which is a very good short term investment grade muni bond oef, but I felt I was ready to move up in risk. I have considered NVHAX, but it is more risky than AAHMX, and NHHAX has some history of significant peak to trough losses and a larger "worst 3 month performance period" than AAHMX. I am still considering adding NVHAX to my portfolio in 2020, but if I do, I will probably make it much smaller position than AAHMX. In the past I have used MMHAX as longer duration and more risky bond oef, but I am not inclined to use it right now because I am not comfortable with its risk level. I am very clear that many investors will use much more risky bond oefs in their taxable account because there are a lot of pundits thinking they will sail through 2020 in the same way they sailed through 2019--that may fit their conservative criteria, but not mine.
When it comes to my IRA account, I use several multisector bond oefs that are more risky than what I will use in my taxable account. I rank order multisector bond oefs in roughly the following low to higher risk: ANGIX, VCFAX, PIMIX, PTIAX, JMUTX, JMSIX, PUCZX, IOFIX. All investors can make an argument for these funds being "conservative" based on the criteria they use. For me, I have chosen to only use VCFAX and PIMIX, but I don't dismiss the rationale from others to use some of these other funds. For me, I would not touch IOFIX with a 10 foot pole, but there are many others who believe this is the next great multisector bond oef.
At any rate, it appears to me that you are using relatively conservative bond oefs, but you could very easily change your criteria for other bond oefs to fit your investing roles you have defined for each fund.

First time poster, greetings to all, posting some investment thoughts via stream of consciousness, all feedback welcome
I'm heavily invested in Dominion Energy Reliability Notes, paying 2.7% / $50k+ investments, you are lower on the capital structure here, full access to your funds at any time, no FDIC but backed by the financial strength of the company. Does anyone have any experience investing in these Notes or have additional input?
Following closely the Bond OEF Investing for more Conservative Investors...does anyone on that thread really trust/know what their funds are invested in? Even conservative funds with asset backed holdings rated highly by the rating agencies you have to wonder don't you? Crazy how many high priced homes I see owned by folks who drive older beat up cars. Don't want to sound elitist but something tells me they are leveraged to the hilt which could spell trouble if interest rates/job market/economy changes. Driving up Sheridan Road in the affluent North Shore burbs of CHI seems every fifth McMansion is up for sale...and same homes been for sale seems like over two years...escape from taxes and/or many of those folks living in those expensive homes know we are in an epic asset bubble?
Heavily invested in Brookfield Asset Management (BAM) and Berkshire - B (BRK/B), consider them a sort of "defacto", well managed, mutual funds without the fees. Follow Akre and Ackman via GuruFocus new holdings, have invested in Agilent (A) and Descartes Systems Group (DSGX). Heavily invested in Medtronic (MDT) and Teleflex (TFX), we're all getting older and looking for the repeal of the ridiculous Medical Device Tax (taxes profits not revenue, huh, who thought that was a good idea, companies thus cut jobs or sent solid paying jobs overseas).
Not a fan of Mutual funds, no out performance, "skimming off the top" with their management fees. ETFs are not for me, do like their low cost but too linked to herd behavior, what goes up must come down, no? I'm amazed by how many folks who invest in their 401Ks etc just follow what they are told by the "plan representatives" and have no idea how the markets work or what they are invested in.
Investment style is "anti-fragile" ala Taleb. Majority % of investments in safe, very conservative investments (T-Bills, 5 year CDs), smaller % in DERI Dominion Notes and ~15-20% in handful of stocks mentioned above.
Comments?
Good investing to all,
B