Investors in actively managed mutual funds all have one thing in common: the hope that their manager will beat the market. That is particularly true among investors who trust their money to managers boasting reputations as shrewd stock pickers.
Lately, conditions have been quite favorable for stock investors. For instance, between the start of 2012 and May 24 of this year, the Standard & Poor's 500 index gained more than 30 percent.
As the market reaches new highs, U.S. News checked in on how well six all-star fund managers are navigating the current environment. All six have gained fame for establishing a track record of picking winners. But have they been keeping up with the market as of late?
Don Yacktman's Yacktman Fund trailed the S&P 500 by an average 0.79 points for the last three years.
Although Yacktman is now considered one of the mutual fund industry's most talented managers, it hasn't always been that way.
There was a time when even his own board of directors wanted to oust him as the manager of his flagship Yacktman Fund. That happened in the late 1990s when Yacktman, despite enjoying tremendous success earlier in his career, seemed to have lost his touch. In the aftermath of the failed bid to unseat him, Yacktman has posted stellar returns.
During the recent bull market, his fund's performance has been steady, but as of May 24, the Yacktman Fund's three-year returns trailed the S&P 500 by an average of 0.79 percentage points per year. Ultimately, this fund has worked best for investors willing to stay put for the long haul. Yacktman will sometimes have off years, as he did in 2012, but the fund's long-term numbers speak for themselves: Over the trailing 15-year period, the fund has beaten the S&P 500 by an average of 4.82 percentage points per year.
[Read: Mutual Fund Scorecard: How 6 Famous Stock Pickers Stack Up.]
Bruce Berkowitz's Fairholme Fund smoked the competition in 2012, beating the S&P 500 by nearly 20 points.
For a long time, Berkowitz seemed to be as close to infallible as any mutual fund manager the industry has ever seen. But then 2011 came along.
That year, Fairholme shed 32 percent. Since then, however, the fund has taken full advantage of the bull market. Coming off its losses, the fund smoked the competition in 2012, beating the S&P 500 by nearly 20 percentage points. Meanwhile, as of May 24, the fund was up 20.83 percent in 2013. That's more than four percentage points better than the S&P 500.
The fund's good fortune during the recent market surge is attributable largely to its mammoth stake in AIG, whose strong returns have bolstered its performance. As of the end of February, the fund had more than 40 percent of its portfolio invested in AIG. Although that bet has worked out well recently, AIG was also responsible for the fund's terrible performance in 2011.
[Read: The Risks and Rewards of Concentrated Funds.]
Bill Miller's Legg Mason Opportunity bounced back from a rough patch to beat the S&P 500 by 18 points in 2013.
Like Yacktman, Bill Miller once had the floor fall out from beneath him. Between 2006 and 2008, Miller's Legg Mason Capital Management Value fund finished each year in the bottom 3 percent of Morningstar's large-cap blend category.
In 2008, the fund lost more than 54 percent. That was quite the losing streak for a man who had beaten the S&P 500 for 15 consecutive years prior to 2006. Miller is no longer at the helm of Legg Mason Capital Management Value, but since 1999, he has been a manger of the Legg Mason Opportunity fund. Like Legg Mason Capital Management Value, Legg Mason Opportunity had a brutal 2008, losing more than 65 percent.
In 2009, though, the fund gained an astounding 83 percent. After some additional struggles in 2010 and 2011, the fund has regained its footing during the recent bull market. Last year, for instance, Miller beat the S&P 500 by more than 23 percentage points. Meanwhile, through May 24, the fund had an advantage of nearly 18 percentage points over the S&P 500 in 2013.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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