The Bear Stearns Current Yield Fund (YYY) to begin trading on the American Stock Exchange on March 18, 2008
New York, NY — March 10, 2008
Bear Stearns Asset Management ("BSAM") today announced the launch of the Bear Stearns Current Yield Fund (AMEX: YYY), the first actively managed exchange traded fund (ETF).
YYY, or Triple-Y, is composed of a variety of short-term fixed income instruments. The Fund aims to generate higher returns than an average money market fund by investing in diversified, high-quality securities, including governments, municipal securities, bank obligations, corporate and securitized debt. Triple-Y Shares can be purchased and sold intraday, with portfolio holdings fully disclosed each day via BSAM's website www.yyyfund.com. Triple-Y is the first product launched by the Bear Stearns Active ETF Trust.
"We are excited to be introducing the first actively managed ETF into the marketplace," said Jeff Lane, Chairman and CEO of Bear Stearns Asset Management. "The Bear Stearns Current Yield Fund is an innovative vehicle which allows investors to manage short-term fixed income. Through Triple-Y, investors have access to a talented management team, with a long and successful track record in the fixed income market. In addition, the Fund offers full transparency of holdings every day on the internet, liquidity via exchange trading and institutional class fees for all investors."
Triple-Y is managed by a team of fixed income professionals at BSAM, led by senior portfolio manager Scott Pavlak. Mr. Pavlak has more than 20 years of investment experience and has been managing portfolios with a similar investment process to Triple-Y for over 15 years.
"Utilizing a disciplined investment process, we seek to add value through sector allocation, security selection, yield curve positioning, and duration management," said Mr. Pavlak. "We use a conservative approach which aims to maximize income for our investors, while preserving capital."
Triple – Y will be available on the American Stock Exchange on March 18, 2008.
About Bear Stearns Asset Management Inc.
Bear Stearns Asset Management Inc. (BSAM®) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Bear Stearns Companies Inc. (NYSE: BSC). BSAM is a solutions-based provider of asset management and advisory services. Serving institutional and high-net-worth investors around the world, BSAM offers a broad portfolio of investment opportunities. These include carefully-selected strategies in equity, fixed income, hedge funds, and private equity.
The Bear Stearns Current Yield Fund ("YYYSM" or the "Fund") is a series of the Bear Stearns Active ETF Trust (the "Trust") and is an actively managed exchange traded fund ("ETF"). The Trust is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. Bear Stearns Asset Management Inc. ("BSAM"), a wholly owned subsidiary of The Bear Stearns Companies Inc., serves as the investment adviser to the Fund.
http://www.bearstearns.com/sitewide/our_firm/press_releases/content.htm?d=03_10_2008
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Vanguard fund managers retiring
Earl McEvoy, who will retire in June, contributed to solid records at all three funds in his charge. He's managed the bond portion of Wellesley Income (symbol VWINX), a $13 billion fund that typically keeps 60% of its assets in bonds and the rest in stocks, since 1982. From his start through February 22, the fund returned 11.1% annualized.
Performance at McEvoy's other two funds has been solid as well. Vanguard High-Yield Corporate (VWEHX), which he has managed since 1984, returned 6.5% annualized over the past 15 years through February 22, beating 75% of all junk-bond funds. Meanwhile, Vanguard Long-Term Investment Grade (VWESX), which McEvoy has managed since 1994, beat 70% of its peers over the past ten years, returning 5.9% annualized.
McEvoy works for Wellington which manages Vanguard funds.
A clean sweep is coming to Wellesley. Like McEvoy, Jack Ryan, who picks the fund's stocks, is scheduled to depart in June.
Vanguard does not forsee any problems. "We have a really long-term planning process around succession," says Vanguard's Joe Brennan, who oversees the company's relationship with external advisers.
http://www.kiplinger.com/columns/fundwatch/archive/2008/fundwatch0225.htm
Performance at McEvoy's other two funds has been solid as well. Vanguard High-Yield Corporate (VWEHX), which he has managed since 1984, returned 6.5% annualized over the past 15 years through February 22, beating 75% of all junk-bond funds. Meanwhile, Vanguard Long-Term Investment Grade (VWESX), which McEvoy has managed since 1994, beat 70% of its peers over the past ten years, returning 5.9% annualized.
McEvoy works for Wellington which manages Vanguard funds.
A clean sweep is coming to Wellesley. Like McEvoy, Jack Ryan, who picks the fund's stocks, is scheduled to depart in June.
Vanguard does not forsee any problems. "We have a really long-term planning process around succession," says Vanguard's Joe Brennan, who oversees the company's relationship with external advisers.
http://www.kiplinger.com/columns/fundwatch/archive/2008/fundwatch0225.htm
Van Wagoner Emerging Growth - A Case Study Candidate
February 2008
Since its inception at the end of 1995, Van Wagoner Emerging Growth lost an annualized 7.8%.
11 Lessons from the fund
Lesson one: Compound losses kill you. Since its inception at the end of 1995, Van Wagoner Emerging Growth lost an annualized 7.8%. Over that period, Standard & Poor's 500-stock index returned 9.3% annualized, or a cumulative 191% -- it nearly tripled.
Van Wagoner's annual compounded loss of 7.8% comes to a cumulative loss of 62.3%. And that doesn't include the fund's loss of 25% this year through February 25.
Lesson two: Don't overreact to one big year. Those returns came despite some magnificent years. In 1999, Emerging Growth fund returned 291% -- better than any other fund in that fevered bull market year.
Resist the urge to climb aboard the year's number-one fund. The odds are ridiculously high that it won't stay in that lofty perch. What's more, given the kind of volatility it almost always takes to finish at the top, the odds are strong that one year's sizzler will suffer huge declines at some point.
Lesson three: Beware of rotten returns over a period as long as a year when they're way out of sync with the rest of the market. In 2001, Van Wagoner's fund lost 60%; the next year, it lost 65%. Indeed, the fund plunged 92% in the 2000-2002 bear market, meaning that for every dollar you'd invested at the peak, you'd have been left with just 8 cents by the time stocks finally bottomed.
Only two regular stock funds still in business did worse during the bear market: Berkshire Focus, which lost 94% and Jacob Internet, which fell 95%.
What lured the unwary into Van Wagoner Emerging Growth was its start: Up 27% in 1996, down 20% in 1997 and up 8% in 1998. After fund gained 291% in 1999, who could be faulted for climbing aboard? In hindsight, 1997 was the tipoff. The S&P 500 returned 33% that year; NASDAQ was up 22%.
Lesson four: Pay attention to volatility. Before you invest in such a fund, you need to learn why the returns deviated so wildly. In Van Wagoner's case, it was because he specialized in small, risky tech companies -- some of them not publicly traded -- with little or no earnings.
Instead of dwelling on Van Wagoner's returns, investors would have been better served by focusing on his funds' volatility. You can look up standard deviation, an excellent proxy for volatility, at Morningstar.com. The figure measures how much a fund's returns bounce around from month-to-month or year-to-year.
The actual number isn't as important as how it compares to that of other funds or of relevant benchmarks. The ten-year standard deviation for Van Wagoner Emerging Growth is 50, among the highest of any fund. By contrast, the S&P 500 has a ten-year standard deviation of 15.
Standard deviation is a wonderful predictor of how a fund will perform in a bear market. The higher a fund's standard deviation, the bigger the potential it has to generate losses in bad times.
Lesson five: Beware of high turnover. Van Wagoner's semi-annual reports were dotted with other danger signals. The man loved to trade. In 1998, his turnover was 668%. That meant that, on average, he was holding stocks less than ten days each. Most years, turnover was only about 300% -- still a high number. Still a fund dedicated to trading may have high turnovers.
Lesson six: Managers who charge high fees are usually more interested in their profits than yours. The Van Wagoner funds' expenses were another tipoff. Emerging Growth didn't always charge 3.7% in annual expenses, as it does now that assets have fallen to $18 million. But the fund typically charged almost 2% annually.
Lessons seven and eight: Don't speculate, and, if you do, set a firm stop loss. Tech mania was in full throttle in 1999 and early 2000. The problem for those who resisted its charms was that it kept going and going and going. Almost every day, tech stocks would soar, and you felt like a chump sitting in almost anything else because it was going nowhere.
Eventually, even some of the biggest tech skeptics, including yours truly, made a deal with ourselves: Let's stick a little money into Van Wagoner Emerging Growth even though we know its stocks are wildly overvalued -- and, as soon as the market starts to fall, we'll bail.
The problem is that almost no one had the sense to bail soon enough to avoid big losses. Almost everyone held on too long, hoping to get even.
Lesson nine: Favor a manager who employs a consistent discipline to size up stocks. Van Wagoner's returns were terrific during the tech bubble, but he always had one problem: He never had an investment discipline to back up his decisions.
Instead, he bought companies that seemed like they had good ideas-not necessarily those turning profits or increasing sales, much less selling at reasonable valuations.
If your value manager buys Google, it's usually time to sell.
Lesson ten: Avoid doing business with fund managers who've gotten into hot water with the SEC. Van Wagoner ran afoul of the Securities & Exchange Commission. In 2004, he and his firm paid $800,000 after accusations he had misspriced securities and defrauded shareholders. (Neither Van Wagoner nor his company admitted or denied guilt.)
Lesson 11: Mutual funds and mutual fund families that go bad rarely come back. Look elsewhere. Until recently, Van Wagoner kept trying to revive his career. But the best he could muster was a good quarter here and there.
Source:
http://www.kiplinger.com/columns/value/archive/2008/va0226.htm
Since its inception at the end of 1995, Van Wagoner Emerging Growth lost an annualized 7.8%.
11 Lessons from the fund
Lesson one: Compound losses kill you. Since its inception at the end of 1995, Van Wagoner Emerging Growth lost an annualized 7.8%. Over that period, Standard & Poor's 500-stock index returned 9.3% annualized, or a cumulative 191% -- it nearly tripled.
Van Wagoner's annual compounded loss of 7.8% comes to a cumulative loss of 62.3%. And that doesn't include the fund's loss of 25% this year through February 25.
Lesson two: Don't overreact to one big year. Those returns came despite some magnificent years. In 1999, Emerging Growth fund returned 291% -- better than any other fund in that fevered bull market year.
Resist the urge to climb aboard the year's number-one fund. The odds are ridiculously high that it won't stay in that lofty perch. What's more, given the kind of volatility it almost always takes to finish at the top, the odds are strong that one year's sizzler will suffer huge declines at some point.
Lesson three: Beware of rotten returns over a period as long as a year when they're way out of sync with the rest of the market. In 2001, Van Wagoner's fund lost 60%; the next year, it lost 65%. Indeed, the fund plunged 92% in the 2000-2002 bear market, meaning that for every dollar you'd invested at the peak, you'd have been left with just 8 cents by the time stocks finally bottomed.
Only two regular stock funds still in business did worse during the bear market: Berkshire Focus, which lost 94% and Jacob Internet, which fell 95%.
What lured the unwary into Van Wagoner Emerging Growth was its start: Up 27% in 1996, down 20% in 1997 and up 8% in 1998. After fund gained 291% in 1999, who could be faulted for climbing aboard? In hindsight, 1997 was the tipoff. The S&P 500 returned 33% that year; NASDAQ was up 22%.
Lesson four: Pay attention to volatility. Before you invest in such a fund, you need to learn why the returns deviated so wildly. In Van Wagoner's case, it was because he specialized in small, risky tech companies -- some of them not publicly traded -- with little or no earnings.
Instead of dwelling on Van Wagoner's returns, investors would have been better served by focusing on his funds' volatility. You can look up standard deviation, an excellent proxy for volatility, at Morningstar.com. The figure measures how much a fund's returns bounce around from month-to-month or year-to-year.
The actual number isn't as important as how it compares to that of other funds or of relevant benchmarks. The ten-year standard deviation for Van Wagoner Emerging Growth is 50, among the highest of any fund. By contrast, the S&P 500 has a ten-year standard deviation of 15.
Standard deviation is a wonderful predictor of how a fund will perform in a bear market. The higher a fund's standard deviation, the bigger the potential it has to generate losses in bad times.
Lesson five: Beware of high turnover. Van Wagoner's semi-annual reports were dotted with other danger signals. The man loved to trade. In 1998, his turnover was 668%. That meant that, on average, he was holding stocks less than ten days each. Most years, turnover was only about 300% -- still a high number. Still a fund dedicated to trading may have high turnovers.
Lesson six: Managers who charge high fees are usually more interested in their profits than yours. The Van Wagoner funds' expenses were another tipoff. Emerging Growth didn't always charge 3.7% in annual expenses, as it does now that assets have fallen to $18 million. But the fund typically charged almost 2% annually.
Lessons seven and eight: Don't speculate, and, if you do, set a firm stop loss. Tech mania was in full throttle in 1999 and early 2000. The problem for those who resisted its charms was that it kept going and going and going. Almost every day, tech stocks would soar, and you felt like a chump sitting in almost anything else because it was going nowhere.
Eventually, even some of the biggest tech skeptics, including yours truly, made a deal with ourselves: Let's stick a little money into Van Wagoner Emerging Growth even though we know its stocks are wildly overvalued -- and, as soon as the market starts to fall, we'll bail.
The problem is that almost no one had the sense to bail soon enough to avoid big losses. Almost everyone held on too long, hoping to get even.
Lesson nine: Favor a manager who employs a consistent discipline to size up stocks. Van Wagoner's returns were terrific during the tech bubble, but he always had one problem: He never had an investment discipline to back up his decisions.
Instead, he bought companies that seemed like they had good ideas-not necessarily those turning profits or increasing sales, much less selling at reasonable valuations.
If your value manager buys Google, it's usually time to sell.
Lesson ten: Avoid doing business with fund managers who've gotten into hot water with the SEC. Van Wagoner ran afoul of the Securities & Exchange Commission. In 2004, he and his firm paid $800,000 after accusations he had misspriced securities and defrauded shareholders. (Neither Van Wagoner nor his company admitted or denied guilt.)
Lesson 11: Mutual funds and mutual fund families that go bad rarely come back. Look elsewhere. Until recently, Van Wagoner kept trying to revive his career. But the best he could muster was a good quarter here and there.
Source:
http://www.kiplinger.com/columns/value/archive/2008/va0226.htm
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Two exchange-traded funds focusing on India
Two exchange-traded funds focusing on India, a fast-growing nation debut this month.
February 21, 2008
Emerging from the gate first is WisdomTree India Earnings. Relative stock weightings in this ETF, like others from WisdomTree, will be based on a company's earnings rather than market capitalization. The ETF (symbol EPI) will draw from a universe of 150 profitable Indian companies that WisdomTree will reviewed annually.
Also due out soon is PowerShares India Portfolio (PIN). This ETF, which is scheduled to start trading before March 1, will track an index of 50 stocks developed by Indus Advisors. The index is designed to represent the overall Indian stock market.
http://www.kiplinger.com/columns/fundwatch/archive/2008/fundwatch0221.htm
February 21, 2008
Emerging from the gate first is WisdomTree India Earnings. Relative stock weightings in this ETF, like others from WisdomTree, will be based on a company's earnings rather than market capitalization. The ETF (symbol EPI) will draw from a universe of 150 profitable Indian companies that WisdomTree will reviewed annually.
Also due out soon is PowerShares India Portfolio (PIN). This ETF, which is scheduled to start trading before March 1, will track an index of 50 stocks developed by Indus Advisors. The index is designed to represent the overall Indian stock market.
http://www.kiplinger.com/columns/fundwatch/archive/2008/fundwatch0221.htm
Friday, February 22, 2008
Two Great Value Funds Reopen
Steven Goldberg
February 19, 2008
In Dodge & Cox Stock and Longleaf Partners, which both just reopened to new investors, I think you have two of the fattest pitches in mutual fundom. I don't think there are any better value funds.
http://www.kiplinger.com/columns/value/archive/2008/va0219.htm
February 19, 2008
In Dodge & Cox Stock and Longleaf Partners, which both just reopened to new investors, I think you have two of the fattest pitches in mutual fundom. I don't think there are any better value funds.
http://www.kiplinger.com/columns/value/archive/2008/va0219.htm
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