To: Tom D who wrote (61415 ) 9/24/2002 5:29:54 PM From: RetiredNow Read Replies (1) | Respond to It looks good. It's mid cap, which should do better than over priced large caps. Plus it's heavily into consumer durables & staples, as well as energy, and industrial cyclicals. It seems well diversified in it's own right, although that makes we wonder about the fund's focus. Anyway, it seems like a good defensive mutual fund to me. I have also had a few talks with my financial planner about what he thinks of natural resources, energy, and precious metals. He actually talked me out of increasing our weighting in natural resources and utilities, because he said some corporate debenture funds are actually less volatile and get better returns. We also talked about reducing our exposure to REITs, which we think have had a good run, but since the fund I'm in has a 5.5% yield and is mostly in commercial, we felt that maybe we'd be a little protected from any consumer debt implosion. Anyway, I'm rambling, but there's a lot to ponder nowadays. The best thing to do is exactly what you and I are doing...having active ongoing conversations with our financial planners about how to reduce risk and get a little defensive just in case things go nuts out there, while still maintaining our moderate growth posture. Tough decisions to make now. :)
