January 1, 2025

By David Snowball

Dear friends,

Welcome to the January issue of Mutual Fund Observer.

January was named after Janus, the tutelary deity of the year’s first month. As tutelary, he was guardian, patron, and protector. Absent from the Greek pantheon, Janus was the Roman god of beginnings, transitions, and endings. It was the “transitions” part that led Romans to place the two-faced god near entries and passageways, where he oversaw their comings and Continue reading →

MFO Premium Year-End Review 2024

By Charles Boccadoro

On Wednesday, 8 January, at 11 a.m. Pacific (2 p.m. Eastern), we will be conducting our year-end webinar to review funds and MFO Premium updates. If you can make it, please join us by registering here.

We will use MultiSearch Pre-Set screens and other custom criteria to review fund performance in 2024. MultiSeach is the site’s Continue reading →

My ETF Picks for the Bucket Approach In 2025

By Charles Lynn Bolin

My retirement planning for the past two years since retiring has focused on the Bucket Approach to have the right funds in the right investment buckets to have high-risk adjusted returns while minimizing taxes over my lifetime. This article focuses on forty of the top performing ETFs that I believe can form a good foundation for the coming decade. I wrote Investing in 2025 And the Coming Decade describing why I think bonds will outperform stocks on a risk-adjusted basis Continue reading →

Not Built for This: The Argument for Infrastructure Investing in an Unstable Climate

By David Snowball

There’s a famous New Yorker cartoon that we don’t have permission to reproduce. It shows a cheerful executive speaking from a lectern in a conference room.

And so, while the end-of-the-world scenario will be rife with unimaginable horrors, we believe that the pre-end period will be filled with unprecedented opportunities for profit!

Welcome to the case for infrastructure investing in Continue reading →

You Too Can Start an ETF

By Charles Boccadoro

At Tidal … The ETF Masters: Launch, Manage, and Grow Your ETF. We are an award-winning, full service ETF platform managing 183 ETFs in partnership with 68 issuers and responsible for $29bn+ AUM. Build Your ETF.

At ETF ArchitectWant to easily create an ETF? Build, launch, and manage it with us. An Affordable, Turnkey, and Transparent White Label ETF Platform. Learn how we’ve helped innovative firms create new ETFs, convert separately managed accounts (SMAS), mutual funds, and hedge funds into ETFs, and tap the power of our platform to lower costs and streamline operations for existing ETFs. Create Your ETF. (Here’s an excellent presentation.)

Continue reading →

Lifetime Investment Strategies For Younger Investors

By Charles Lynn Bolin

“For the young the days go fast and the years go slow; for the old the days go slow and the years go fast.” – Anna Quindlen, Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake: A Memoir of a Woman’s Life.

Secular bear markets with low returns along high volatility often deter younger investors from starting to invest, yet they offer tremendous buying opportunities. Prioritizing the long-term need to save for retirement over Continue reading →

Launch Alert: Virtus KAR Mid-Cap ETF

By David Snowball

On October 14, 2024, Virtus Investment Partners launched Virtus KAR Mid-Cap ETF (KMID). It targets “U.S. mid-cap companies with durable competitive advantages, excellent management, lower financial risk, and strong growth trajectories” selling at “attractive” valuations. The fund is managed by Jon Christensen and Craig Stone who also manage the five-star, $2.9 billion Virtus KAR Mid-Cap Core Fund. The ETF, like its sibling, will hold 25-35 stocks with a Continue reading →

fountain pen writing a note

Briefly Noted . . .

By David Snowball

Updates

The ETF end of the investment industry continues to be shaped by the mutual fund end. Jeff Benjamin at ETF.com reports “The mutual fund industry is setting new records for ETF conversions in 2024. According to Morningstar, there have been 55 ETF conversions this year through Dec. 17, which compares to 35 last year and 20 in 2022. The majority of the conversions this year have been in the fixed income space…” (“Mutual Funds Convert to ETFs at Record Levels,” ETF.com, 12/19/2024). The hottest trend has been the conversion of actively Continue reading →