Re-balance Cycle Reminder All MyPlanIQ’s newsletters are archived here.
For regular SAA and TAA portfolios, the next re-balance will be on Monday, June 11, 2017. You can also find the re-balance calendar for 2017 on ‘Dashboard‘ page once you log in.
As a reminder to expert users: advanced portfolios are still re-balanced based on their original re-balance schedules and they are not the same as those used in Strategic and Tactical Asset Allocation (SAA and TAA) portfolios of a plan.
Please note that we now list the next re-balance date on every portfolio page.
PIMCO D Share Fund Issue
We addressed this issue in March 26, 2018: Total Return Bond Update. Apparently, judging from many emails we received, we believe there are still many confused users, especially in the context of the latest rebalances with respect to Fidelity and Schwab Core Mutual Fund portfolios. In the latest rebalance, the portfolios were involved with buying PSPDX (PIMCO StocksPLUS D) and PCRDX (PIMCO Commodity Real Ret Strat D).
Since these D share funds were effectively merged with their A share fund on March 23, 2018, these D share funds no longer exist. In fact, you wouldn’t be able to quote the above D share fund symbols anymore from other websites. However, as stated in the above newsletter, because of a technical convenience, MyPlanIQ still retains these symbols and they are just made to represent their A share funds.
Both A share funds PSPAX (PIMCO StocksPLUS A) and PCRAX (PIMCO Commodity Real Ret Strat A) are available to the brokerages as no transaction fee and no load (or load waived) funds. So users should consider purchase these funds instead.
We will eliminate D share fund symbols eventually. We apologize for any confusion.
Newsletter Collection Update
Latest update: 5/14/2018
Highlighted are the recent articles
We have published numerous newsletters over the years and many readers have asked us to categorize and summarize our previous newsletters as they tend to cover various topics. We believe this is a good idea as many of them provide useful information that can be useful for both new and old users. We highly encourage users to read these newsletters as understanding many issues and our methodology is an inherent part of using our service. In the following, we select and list some newsletters in each category.
Portfolio Management
Asset Allocation and Other Investment Strategies
Strategic:
- January 18, 2016: Strategic Asset Allocation: A Cautious Outlook
- December 7, 2015: Diversification And Global Allocation
- July 6, 2015: Fixed Income Total Return Bond Funds In Strategic Asset Allocation Portfolios
- October 20, 2014: Strategic Portfolios With Managed Volatility
- May 19, 2014: Consistency, The Most Important Edge In Investing: Strategic Case
- July 29, 2013: Strategic Asset Allocation: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
- October 1, 2012: Strategic Asset Allocation Optimized
Tactical
- April 30, 2018: Momentum Investing Review
- January 16, 2017: Long Term Trend Following Portfolio Review
- March 14, 2016: Are Tactical And Timing Strategies Losing Steam?
- January 11, 2016: Review Of Trend Following Tactical Asset Allocation
- February 23, 2015: Why Is Global Tactical Asset Allocation Not Popular?
- January 12, 2015: How Does Trend Following Tactical Asset Allocation Strategy Deliver Returns
- August 18, 2014: Consistency, The Most Important Edge In Investing: Tactical Case
- July 22, 2013: Tactical Asset Allocation: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
Asset Behavior
- April 23, 2018: Commodities In Current Environment
- April 2, 2018: Inside Of The Stock Chaos
- October 30, 2017: Rising Interest Rates
- October 16, 2017: REITs As An Asset Class
- September 11, 2017: International Diversification Effect
- July 31, 2017: Asset Classes And Fund Choices: A Primer
- July 17, 2017: Long Term Stock Holding Periods For Retirement
- May 29, 2017: Alternative Assets And Their Role In Portfolios
- April 17, 2017: Risk vs. Volatility: Long Term Stock Market Returns
- March 6, 2017: Asset Classes for Retirement Investments
- October 31, 2016: Economy Power And Long Term Stock Returns
- October 24, 2016: Current Commodity Trend And Managed Futures
- March 21, 2016: Small And Large Company Stock Performance In Different Economic Expansion Cycles // when small cap stocks underperform for a while, it usually signals trouble ahead for stock markets.
- December 14, 2015: High Yield Bonds And Their Correlation With Stocks
- October 12, 2015: What About Commodities?
- June 22, 2015: Secular Asset Trends
- May 26, 2015: Cash, Bonds and Stocks In A Rising Rate Environment
- May 11, 2015: Pain in Fixed Income?
- May 4, 2015: The Balanced Stock and Long Term Treasury Bond Portfolios
- April 27, 2015: Long Term Treasury Bond Behavior
- April 6, 2015: The Low Return Environment
Strategic and Timing
- May 22, 2017: Summer Seasonality And Portfolio Management
- May 8, 2017: Holding Period of Long Term Timing Portfolios
- April 24, 2017: The Long Term Stock Market Timing Return Since 1871
- February 20, 2017: Long Term Stock Timing Based Portfolios And Their Roles
- May 9, 2016: Boost Your Dull Summer Investments // yet another effective ‘smart cash’ demonstration used in a timing strategy
- September 28, 2015: Risk Managed Strategic Asset Allocation Portfolios Revisited
- June 10, 2013: Risk Managed Strategic Asset Allocation Portfolios
Fund Selection
- December 12, 2016: Enhanced Index Funds
- May 2, 2016: Low Cost Index Fund Investing // we discuss low index funds and in general indexing approach.
- October 15, 2012: Performance From Asset Allocation And Fund Selection
Core Satellite and Multiple Strategies
- February 26, 2018: Pros And Cons of Strategic And Tactical Portfolios In 2018
- September 4, 2017: Invest And Speculate Revisited
- April 11, 2016: Construction of Sound And Conservative Portfolios // we propose a way to construct sound conservative portfolios that can be as good as the best conservative allocation funds.
- November 30, 2015: Investors and Speculators Combined
- October 5, 2015: Core Satellite Portfolios In A 401k Account
- September 14, 2015: Core Satellite Portfolios In Market Turmoil
- April 13, 2015: Total Return Bond Funds As Smart Cash
- September 15, 2014: Equity And Total Return Bond Fund Composite Portfolios
- February 3, 2014: Alternative Investment Funds & Diversified Portfolios
- December 2, 2013: Versatile Multiple Portfolio Construction
- July 15, 2013: Portfolio of Portfolios & Core Satellite Portfolios
- November 12, 2012: Multiple Portfolios As Another Diversification Dimension
Momentum Strategies and their behavior. How various asset allocation strategies work in different market cycles
- June 12, 2017: A Mixed Bag Performance of Momentum Investing
- July 27, 2015: Performance Dispersion Among Momentum Based Portfolios
- August 11, 2014: What To Do In Overvalued Stock Markets
- July 7, 2014: Portfolio Behavior During Market Corrections
- November 11, 2013: Tactical Asset Allocation In Overvalued Stock Markets
- November 4, 2013: Wisdom from a Long Time Practitioner Using Multi-Asset Relative Strength/Momentum
- October 28, 2013: What Can We Learn From The 1987 Stock Market Crash?
- April 1, 2013: Momentum Over Stocks, Sector And Style Funds
- September 10, 2012: Taxonomy Of Momentum, Relative Strength And Trend Following
- July 16, 2012: Understand The Behavior of Investment Strategies
- December 10, 2012: How Asset Allocation Strategies Performed In Secular Market Trends
- October 8, 2012: Asset Allocation Strategies Have Cycles Too
Strategy and Portfolio Evaluation
- October 9, 2017: Conservative Portfolios Revisited
- September 18, 2017: Conservative Portfolios Review
- June 26, 2017: How To Beat The Best Balanced Allocation Fund
- May 1, 2017: Debate on Risk vs. Volatility
- July 20, 2015: Global Balanced Portfolio Benchmarks
- December 1, 2014: Two Key Issues of Investment Strategies
- March 11, 2013: How To Evaluate Investing Strategies
- October 29, 2012: Sharpe, Maximum Draw Down And Sortino Ratios
Risk Parity, Four Pillar and Permanent Portfolios
More newsletters can be found in these articles:
- May 30, 2016: Swensen Portfolio And Permanent Portfolios //Swensen’s portfolio construction principle is very much aligned with the permanent portfolio’s. One can construct these portfolios of various risk levels using the same principle.
- January 25, 2016: Alternative Portfolios Review
- November 16, 2015: Permanent, Risk Parity And Alternative Portfolios Review
- July 21, 2014: Permanent Portfolios & Four Pillar Foundation Based Framework
- February 25, 2013: Risk Parity All Weather & Permanent Portfolio Review
- August 6, 2012: Four Pillar Foundation Based Portfolio Review
Portfolio Rebalance & Daily Management
- June 5, 2017: How To Start A New Portfolio
- February 29, 2016: Smart Strategic Asset Allocation Rebalance When Market Trend Changes //Using a simple moving average as a guide to time rebalancing could be beneficial
- August 17, 2015: ETF or Mutual Fund Based Portfolios
- September 7, 2015: Market Rout Creates An Opportunity to Reposition Your Portfolios
- June 29, 2015: Core ETF Commission Free Portfolios
- March 30, 2015: Brokerage Specific Core Mutual Fund Portfolios 2
- March 16, 2015: Brokerage Specific Core Mutual Fund Portfolios
- December 8, 2014: Implementing Core Asset Portfolios In a Brokerage
- June 2, 2014: Tips On Portfolio Rebalance
- May 12, 2014: How To Handle An Elevated Overvalued Market
- March 24, 2014: Time Diversification In Portfolio Rebalance
Risk Management & Investor Behavior
Portfolio risk management techniques and issues.
- December 18, 2017: Record Highs And Risk
- August 21, 2017: Portfolio Performance: A Walk In The Past
- September 21, 2015: Quest For The Best Investment Strategy
- March 23, 2015: Investment Arithmetic for Long Term Investments
- February 2, 2015: Risk Management Everywhere
- January 5, 2015: When Forecast Fails
- December 22, 2014: Long Term Asset Returns: How Long Is Long?
- October 27, 2014: Investment Loss, Mistakes And Market Cycles
- August 25, 2014: Remember Risk
- July 28, 2014: Stock Musings
- June 9, 2014: The Arithmetic of Investment Mistakes
- December 9, 2013: What Is Long Term Investing?
- August 26, 2013: Risk Management: Implementation Risk
- August 19, 2013: Risk Management: Upside Risk
- August 12, 2013: Risk Management: Downside Risk
- September 17, 2012: 8 Harmful Behaviors For Your Portfolios
- March 4, 2013: Systematic Investing vs. Market Noises
- July 23, 2012: The Difference Between Investment Loss & Investment Mistakes
Investment Philosophy
- March 5, 2018: Warren Buffett’s Advices
- February 5, 2018: Market Selloff And Long Term Investing
- August 7, 2017: I Didn’t Learn Anything — Mistake vs. Temporary Underperformance
- October 17, 2016: Investment Mistakes And Good Or Bad Investment Strategies
- September 1, 2014: Risk & Diversification: Mint.com Interview
- June 16, 2014: There Are Always Lottery Winners
- January 20, 2014: Become an Enlightened Investor
Fixed Income, Dividend, Total Return Bond Funds & Conservative Allocation
The following newsletters address many concerns for retiree, conservative and income investors.
- April 16, 2018: Municipal Bonds As A Fixed Income Asset Class
- March 26, 2018: Total Return Bond Update
- January 22, 2018: Where Are Bonds Heading?
- December 11, 2017: Cash Return And Interest Rate Update
- August 28, 2017: Total Return Bond Fund Portfolios: Where Do They Fit?
- July 24, 2017: Total Return Bond Fund Portfolios And Cash
- April 10, 2017: Total Return Bond ETFs And Portfolios
- February 27, 2017: Fidelity Total Bond Fund Review
- April 25, 2016: Tax Free Municipal Bond Funds & Portfolios // proposes some effective municipal bond mutual fund based portfolios
- March 28, 2016: Total Return Bond ETFs Review // we are still anxious to see whether the total return bond ETFs can be for a prime time. Still not yet.
- March 7, 2016: Defined Maturity Bond Fund Analysis //reviews defined maturity bond funds and points out their benefits
- February 15, 2016: Bond ETF Portfolios //discusses using bond ETFs (including total return bond ETFs) to construct a fixed income portfolio
- February 1, 2016: Total Return Bond Fund Portfolios In A Volatile Period
- October 26, 2015: Total Return Bond Fund Review
- June 15, 2015: Giving Up Bonds?
- March 2, 2015: Total Return Bond ETFs
- September 22, 2014: Why Total Return Bond Funds?
- April 21, 2014: Total Return Bond Investing In The Current Market Environment
- June 3, 2013: Total Return Bond Fund Portfolios For Major Brokerages
- May 27, 2013: Conservative Allocation Mutual Fund Portfolios
- February 18, 2013: Dividend & Income Funds In Asset Allocation
- September 16, 2013: Fixed Income No More?
- August 5, 2013: Total Return vs. High Yield Investing
- March 18, 2013: Are Bond Investors Doomed?
Fund Review
- December 4, 2017: Mutual Fund Star Ratings: Are They Useful?
- November 28, 2016: Core Index ETFs Review
- November 21, 2016: International Exposure Of U.S. Large Companies
- September 26, 2016: Fixed Income Investing: Actively Managed Funds vs. Index Funds
- September 19, 2016: Stock Investing: Actively Managed Funds vs. Index Funds
- May 16, 2016: The PIMCO (Dis)Advantages // reviews pros and cons of PIMCO’s enhanced index funds
- November 23, 2015: Active Stock Fund Performance Consistency
- November 9, 2015: Broad Base Core Mutual Fund Review
- November 2, 2015: Broad Base Index Core ETFs Review
- August 31, 2015: Review of Asset Allocation Funds and Portfolios
- February 9, 2015: How Have Asset Allocation Funds Done?
- May 5, 2014: Asset Allocation Funds Review
- April 7, 2014: The Unbeatable US Stocks And Bonds Balance Portfolio?
- February 3, 2014: Alternative Investment Funds & Diversified Portfolios
Financial Planning & Retirement
- April 9, 2018: Exponential Or Compounding Nature In Investing
- November 13, 2017: Is This A Good Time For Retirees Or Would Be Retirees?
- March 27, 2017: Practical Consideration For IRAs And 401k Accounts
- March 20, 2017: Fund Fees: That’s (Still) Outrageous
- February 22, 2016: Be Cash Smart //we urge investors not to ignore their cash and invest smartly instead, especially in this ultra low rate environment
- April 20, 2015: 529 College Savings Plan Rebalance Policy Change
- October 6, 2014: Tips For 401k Open Enrollment
- December 30, 2013: How To Benchmark Portfolios
- December 16, 2013: Tax Efficient Portfolio Planning
- April 29, 2013: Goal Based Financial Planning And Investing
- July 8, 2013: When To Retire And Bear Market Impact On Retirement Income And Spending
- December 17, 2012: Financial Repression: What To Do With Your Investments
- November 26, 2012: College Savings 529 Plan Investment Portfolio Management
- November 5, 2012: 401K Investment Portfolio Management
Cash Management
- May 7, 2018: Money Market Fund Taxonomy
- March 19, 2018: Treasury Bills vs. Brokered CDs
- October 2, 2017: The Role of Short Term Bond Funds
- September 25, 2017: Fees In Cash Investments
- May 15, 2017: Cash: Banking Or Investing?
Features & System Q&As
These newsletters address new features and how to for our system usage.
- October 23, 2017: A Primer For Portfolios
- October 3, 2016: Survey & Feedback
- May 23, 2016: AAII Article And Some Web Changes //AAII article on MyPlanIQ and some new portfolio additions/changes
- May 20, 2013: New Features: FolioInvesting One-Click, Portfolio Dividend & Static Portfolio Change
- April 22, 2013: Portfolio Rebalance – Ease of Use
- March 25, 2013: New Feature: Advanced Static Portfolios & Lazy Portfolio Asset Allocations
- February 4, 2013: Day To Day Portfolio Management
- December 3, 2012: Asset Trends & Correlations For Portfolio Construction
- September 24, 2012: Tax Efficient Investing
- March 26, 2012: A Few Good Sources To Help On Deciding Risk Profiles
- February 13th 2012: Static (Lazy) Porfolios and Re-balance Utility for My Actual Holdings
- March 12, 2012: Setting The Right Risk Profile
Existing Portfolio Performance Reviews
In general, we review various portfolio performance in each newsletter. However, you can get latest up to date performance result and comparison by clicking on links below portfolio comparison tables listed in our quarterly or annual review newsletters:
- January 15, 2018: Tactical Portfolios Review
- January 8, 2018: Strategic Portfolios Review
- March 12, 2018: Defensive Conservative Portfolio Review
- August 14, 2017: Fidelity Commission Free ETFs Update
- December 5, 2016: Review Of Broad Base Core Mutual Funds For Brokerages
- October 19, 2015: Advanced Portfolio Review
- July 13, 2015: Pain in Tactical Portfolios
- January 19, 2015: Fixed Income Investing Review
- November 17, 2014: Retirement Spending Portfolios Update
- September 8, 2014: Momentum Based Portfolios Review
- June 30, 2014: Half Year Brokerage ETF and Mutual Fund Portfolios Review
- May 26, 2014: In Praise Of Low Cost Core Asset Class Based Portfolios
- March 17, 2014: Variable Annuity Portfolio Review
- March 3, 2014: Schwab Portfolios Review
- February 24, 2014: Fidelity Portfolios Review
- February 17, 2014: Versatile Portfolios Review
- December 23, 2013: Vanguard ETF, Mutual Fund & Retirement Income ETF Plans Update
- September 30, 2013: Quarter End Review
- July 1, 2013: Half Year Portfolio Review
- April 8, 2013: First Quarter Review: Trends Are In Place But Can They Sustain?
- January 21, 2013: Year End Review Of Brokerage Specific ETF and Mutual Fund Portfolios
- January 14, 2013: Year End Review Of Advanced Portfolios
Portfolios suggested by advisors and brokerages
Market Overview
Q1 2018 earnings report was pretty much set to be one of the highest since 2010: as of last Friday, 91% of the 500 companies have reported earnings. The blended earnings growth is 24.9%, much higher than 17.1% expected on December 31, 2017. Stocks, however, continued to wobble, most likely affected by geopolitical and trade events. Though there have been several sayings to support the argument that corporate profit margin can still sustain at the current high level (see this Financial Times article, for example), we however would like to point out that even if it’s possible to sustain the current historically high corporate profit margin for a while, it’s hard to argue against the assertion that a free capital market will eventually force profit margin to revert to a long term mean that is much lower than today’s figure. Regardless, we recognize an overvalued and overextended market is subject to some sudden violent decline induced by various seemingly small perturbations.
As always, we call for prudent risk management and stay the course.
For more detailed asset trend scores, please refer to 360° Market Overview.
Now that the Trump administration has been in the office for more than a year, the economy and financial markets are in general still in a good shape. Whether the economy will continue to benefit from the supposedly trickle down of the tax cut, the deregulation, and the promised infrastructure spending remains to be seen. On the other hand, stocks continued to ascend, regardless of the progress. Looking ahead, however, we remain convinced that markets will experience more volatilities at some point when reality finally sets in.
In terms of investments, U.S. stock valuation is at a historically high level. It is thus not a good time to take excessive risk. However, we remain optimistic about U.S. economy in the long term and believe much better investment opportunities will arise in the future.
We again would like to stress for any new investor and new money, the best way to step into this kind of markets is through dollar cost average (DCA), i.e. invest and/or follow a model portfolio in several phases (such as 2 or 3 months) instead of the whole sum at one shot.