The portfolio is fixed, so Holdrs have no turnover except, sometimes, in the case of mergers involving companies in the portfolios.
Its portfolio includes fixed annuity, life insurance, and health insurance.
It should also be pointed out that making a shift in your portfolio from fixed income into equities in a year when stocks have dropped is probably also a good move for tax purposes.
MBNA's interest rate sensitivity declined significantly in 2004, when the company repriced a portion of its loan portfolio from fixed to variable rates and began marketing more variable-rate offers.
"Nothing in Corning's product portfolio needs fixing," said Joseph Wolf, an analyst with UBS Warburg Securities.
For someone who worries about outliving their portfolio, doesn't have much additional income from outside the portfolio, faces mostly fixed expenses without much room to make cuts, and doesn't have much in the way of back-up reserves, it may be necessary to plan for a high probability of success.
"If you have a fixed portfolio there are some real disadvantages when the industry is so dynamic," said Henry T. C. Hu, a finance professor at the University of Texas at Austin.
Any long-term investment portfolio must include fixed income.
This will negatively affect the portfolio values of fixed income investors.
