This large blend fund is rated five stars by Morningstar.
Oakmark I (OAKMX)
from Bob Carlson’s Retirement Watch
Oakmark I (OAKMX), a value stock fund, had strong returns each of the last three years, but like the stock indexes, it’s been volatile the last six months. For the last three months it has a positive return of 4.58%, but for the last month it is down 1.73%. These returns lag a bit behind the S&P 500.
Oakmark’s unique value strategy proved itself over the years. The team analyzes only the largest 250 companies in the markets and will consider those selling at least 40% below the fund’s estimate of their actual worth. Then, the fund analyzes the firm’s business, management, competition, and other factors that affect growth.
The fund doesn’t use only one method to estimate the real values of companies. It recognizes that different companies and industries need to be valued in different ways. There is no attempt to follow an index. Stock and industry weightings usually vary greatly from major indexes.
Finally, the fund focuses only on what it thinks are its best ideas. Recently, it held 58 stocks and the 10 largest holdings made up 23% of the fund. The largest positions recently were State Street, Bank of America, Apache, MasterCard and American International Group. Financial services and technology together are over half the fund. Add new cash, and sell below $59.75.
Bob C. Carlson, Bob Carlson’s Retirement Watch, www.retirementwatch.com, February 2015