byron[at]upstairs (none) (Byron Jeff) writes:

- quote -

I did say, that's just me. :-) I generally feel better investing my
money in actively-managed value funds with relatively compact
portfolios, than index funds. Oakmark has the reputation of being an
ethical and shareholder-friendly company, and they publish really good
manager reports and market commentary every quarter. I even like to
read the commentary about the funds I don't own. Right now, in fact,
I only own OAKIX; I somewhat reluctantly sold my OAKBX which I held in
an old 401(k) account when I did a rollover and Roth conversion on
that money, but only because I felt that holding a balanced fund no
longer made sense in my overall asset allocation and tax
diversification plan.

Anyway, both OAKIX and OAKBX are among the very best funds in their
respective categories. OAKBX, in particular, is one of those funds
that seems to churn out steady returns year after year, and that over
the long term has out-performed many all-equity funds with far less
volatility. It's a great core holding that will let you sleep at
night. There aren't too many balanced funds with similar long-term
records that are accessible to new investors at all.... DODBX is
closed, and VWELX requires a $10K initial investment, for instance.
And PRWCX has recently undergone a manager change and it's not clear
whether the new team will live up to the old one.

-Sandra the cynic

In article <m3wsxy9yv1.fsf[at]localhost.localdomain> ,
Sandra Loosemore <sandra[at]frogsonice.com> wrote:
- quote -

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I'm at the starting from scratch phase with my Roth. I have an
opportunity to finally retire all of our bad stupid debt and fund Roths.
I was all set to open a Vanguard online account and fully fund one their
low expense index options.

So why Oakmark?

Brief rundown:

Early 40s, $100K+ combined income, 401k's funded up to the match, $145k
mortgage with limited equity.

Honestly I'm looking for a fund it and forget it solution. I have up to
the $8K max required to fund both funds.

Any suggestion?

BAJ