No changes. I'm holding:
DLFNX
MACSX
MAINX
MAPIX
MAPOX
MSCFX
TRAMX
PREMX
SFGIX

Nothing to do with either the "cliff" or year end, but lightening up on bonds (ABNDX) and trading into equities with some non-domestic exposure (ANEFX). Not all at once, but watching, watching...
Will most likely also be reducing AIBAX, BGNMX, ADFIX, and ACITX also in coming days, with shift to maybe PONDX and a bit more equity (SFGIX and/or ARTGX) or balanced fund exposure. Just thinking out loud, here.
Like MJG, I try to adjust for a reasonable annual target, and then back off if accomplished.

1-SEQUX 1year =14% ,3 =15.9% ,10=7%
2-YAFFX 1 YEAR=11.9%, 3 = 10.8%, 5= 10.7%
3-VWINX 1Year = 12.6% , 3 = 10% , 10= 7.2%
4- VILLX 1 YEAR = 18% , 3=17% ,10= 9.4%
5- SFGIX
6- PAUIX
7- DBLTX

Oops, SFGIX is not tax-sheltered, either, among my holdings.
I see what you mean about front-loads being waived in a retirement vehicle, yes. On the other hand, a close friend trusted a colleague who also was licensed to be a stock broker/financial advisor. He worked for or with an investment group connected to Smith Barney, but then they were bought-out, and my friend's account went to the new outfit as a matter of course. Though it was a 403b, this particular investment advisor must not have registered the thing that way, because his statements all clearly listed the 5.75% FRONT-LOAD on each monthly contribution!

Thank you both. I appreciate the cogent, brief but precise information... Another thought that came to me, and which my wife is willing to do is to simply not use this plan at all, and decide upon X amount from her bi-weekly checks and invest it in our existing portfolio, which is now spread out further than it was just a year ago. We have but TWO non-retirement funds: MACSX and DLFNX.
Without necessarily intending to do so, we've ended-up with a barbell. The heavy ends are MAPIX and PREMX. In between---not necessarily in order of size, is: DLFNX, MACSX, MAINX, SFGIX, MAPOX, MSCFX, and TRAMX.
PREMX is 41.18% of total. MAPIX is 33.46% of total. None of the others is more than 3.56% of total. We could just use her portion to even things out, what? And these are all standard items, not peculiar, annuity-wrapped things with hidden, non-transparent fees and their own arcane fund ticker symbols and all of that. We know what we've got. It may be simpler and wiser to simply add to what we've got?..... I've shared the contents of my portfolio here numerous times, but there it is again, for reference. Thank you for the informative, thoughtful replies.

My thinking is they both perform the same purpose, which is giving you Asian exposure with low(er) volatility. So, why hold both? I guess I don't care if one has more or less Japan or not. So, because of that, I only hold MACSX. I like the fact it has more options than just holding equities (MAPIX). I like the added flexibility MACSX gives the manager.
If I were to pair MACSX or MAPIX with another fund, I would hold one of these Matthews funds along with SFGIX. Same approach as MACSX but different market choices. I've wanted to do this, but sadly I can't buy SFGIX threw my TRP account.

Mak'in a list and check'in it thrice......with the understanding that "if" the "cliff" thing does not "burn down the house"; of course, which could be a non-event; as the Mayan calendar thing hits December 21 !!! Heck, congress and the White House folks may not have to make any final decisions, afterall.
I digress.
Account changes are likely coming to this house in early, 2013.
--- Current funds that will likely leave; and their monies having to find a new home:
DIHYX, FHIIX, PTTRX, ACITX, DGCIX, OPBYX, PLDDX and DPFFX
--- Existing funds that could receive some of these monies:
FAGIX, SPHIX, FINPX, FSICX, FNMIX, FRIFX
--- Existing funds that may be reduced or otherwise:
FTBFX, FBNDX
--- Funds in consideration (the short list)
PAUIX and/or PAUDX / PASDX, PMZDX or PMZIX
.......also building an equity list, which remains a work in progress, and likely more oriented towards U.S.
With only a bah-zillion choices, we should be finished by the end of February :) :
MACSX, SFGIX, GPGOX, GPGIX, ARTHX, ARTKX, FMIJX, VWINX, FBALX
Ok, that's it. Just writing "outloud".
'Course, your input is always welcomed for a house in retirement. Ya, we know; most folks consider our portfolio to be a bit "lite" on the pure equity side of life.
Take care of you and yours,
Catch

Reply to @Charles: Howdy. I guess I'm thinking less of asset class performance here than of investor behavior. It looks like this might be a one fund portfolio or a few funds with relatively light supervision. And while the recipients are young, the time horizon isn't huge. Alpha hopes to bequeath these no later than the time that (the eldest?) recipients reaches 25. While WAMVX or SFGIX (which I mention just because they represent my riskier non-retirement investments) might well be splendid choices for reasonably seasoned investors, for a small slice of a larger portfolio or for a black-box retirement portfolio with 20 years to grow, I was less sure of them as a grandparent's gift to a 20-something, "to do with as they like" (retire student debt, buy a home, start a family?).
But what do you do if the portfolio is small and likely to be static? I guess my first impulse is risk management. I keep thinking about the T Rowe Price research on asset allocation and risk. If you go from a conservative portfolio with 20% stock exposure to a balanced portfolio with 60%, two things happen: (1) your average annual returns increase by 1.9% from 7.4 to 9.3% and (2) your volatility explodes - you quadruple the number of losing years you'd expect to experience, you deepen your average loss in a losing year from 0.5% to 6.8% and you double your standard deviation. (That original study was 2004, of the period 1955-2003.)
And so that was the balance: if I thought I could get 7.4% and feel like my legacy (or my inheritance, depend on your perspective) was pretty secure, I'd take it.
As ever,
David

Down nearly 20% on news that BAC offered to buy up MBIA bonds, providing speculation that holding much of MBIA's debt would mitigate the anticipated settlement to MBIA in the on-going lawsuit.
And with it FAAFX dropped 6%.
Ouch.
Life with our hero can mean steep rises and falls over short periods. Here are YTD charts of the fund's three top holdings (MBI, AIG, SHLD), which make up 60% of positions:



Each experienced roller-coaster runs this year. I'm sure the MBIA comeback strategy is in play. After all, its book value is $20/share, isn't it?
Actually, nearly my whole portfolio was down today: RNSIX, WBMIX, SFGIX, FAAFX, and DODBX. Only AQRIX did not sustain a daily loss.
Time for some Paso Robles' wine.

Reply to @davfor: Right, got it. It'll be interesting when there's a significant correction, say like the one in 2011, before SFGIX existed, to see how that all plays out.

Reply to @AndyJ: I had noticed the two funds have had different exposures within their Asia/Pacific area investments. But those differences have yet to result in much difference in returns. Perhaps differences will show up if SFGIX continues to diversify its regional exposures. But, perhaps the continuity in Foster's stock picking style will result in returns that continue to be quite similar to MAPIX. I suspect clear differences will emerge. I'm just watching to see if that really happens.

Reply to @davfor: Just for general information, since it's possible to infer from your post that the funds are similar except for the percentage of Asia exposure, SFGIX and MAPIX are significantly different funds even within their Asia & Pacific holdings. MAPIX is roughly 2/3 invested in developed markets, vs. SFGIX at roughly 1/3. For Japan, it's 25% vs. 4%, and Australasia, it's 8% vs. 0%, respectively.
I've been surprised to see that MACSX, which I recall at least some of us were thinking is the most direct competitor to SFGIX, is also much more heavily invested in developed markets ... like MAPIX, MACSX has about 2/3 of holdings there, with 8% in Japan and more than 11% in Australasia.
SFGIX, at least right now, really doesn't overlap all that much with the two "growth and income" Matthews funds. This has definitely changed my view of the fund, fairly recently.

Hey, good discussion topic, folks.
The argument as stated in the article parallels one of Andrew Foster's main investment theses at SFGIX.
My EM stock $ is all with Matthews and Seafarer, except for a small position in FEO, Aberdeen's EM 'balanced' CEF. FEO is pretty heavily invested in the global mega-caps; haven't followed it long enough to know if that's always the case ... but it's usually tilted a little toward Latin America and E. Europe, so is a geographic diversifier for this house's port.
MACSX is a little more of a large-cap fund, but MAPIX and SFGIX seem to be pretty much all-cap, so as long as I have $ in the latter two, I don't see a lot of need for a separate EM (or Asia-Pac) mid-small cap fund.

Interesting premise from the WSJ article...which appears to be that large cap names in the
BRICs can be a drag on performance.
It would be interesting to see any analysis of EM availability within 401(K) plans. My guess is that it is limited, and what would routinely be available falls into this category.
Personally, my 401(K) has one EM name...ODVYX (Oppenheimer Developing Markets). I own this, and am quite happy, but realize that it's big...$27B AUM, and thus has limited options outside of the LC space.
I have equal EM exposure outside of my 401(k) with a handful of names...Matthews (MACSX, MAPTX), Grandeur Peaks (GPGOX) and Seafarer (SFGIX).
I like the barbell of LC and divi payors along with small cap names. If I were to take a guess as to which fund would do the best over the next 10 years, I would say Grandeur Peaks...though it may not be considered a pure EM fund.

I have been tracking the performance of SFGIX against MAPIX, in which I have funds invested, since SFGIX opened for investment. So far, their performances have been quite similar. If SFGIX continues to increase its exposure away from Asia, I will be interested to see if their performances begin to diverge. That, or significant outperformance by SFGIX, will cause me to look seriously at making an investment in SFGIX.

The % ex-Asia continues to grow at SFGIX.

Asian bourses all closed way UP on Friday. I'm way too overweight in MAPIX, and also own SFGIX and MACSX, too. Everything, all my equity funds (not bonds: unchanged) was seriously DOWN today, along with my USA stuff. Someone, please tell me WHY? Thank you.

SFGIX= top 2 %ile in cat. as of Sept. 30, 2012. Latest avail. on Y!

Reply to @MaxBialystock: Hi Max, "YTD" means for the year since January 1, as of the current date; so SFGIX will never have a "YTD" performance figure for 2012. (It'd be nice if they computed a 6-month figure ... but that's readily DIY-doable from Yahoo historical price info.)