Looking at our client portfolios, the positions in Price Capital Appreciation PRWCX, Vanguard Wellington VWELX, and Loomis Bond LSBDX are probably 20+ years. But other long-held funds include Osterweis OSTFX, Artisan Mid Cap ARTMX, First Eagle SGOVX, Oppenheimer Developing Mkts ODVYX, Ivy Asset Strategy IVAEX, Oakmark OAKBX, Permanent PRPFX, Thornburg TIBIX, Osterweis OSTIX, and Templeton TGBAX. All of these are at least 10 years, many are practically since the fund opened.
Personally, I have owned EUROX since it first started up. It has been all over the place, but because I added to it and captured gains along the years, it has been a good holding for me, averaging more than 10% annually. But it is not something most investors could handle.
There are some we wish we held that we no longer do, but fortunately that list is small. I suspect we all have some of those "should-of" funds.

Too many open-end MFs (12), not enough ETFs (1), not enough stocks (4). Lately, sensitive to ER. Had swelled recently to 1.13. Currently 1.01. Want to get under 0.6...a dream I have. Believe too many folks, me especially, hand over too much capital to help build the empires of fund houses. Overall construction, round numbers: 40% foundation (diverse bonds/cash), 30% dynamic allocation, 20% fixed equities, 10% speculative (FAAFX). Overall DSDEV: 6.5%.

Have held Acorn and Sequoia since 1978. By the year 2000 large accumulated capital gains made sales not high on my list but in the most recent decade performance by both still quite adequate.Read about them in a publication called Growth Fund Guide. Since I have not seen ads for that publication recently I assume its out of business but it certainly provided me with an extradordinary great return on its at the time no more than $20 subscription.(I actually think it was $10-12 but its been a long time

Reply to @Ted: A 1-yr CD won't work because they want to add to it incrementally (even though some institutions allow you to do this) and they don't have a big deposit going in. A better option might be just an ordinary old online savings account at ALLY, Barclays, Capital One, etc and the rates are pretty similar to a 1-yr CD anyway.
FWIW, for short term stuff like this I use the Capital One account but only because it used to be ING Direct (0.75%).

My own cash management accounts are RiverPark Short Term High Yield (RPHYX) and T. Rowe Price Spectrum Income (RPSIX). Price is, by far, the riskier of the two (it dropped 10% in 2008, its only losing year) but conservative and well-diversified. RiverPark might average 3.5% per year and Price 7%. The minimum on RiverPark is $1000.
You might consider PIMCO Short Asset (PAIUX), which is the retail version of the strategy used by PIMCO's mutual fund managers for the "cash" in their funds. The minimum is $1000.
I'm working on profiles of Azzad Wise Capital (WISEX), Payden Global Low Duration (PYGSX) and Scout Low Duration Bond (SCLDX). The first two invest globally in short-term bonds and bond-like securities with an emphasis on capital preservation and inflation protection. Payden has the stronger case, so far but Azzad ($300/AIP) has the lower minimum. The profiles would be further along, but I'm being ignored by "publicists" for both funds. Scout is a new fund but it's managed by an absolutely first-rate team (the folks behind Scout Unconstrained Bond and nominees for Morningstar's fixed-income manager of the year) and sports a $100 minimum for AIP accounts.
Finally, Northern Short Bond (BSBAX) would offer conservative management, low expenses and a $250 AIP minimum. There's absolutely nothing flashy about it but it's also unlikely to ever do anything silly with your money (Northern specializes in keeping the ultra-rich, ultra-rich). Their average return is something like 3%/year.
Remember: none of this is insured. All of it puts your capital at risk. Given my circumstances, the risk seems entirely reasonable but your situation might be different.
For what it's worth,
David

Hello,
We're saving for next year's vacation. Will be putting aside money each month. Instead of putting it in a bank with very low yield, we're thinking about putting it in some mutual funds. Do you have any suggestions for funds that:
(1) have a decent yield
(2) capital preservation
(3) accept systematic investment plan - cannot come up with the initial $2000-$3000 investment
Thanks.
Yeti.

Reply to @Desota: Hi again Desota.
Finding a comparable low-cost, no-load Vanguard fund that outperforms CAIBX is an easy do...

Vanguard Wellington has outperformed CAIBX over the last 1, 3, 5, and 10 year periods.
So has FPACX, SEQUX, MAPOX.
Look, if you are getting CAIBX at 0.63 ER with no-load, you and I are in-g. But most folks are paying 5.75% front load plus the 0.63 ER...on a fund that has $80B AUM. Its investors should be up in arms!
Capital Income Builder too has 16 share classes...

If AF was charging 0.63 ER with no load on funds like Capital Income Builder, I would become its biggest fan. But it's not. Instead, this fund alone has skimmed $4.5B from its investors before earning them a dime. Plus $500M per year in fees whether it makes money for them or not.
All up, AF open end mutual funds have $1T AUM, round numbers. Apply similar fee practice, it means they have skimmed $55B from its investors' deposits plus $6B annually...win or lose. AF is bigger than Vegas!
AF should enjoy while it can, because it will not last.

A couple years ago I started buying IAU (iShares COMEX Gold Trust), thinking it would fill the role of a gold mutual fund. But today my tax account told me when I eventually sell it (hopefully for a profit), it will be taxed as a "collectible", currently at the 28% level. That's not exactly what I wanted. So I'm looking for recommendations for something that does operate as a mutual fund, invests in gold, and has a NAV that will generally reflect the price of gold, and when I sell it, the gain will be treated as a long-term capital gain. Thx.

Japan's economic results after recent actions:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-03-28/abenomics-farce-continues
"LORD Jacob Rothschild, a scion of banking’s most famous family, yesterday said his company had doubled its investment in Japanese stocks after the country changed its monetary policy, helping the value of its fund to surge.
Rothschild, a sixth generation descendant of Mayer Amschel Rothschild, revealed his fund outfit RIT Capital Partners had upped its investment in the Nikkei – by some £90m – due to what he dubbed the country’s “Keynesian experiment”.
He said: “We felt that the impact of reflationary policies against an undervalued stock market provided us with an exceptional investment opportunity,”
http://www.cityam.com/article/lord-rothschild-fund-reaps-big-windfall-japanese-stock-bet

Biotech and especially the Big Four of Celgene, Amgen, Gilead, and Biogen have been on an absolute tear the past couple days to add to their already large gains YTD. I play this sector by the Rydex biotech fund (RYOIX) if only because it is pretty evenly spread among the Big Four as opposed to some biotech funds which are overweight one or the other. With baby boomers turning 65 every 8 seconds it not hard to see why there is so much enthusiam for this sector going forward. Then again, the biotech boom has been in full force for over 10 years now.
Actually, the healthcare area that is the most on fire YTD and all thanks to next year's Obamacare are the hospital stocks - UHS, CYH, THC, HCA, and LPNT. I missed that area completely being asleep at the wheel.

Rather than own individual MLPs or even MLP funds/etfs, we like owning a more diversified fund in which MLPs make up a significant portion of the holdings. We have researched, interviewed, and are now using Goldman Sachs Rising Dividend GSRLX. It owns about 20% in MLPs, and co-manager Troy Shaver's background gives us a lot of reassurance this fund understands MLPs as well as any. We expect to be capturing gains from other dividend-based equity funds/etfs and moving these dollars to GSRLX. We think we can get our MLP fix, without all the tax ramifications and risks of owning just MLPs in a logical and reliable structure.

Blah couple of days.
Last buy of BAC stopped-out yesterday mid morning. Then, following quick 6% rise off 52-week low with speculative buy of CLF, it broke at open today on continued bad news. Day traders do not hold positions overnight =). BRK and COP continue to do fairly well, while GE is sideways. Remain very long BAC, since May last year actually. Trust it will regain momentum. Want to be in position to tax as capital gain versus income if heads south.
Becoming more interested in ETFs. Moved some RNSIX to BOND, although remain happy with the former's performance, CEF aspect of its portfolio, and as proxy to Mr. Gundlach. Exchanged WBMIX for more AQRIX. Still appreciate Mr. Redleaf et al, but needed to scale back equity exposure with my experiment of 10 mo SMA allocation method on D&C holding. Currently, have 75% in DODGX and 25% in DODIX, because...

A little caution to be aware of ,but as the last paragraph states,"What is interesting here is that many of these MLPs have risen since the offerings. Many were also upsized, implying that investor demand remains very strong. With Copano Energy LLC (NASDAQ: CPNO) being acquired for $5 billion or so in units and debt by Kinder Morgan Energy Partners L.P. (NYSE: KMP), investors are eager to get their slice of the pie here for those high payouts and the continued growth of the U.S. energy infrastructure."
Read more: MLPs Raise Mountains of Capital (BWP, CLMT, CMLP, DPM, EPB, EROC, EPD, EXLP, HEP, HFC, LRE, MEMP, MCEP, CPNO, KMP, KYN) - 24/7 Wall St. http://247wallst.com/2013/03/26/mlps-raise-mountains-of-capital-bwp-clmt-cmlp-dpm-epb-eroc-epd-exlp-hep-hfc-lre-memp-mcep-cpno-kmp-kyn/#ixzz2Oi0cW6LK
And more growth ,if and when,any of these permits are issued for the growth of export facilities across North America.JOBS ANYONE?
http://ferc.gov/industries/gas/indus-act/lng/LNG-proposed-potential.pdf
Huh??
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/03/22/ferc-enbridge-sandpiper-idUKL1N0CE9LU20130322

Here is a quick list.
1. Available NTF at Fidelity.
2.No load
3. Manager tenure greater than 4 years.
4. Top 20% in category for 1,3 and 5 years.
5. Open for investment.
Artisan International-ARTIX
Oakmark Int-OAKIX
Pear Tree Polaris Foreign Value-QFVOX
Wasatch Int Growth-WAIGX
Driehous Emerging Growth-DREGX
Fidelity Int Capital Appreciation-FIVFX
Matthews Asia Dividend-MAPIX
Wasatch Int Opportunities-WAIOX
Fidelity Pacific Basin-FPBFX
I personally have Oakmark (OARIX) and Driehous(DREGX). I suggest these 2 funds along with one of the Wasatch funds.
Art

But would a desperate state try to tax gains you made while living in their state? Especially if your contribution was made while you lived in another state.
For example, you establish a Roth IRA in New York and then retire to Kentucky. Kentucky might want to tax your withdrawals or a portion of your withdrawals and it would not be enough of an impact to cause you to move to say Tennessee.

Hi Guys,
A couple of days ago I posted a reference to John Bogle’s recent “Clash of Cultures” book and his 10 key investment rules. It seemed to me that Bogle’s work would be uncontroversial and that his rules would be graciously accepted given that both were the products of almost six decades of commitment to serving small investors.
I was dead wrong on that score. For completeness, here is an internal Link to my earlier submittal:
http://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discussions-3/#/discussion/5961/bogle-on-the-clash-of-cultures
It appears that ETF guru Ron DeLegge took umbrage with what he sees as a misrepresentation of the ETF industry. He challenged Bogle in several directions with a negative editorial.
Well, Bogle elected to reply so we have dueling editorials, a shoot-out at the OK corral.
The nmg Capital Group has assembled both editorials together in their archives section. The editorials are the second and third items at the following Link:
http://www.nmgcapitalgroup.com/category/investing/#.UUx-A0aIYQE
I now see why DeLegge took issue with Bogle’s reporting on ETF client behavior. It all goes back to the DALBAR-like finding that private investors only realize a small fraction of the annual returns that these products (mutual funds and ETFs) yield.
It relates to the poor timing instincts of entry/exit points that investors consistently demonstrate. The generic explanation is that individual investors succumb to a host of behavioral deficiencies. Bogle postulates that the trade-anytime feature of ETFs allow easier access to these behavioral flaws.
In his retort, Bogle repeats the mantra that frequent trading is hazardous to wealth, and ETFs encourage that losing behavior. In some earlier work, Bogle reported that over a 5-year study period, ETF traders underperformed benchmarks by a huge negative margin.
So the verbal shooting continues. Both sides score hits. Enjoy the dueling perspectives.
Best Regards.

Assuming you're only talking about energy MLP's then add KMI to your short list. I personally don't believe that mutual funds return enough of the generated income to shareholders so I would focus therefore on CEF's. There are plenty to pick from with Kayne Anderson and Tortoise Capital being the big dogs in the house. You might also want to search for MLP's and then by CEF symbols in the M* and Investor Village discussion forums. There's a good collection of knowledgeable investors in both forums.

http://abnormalreturns.com/focus-on-norway-not-cyprus/
"Investors are now focused on the drama in Cyprus. In contrast investors would do better to spend their time thinking about Norway. Why you ask? There are more investment lessons to learn from how Norway manages its oil wealth than trying to make decisions based on the latest news and rumors coming out of the Mediterranean."
"How much does the Norwegian portfolio hold in hedge funds? Nothing. Venture capital? Nada. Commodities? Zip. Private-equity funds? Zero. (WSJ)"
"The ministry argues that high management fees on private equity investments make the achievement of a satisfactory return from the asset class too uncertain. This is also the case for infrastructure, which is highly leveraged and where there is limited data on historical returns. (FT)"

We must remember that 99.99% of investors don't study the markets 24 hours a day.
Over the last ten years I've paid off my house, purchased cars, gave away thousands to an ex whatever she calls herself nowadays, etc -- and I'm still well ahead of the market averages with those expenditures included. How ? Well selected mutual funds.
Before that my former broker secured a capital loss of 100,000+ with several bone head moves. That was when I became a self directed investor and started trading myself. When I finally got back to even -- for the sake of my blood pressure -- I stopped trading. Also, I enjoy my free time out fishing better than reading charts. Constant living & breathing the market can pay off...but at what price? Some of us make it part of our daily ritual.. some just don't care.. I know i've found my own happy medium
Bottom line:
I still believe this article by IBD holds true for 99.99% of the general public. While my tiny winnie annuity contract doesn't come close to any 1,370,072 Donald Trump account -- It has caught a triple -- when the alternatives are factored in -- isn't that bad.
I congratulate you on your investment success & hope it continues.

Reply to @perpetual_Bull: I opened up an IRA account in April 1993 (Dow around 3400) with $2000 and a SEP IRA in April 1994. Total contributions to date $76,515 with a distribution (withdrawal) of $902.28 in April 1997 and a distribution of $6000 in January 2009. Total value this morning (including monthly accumulated dividends) $1,370,072. My taxable account has a better return but it would be impossible to figure out because of the constant withdrawals over the years as that account is used for living expenses, capital purchases ala homes, automobiles, etc.
Glad I never paid any heed to the efficient market gurus and the buy and hold crowd like John Bogle. There is a big advantage to being a small fry trader as opposed to a large hedge, mutual, or pension funds, especially if you are willing to live and breathe the markets 24 hours a day - a sacrifice few are willing to make.