Q. What do you make of Weitz Value Fund? I thought it would be a stronger performer for me.
More Top Picks Best Handheld Percussion Massagers For Deep Tissue
–J.T., via the Internet
A. The most famous value investor in Omaha behind Warren Buffett is the fund’s manager, Wallace Weitz.
A successful protege of Buffett, Weitz has amassed an excellent long-term track record in his management of the fund since its inception in 1986. Yet, as you’ve found out the hard way, its results haven’t been so hot lately.
That’s because Weitz, by sticking with the groups he knows best and with stocks trading at a discount to what he considers intrinsic value, can experience big swings in his portfolio’s performance as his ideas move in and out of favor. For example, he owns no energy stocks and those have been outstanding performers for some time.
Through Monday, the $2.8 billion Weitz Value Fund (WVALX) had a total return of 2.5 percent over the past 12 months and had a three-year annualized return of 9.2 percent. Both results ranked in the bottom one-fifth of large value funds.
“We highly recommend Weitz Value because it has an experienced manager with his name on the door–so he’s not going away soon–and a coherent, disciplined strategy tested over time,” said Todd Trubey, analyst with Morningstar Inc. in Chicago, noting that it also has relatively low costs. “Chances are this fund will turn around soon and this is an opportune time to own it.”
Trubey envisions the fund as an anchor in a portfolio and best paired with a large-cap growth fund for some balance. Weitz is willing to buy controversial stocks, load up on sectors to find bargains and hold a lot of cash when nothing meets his standards.
The fund has 43 percent of its assets in financial services, with 27 percent in media. The fund’s top holdings are Fannie Mae, Berkshire Hathaway and Comcast.
This “no-load” fund requires a $10,000 minimum initial investment and has an annual expense ratio of 1.12 percent.
Q. I have paper certificates for most of my stocks and seem to have misplaced some of them during my recent move. What should I do?
–P.S., via the Internet
A. The process would be easier if you had made photocopies of your stock certificates and kept them in a safe place apart from the originals.
“However, if you’ve already lost the certificates, immediately contact the transfer agent and ask that a `stop transfer’ be placed against the missing securities,” said Susan Wyderko, director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Investor Education and Assistance in Washington.
Your broker should be able to tell you the transfer agent’s name. So can the SEC at [email protected] or 800-732-0330.
To obtain new certificates, the company will ask you to explain the loss in a document to be signed by you and a notary. You may have to buy an indemnity bond to protect the firm and transfer agent against the possibility that someone sold the certificates.
———-
Andrew Leckey is a Tribune Media Services columnist. E-mail him at [email protected].