Tactical? Buy and hold? Strategic? There are good signs up for the market for the moment, but will the good signs last? How do we position ourselves for the future?
I've been an advocate for flexible funds for a number of years. You know what I mean, right? I mean "flexible" in terms of being a fund like Ivy Asset Strategy, BlackRock Global Allocation, Invesco Balanced Risk Allocation, Templeton Global Bond and/or Legg Mason BW Global Opportunities Bond Fund. Another (unsung) one I like and have used for many years is James Balanced: Golden Rainbow — although it's not flexible in the same go anywhere sense as some of the others. It's got a sensational record, though. I found it years ago in a Barron's article. Invesco and Legg Mason BW have been sterling throughout the fall and early winter. BlackRock has been good. Ivy has been less wonderful, mostly due to its positioning for the future.
I have been watching Bill Sherman closely. (He provides "The Sherman Sheet," a subscription e-newsletter that offers market and portfolio guidance.) Heck, I've been watching everything closely. A third-party manager, Portfolio Strategies (PSI) of Tacoma, Wash., has a good non-correlating approach that uses a number of different managers that has created good returns in bad markets.
