Wednesday, April 4, 2007

My Mutual Fund Holdings

"No person will make a great business who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit."
- Andrew Carnegie



It's taken me a very long time to get comfortable with putting a lot of money into mutual funds, but eventually I learned that funds can be very cost effective. And if you search long enough, you can also find funds that share your investment philosophy. While the majority of my money is still in individual stocks, I've been gradually increasing my mutual fund holdings over the past few years. I'll probably have over $200K invested in funds by the end of the year.

Here are my current holdings:

Symbol
Name
Approximate Value
DODGXDODGE & COX STOCK FUND
$66K
GATEXGATEWAY FUND
$2K
MERFXTHE MERGER FUND
$2K
NOIEXNORTHERN FUNDS INCOME EQUITY FUND
$3K
PEMDXPIMCO EMERGING MARKETS BOND CLASS D
$2K
TASCXTHIRD AVENUE SMALL-CAP VALUE FUND
$2K
TAVFXTHIRD AVENUE VALUE FUND
$12K
UMBIXEXCELSIOR VALUE AND RESTRUCTURING
$5K
UMBWXUMB SCOUT INTERNATIONAL FUND
$9K
VEIEXVANGUARD EMERGING MARKETS STOCK INDEX
$20K
VEURXVANGUARD EUROPEAN STOCK INDEX FUND
$19K
VINIXVANGUARD INSTITUTIONAL INDEX
$16K
VLAAXVALUE LINE ASSET ALLOCATION FUND
$7K
VLEOXVALUE LINE EMERGING OPPORTUNITIES
$7K
VSCIXVANGUARD SMALL CAP INSTITUTIONAL INDEX
$10K

You can probably infer a few things from the funds and the weightings:
  • I think Dodge & Cox is a great fund for me!
  • Vanguard is a good choice for me, especially considering I can get into the institutional class funds through my 401(k) at work. The total expense ratio on the Vanguard Institutional Index is an amazing 0.05%!
  • I think Marty Whitman (TAVFX) is an investment sage.
  • I'm not afraid of holding international stock indexes. And as you may know, Dodge & Cox is also fond of holding international stocks.
  • I like to sprinkle a little money into non-traditional asset classes, like convertibles and merger arbitrage. Small amounts!

If you'd like to read more about any of these funds, I've linked each ticker symbol in the table to its corresponding mutual fund summary page at Yahoo Finance.


(Disclaimer: The above is merely a personal commentary on my own holdings. It is not a solicitation to buy or sell anything. It is not advice to buy or sell anything. Investments that are suitable for one person are often not suitable for another person. Perform your own due diligence and/or consult with a financial professional before making any financial decisions.)

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