The Legendary Value Fund with Close Links to Billionaire Buffett (SEQUX, BRK.A, GS, VRX, GOOG, IBM, WMT, WAG, TGT, TJX, FAST, BRK.B)

A stalwart of the mutual fund world has been quietly having a solid year.

The venerable, value-focused Sequoia Fund (SEQUX) opened to new investors for the first time in 26 years during 2008, but the fund lost about -27% over the course of the year. Though this easily outperformed the S&P 500, it was an underwhelming result. In 2009, the fund rebounded by 15% but trailed the S&P 500. This year, however, the fund is up by 4%, well ahead of the S&P 500’s -6% decline.

Sequoia is managed by the firm Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb, which was founded by William Ruane, who died in 2005. Like another legendary value investor, Warren Buffett, Ruane was a disciple of Benjamin Graham, and indeed it was Buffett who recommended Ruane to a number of investors when Ruane was just starting out, helping to get the Sequoia Fund off the ground. Like Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B), Sequoia is known for holding positions for many years, even decades in some cases.

Looking at Ruane’s top-15, U.S.-listed, equity holdings, Sequoia and Buffett still have a lot in common. Ruane’s largest holding by far is in Berkshire Hathaway. During the Q2, Ruane was trimming the stake.

Elsewhere, the firm opened new positions in beleaguered investment bank Goldman Sachs Group (GS) and drug firm Valeant Pharms Intl (VRX). The firm also added to stakes in tech giants Google (GOOG) and IBM (IBM) and discount retailer Wal-Mart Stores (WMT).

Meanwhile, Ruane was cutting stakes in drugstore Walgreen (WAG), discount retailers Target (TGT) and TJX Companies (TJX), and industrial and construction supply company Fastenal (FAST).

Looking at tickerspy.com’s graph charting the performance of Ruane’s end-of-Q2 holdings during the current quarter, one can see that the holdings have kept pace with the market. If you want to see how your performance stacks up to this legendary mutual fund firm or to see some of the other stocks it’s invested in, visit tickerspy.com to see the firm’s top holdings and a chart of their combined performance.

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.

Tags: BRK-A, BRK-B, FAST, GOOG, GS, IBM, SEQUX, TGT, TJX, VRX, WAG, WMT