My history with Wellington Management and the Vanguard group goes back decades. I started with Wellington over 40 years ago. The Wellington Fund was founded in 1929 by CPA Walter Morgan to provide investment counsel to his clients. Morgan had the foresight to load the Wellington Fund with fixed-income securities months before the 1929 stock market crash. That decision helped Wellington become the tenth largest in the industry by 1944. In 1951, Morgan hired John Bogle, who would eventually become the firm’s CEO. In 1974, Bogle left Wellington Management and founded the Vanguard Group, … [Read more...]
Yes, Vanguard is too Big
A gorgeous, sunny, good morning to you from Newport, RI. Isn’t it amazing what a little sun can do to one’s psyche? Last week I told you how my SEP-IRA contribution was incorrectly deposited to my traditional IRA by Vanguard. Lucky for me, I caught their mistake early and avoided a potential paperwork hassle come tax-time next year. I chalked the error up to the fact that Vanguard is in the transaction business and mistakes happen. But in thinking about the issue further, I probably caught their mistake because I do this for a living. Which makes me wonder: is the average investor paying … [Read more...]
Ackman Faces the Flight of his Investors
Famous hedge fund manager Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Capital Management is watching his investors flee his fund. It may take them some time to leave due to rules allowing the withdrawal of only an eighth of their investment each quarter, but even that slow rate of withdrawal is reducing the fund's assets under management. Scott Deveau writes at The Globe and Mail: Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management is facing more bad news as many of the institutional investors in its private funds have asked to redeem their money. About two-thirds of the capital that investors could … [Read more...]
Is Vanguard too Big?
Personally, I have had only one minor administrative error recently with Vanguard where they incorrectly deposited SEP-IRA money into my traditional IRA. I called them to explain their error, they pulled up the letter of instruction, recognized their mistake and made the correction. Problem solved. With record inflows of more than $1 billion per day in 2017, or $369.3 billion, some investors are wondering if Vanguard’s success is a problem. I don’t think that’s the case. In a transaction oriented business there are always going to be mistakes. They can be corrected. When I worked at … [Read more...]
Could this Be the Vanguard GNMA Winning Edge?
Update: 7.1.2020: From Wellington: “Effective at the close of business on June 30, 2020, Michael F. Garrett has retired from Wellington Management Company LLP and no longer serves as a portfolio manager for Vanguard GNMA Fund. Brian Conroy and Joseph F. Marvan remain as the portfolio managers of the Fund.” Originally posted June 7, 2017. Do you know Michael F. Garrett? There’s no reason that you should, but to me, the Senior Managing Director at Wellington Management Company LLP in Boston, Massachusetts might be one of the most important names in the fixed-income world today. He’s the … [Read more...]
Is 2017’s Most Popular Strategy in Peril?
After nine years of a bull market that has been aided by the most aggressive and sustained period of monetary stimulus in history (you didn’t forget about that did you?) index-based investing has become the go-to strategy for many investors. Year-to-date, EPFR estimates that globally, investors have dumped $436.5 billion into index funds. Actively managed funds have experienced net outflows of over $150 billion in the U.S. alone. Jack Bogle would likely be proud, but does index-based investing still make sense when a majority of the money being invested in funds is flowing to vehicles that … [Read more...]
The Truth Behind the S&P 500: Part V
As I've written to you before, the S&P is constructed somewhat like an actively managed fund. Real people choose which stocks go in, and which remain out. Robin Wigglesworth writes in the Financial Times that David Blitzer, the current head of the S&P Dow Jones' index committee, has done what few others have been able to do by created decent low risk returns. But Wigglesworth also points out that it is unlikely Blitzer's success can be maintained (that's not a knock on Blitzer who isn't attempting to generate maximum returns with his picks). It's just math. As volatility increases … [Read more...]
Murky ETF Approval System Could Get an Upgrade
The new head of the SEC, Jay Clayton, is working to push forward new rules governing the creation of ETFs. Currently, the system is based on ad hoc reviews with little guidance given to fund companies about how they should prepare. Benjamin Bain and Robert Schmidt report at Bloomberg: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton is working to streamline the agency’s ad hoc approach to approving new exchange-traded funds, putting a spotlight on an issue that has vexed the regulator for a decade. Clayton, who joined the SEC in May, has asked staff to build upon a proposal … [Read more...]
The Truth Behind the S&P 500, Part 2
The S&P 500 is perhaps the largest “managed” fund in the world. Contrary to widespread belief, it is not an index of only the largest companies in America by market-cap as I explain here. It is an index comprising 500 stocks that are actively chosen by a committee. The committee, led by economist David Blitzer picks 500 stocks from a listing of 1,000 of the largest companies in America. It also decides the sectors and the sector-weightings. In the late 90s, for example, when technology was on fire, the committee finally decided to make technology its own sector. The committee had … [Read more...]
The Truth Behind the S&P 500
Let’s get a few things straight about the S&P 500. First, it’s a market-cap weighted index of large-cap companies based in the U.S. A company’s market cap is calculated by multiplying its shares outstanding by its stock price. The bigger the company’s market-cap the bigger its influence on the direction of the S&P 500. Imagine Apple or Amazon as the 800-pound gorillas and you get an idea of how the index works. How is it constructed? The S&P 500 is not a collection of the largest 500 companies by market cap in the U.S. It is constructed and managed by a committee. Part of the … [Read more...]
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