WASATCH STRATEGIC INCOME FUND

I put new money to work today in a mutual fund named Wasatch Strategic Income Fund (WASIX). The Wasatch funds are a favorite of mine and I have been a holder of Wasatch Micro Cap for 7 years. It has returned an average of 17.45 percent a year for the past 5 years and 22.71 percent per year for the past 10 years. It is now closed to new investors and this is customary to the Wasatch group. They feel that to get the returns they want they don't want a huge amount of money flooding in because they can't put it to work and get the returns they want. So they close the fund and work with the money they have as very few investors cash in their shares because the returns are so good.
Occasionally they will open a new fund as they did last year with Strategic Income. The fund may invest in equity and fixed income assets, with at least 65 percent of assets in income producing securities. Stocks generally will account for most of the Fund's investments, with those chosen falling into three main categotries: Blue Chip, Dividend Growth, and Value.
I also have shares in Wasatch Small Cap Growth, Wasatch International Growth, Wasatch Small Cap Value, and Wasatch Heritage Growth. The only one open to new investors is Wasatch Heritage Growth which is a fairly new fund.
I think this is an excellent time to invest in a income-oriented type of fund. The current economic enviroment of slow but steady growth is one that historically has been positioned for dividend-paying stocks. As the Boomer population bulge continues to age, I think dividend paying stocks are likely to gain in popularity, which in turn could lead the prices of these stocks to rise.