| What’s Next for Berkowitz and Fairholme? | 11/3/09 |
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Legendary investor Bruce Berkowitz saw his Fairholme Fund (Nasdaq: FAIRX) decline by -29.7% in 2008, but Fairholme is up 26% compared to a 15% gain for the S&P 500 so far in 2009. Like many value-focused investors, Berkowitz was using the market’s desperate dips over the last year to find bargains. Berkowitz told the Los Angeles Times in July, “There are better bargains now than any time in the last 10 years.” With market rally possibly peaking, investors will be curious to see how Berkowitz was deploying his funds for Q4. The recent performance of some of Berkowitz’s end-of-Q2 holdings show his bargain hunting likely paid off. Credit card company American Express (AXP), independent auto finance company Americredit (ACF), and health insurer WellCare Health Plans (WCG) are all up more than 30% since the end of Q2. Health insurer Humana (HUM), aerospace giant Boeing (BA), aircraft parts producer Spirit AeroSystems (SPR), and top holding Pfizer (PFE) have also done well. Investors won’t be sure of where Berkowitz stands now until later this month, when the deadline for end-of-Q3 filings hits. At tickerspy.com, members can track Berkowitz’s latest holdings, see a graph of their combined performance, and be notified when new holdings are made public. Pro portfolio performance is based on institutions’ top-15 holdings as disclosed in quarter-end filings with the SEC. Pro performance does not take into account additional holdings beyond the top 15 nor does it include positions that are not required to be disclosed by the SEC. As such, Pro portfolio performance should be considered an approximation and not a precise record of how an institution has performed over time. |
