July 28, 2012, Bob Brinker's January Mutual Fund Changes

July 28, 2012....In January 2012, Bob Brinker made several changes in his Marketimer model portfolio mutual fund holdings.  Let's take a look and see how that has worked out.

Model Portfolio II:

SELL: 10% weighting in Vanguard Total Stock Market (VTSMX) reducing holding to 40%; 

BUY: 10% weighting in Akre Focus Fund (AKREX) thereby establishing this holding; 

SELL: 5%  weighting in Dodge & Cox Int'l (DODFX) thereby eliminating holding; 

BUY: 5% weighting in Vanguard Int'l Growth (VWIGX) increasing holding to 10%. 

Model Portfolio III changes were exactly the same as portfolio II, but weighting on each item was half the amounts in Portfolio II. 

Model Portfolio I made the same buys, but sold Baron Partners Fund  (BPTRX) to purchase a 15% weighting in AKREX. That was a good move. Barons has fallen out of bed.

Akre Focus Fund has done remarkably well this year, and has outperformed the Total Stock Market Fund. However, the international fund change accomplished little so far this year -- performances are very similar.

So it looks like these were good moves and have helped Brinker's performance record so far this year. However, remember that AKREX is not  highly diversified, like Brinker always recommends.

The top 10 holdings represent over 50% of its holdings. Some of its stock holding are close to 10% which breaks Brinker's long-held recommendation not to have more than 4% in any individual stock. On the other hand, the fund is now holding 22% cash.

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