December 1, 2023

By David Snowball

Dear friends,

Welcome to December. Welcome to Winter. It’s my favorite time of the year, despite the post-Covid haze that has enveloped me all week. Augustana is increasingly festive, ringing with the sounds of holiday concerts and celebrations, as well as the definite “click” of another semester coming to its close. My students, with their hummingbird-like metabolisms, are loathe to surrender their shorts and sandals even now.

We annually share the same simple reminder. Winter has always been a dark and drear span. The weather turns against us, and we retreat inward for protection. Gardens lay frozen. Workdays are framed by darkness: dark when we arise, dark when we Continue reading →

@MFOPremium Channel Demos Enhanced Chart Tool, Plus Fund Flows Preview

By Charles Boccadoro

We rolled-out our interactive Total Return Chart Tool last year, as described in Introducing MFO Charts. Recently, we integrated several new features, including enhanced styling, eliminated display restriction (previously based on youngest fund), and added a legend placement option. Here’s a Continue reading →

Launch Alert: T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation & Income

By David Snowball

On November 29, 2023, T. Rowe Price launched the T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation and Income Fund (PRCFX) after the longest gestation period in fund history. Normally, there’s a lag of 70 days between a fund’s initial SEC filing and its clearance to launch. In this case, the lag is 2,590 days. The fund was organized in October 2016, filed a full prospectus in September 2017, at which point T Rowe Price bought 10,000 shares, and appeared in all of the subsequent Statements of Additional Information filed annually with the SEC.

It’s clear this has been on the adviser’s mind and Continue reading →

In Conversation with Michael Cirami

By Devesh Shah

Missed Opportunity in Brazilian Interest Rates sowed the seeds of finding the right fund

Earlier this year, one of my friends, a doyenne of Currencies and Interest Rate trading, told me there was money to be made in Brazilian Real Local Government Bonds and interest rate products. In 2022, the Brazilian interest rate rose from 9.25% to a cycle high of 13.75%. Inflation was soaring there as in the rest of the world. A lot of traders lost money calling the highs in the rate high cycle and threw in the towel. Losses multiplied. But by the turn of the year, things were looking different. Inflation was coming down, the Central Bank had stopped raising rates in Sao Paulo and had Continue reading →

Launch Alert: GMO US Quality Equity ETF

By David Snowball

On November 13, 2023, the Boston-based institutional investment firm GMO, founded in 1977 as Grantham, Mayo, and Van Otterloo, launched their first retail product: GMO US Quality Equity ETF (QLTY). The actively managed fund will invest in a focused portfolio of “companies with established track records of historical profitability and strong fundamentals – high quality companies – are able to outgrow the average company over time and are therefore worth a premium price.” Expect a portfolio of about 40 names, with a 75% weighting in large-cap stocks and 25% in mid-caps. At 0.5%, the ETF charges the same expenses as the Continue reading →

Artisan and the Emerging Markets Debt Universe

By David Snowball

My colleague Devesh Shah sat down with Artisan’s Michael Cirami for a long conversation. Mr. Cirami is a managing director of Artisan Partners, a portfolio manager on the EMsights Capital Group, and lead portfolio manager for the Artisan Emerging Markets Debt Opportunities, Global Unconstrained, and Emerging Markets Local Opportunities Strategies. Two of those three strategies, Debt Opportunities and Global Unconstrained, are manifested in mutual funds.

Prior to joining Artisan Partners in Continue reading →

Searching For Inflection Points

By Charles Lynn Bolin

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter – Habitat For Humanity. Source: Encyclopædia Britannica

In November, I began volunteering at the Loveland Habitat For Humanity, helping to build houses for those who might not be able to afford them without a hand up. Former President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn have volunteered or worked with Habitat For Humanity since the 1980s. Housing prices have roughly doubled in the past ten years putting home ownership out of the reach of many potential buyers. I also volunteer at Neighbor To Neighbor, which helps those on the fringe of homelessness stay sheltered. Pandemic-era savings are expected to be depleted during the first half of 2024, but for many, losing work, even temporarily, can mean eviction, losing utilities, and going hungry. This puts a human perspective on financial Continue reading →

fountain pen writing a note

Briefly Noted…

By TheShadow

Updates

BenWP, a member of MFO’s discussion community, contributed that the Capital Group has several new equity and fixed-income ETFs.  One of the newest ETFs is the Capital Group Core Balanced ETF, an active multi-asset ETF. Some of the other active equity ETFs are the Capital Group International Equity ETF, Capital Group International Focus Equity ETF, Capital Group Dividend Growers ETF, Capital Group Dividend Value ETF, Capital Group Global Growth Equity ETF, Capital Group Core Equity ETF, and Capital Group Growth ETF. The Capital Group has several new fixed-income ETFs: Capital Group Core Bond ETF, Capital Group Core Plus Income ETF, Capital Group Short Duration Income ETF, and Capital Group U.S. Multi-Sector Income ETF. There are two municipal ETFs: Capital Group Municipal Income ETF and Continue reading →