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December 19, 2011 at 04:33 AM
Most people would accept that each of us has our strengths and weaknesses. That said, I have always believed that in order to improve, one must try to strengthen the weaknesses. In the area of portfolio management it’s important to take an objective look at our decision making. In other words, is the process that we follow geared for success or failure? In case this is somewhat vague, let me clarify with an exercise I began this week.
I made a list every mutual fund I have bought or sold this year. The, I graphed each, and placed a mark on the graph to indicate when I bought and when I sold. The results were very interesting. For example, I sold the Fairholme Fund (FAIRX) on June 24th. Since that date, the fund’s price per share dropped approximately $7.00, from $31.22 to just over $24.00. That was a good decision. However, not all decisions panned out. For example, I held onto the Stadion Fund (ETFFX) which continued to fall since around mid-February. In fact, as of the end of November, it was off 13.31% YTD.
Another critical factor in this process is to look at the amount of exposure our practice has to a particular fund. If we have some funds with poor performance, but they are a very small part of our entire book, then the problem is not as critical. That’s not to say that we should ignore it. To the contrary, we should strive for excellence at all times. However, it is the funds in which we have the largest positions that will have the greatest impact on our clients and hence, our practice. For example, in the case of Stadion, I have a little over 5.0% of my book in it.
