2
promised, he closed the fund when it hit
$1
.
5
billion
in assets.
At Sentinel, only one analyst was left behind, and he
was promoted to manager. However, in
2012
, he and
the rest of the team built around him were hired away
by Eagle Asset Management and Sentinel had to
start over once again. Sentinel Small Company and
Champlain Small Company have
12%
stock overlap.
Winner:
Champlain returned
10
.
1%
annualized
versus
8
.
9%
for Sentinel. Champlain’s prospects are
also much brighter with its team still intact.
First Eagle Overseas
SGOVX
vs.
IVA International
IVIOX
IVA
is another shop with founders who vowed to close
at a modest asset base unlike their previous firm.
They were good to their word and closed this fund as
well as
IVA Worldwide
IVWAX
quickly, while the
First Eagle funds grew into giants. First Eagle eventu-
ally closed First Eagle Overseas in May
2014
but
not
First Eagle Global
SGENX
. Today, First Eagle
Overseas is
$15
billion compared with
$3
.
5
billion
for
IVA
International. First Eagle Global is still open
and
$50
billion large compared with
IVA
World-
wide, which is closed and
$10
billion.
To the credit of both, the funds have stayed true to
their conservative knitting and tried to protect
against damaging losses. They have only
9%
holdings
overlap, though, in part because
IVA
can buy
smaller companies.
Winner:
IVA
did the better of the two, and
IVA
Inter-
national is up
11
.
36%
annualized since its
2008
incep-
tion compared with
9
.
6%
annualized for First Eagle
Overseas. However, First Eagle has made up ground
after the bear as evidenced by its five-year returns.
Looking forward, the conservative style of these
funds will likely have some chances to shine in
the next few years. Will First Eagle be as nimble
with
5
times the asset base?
Hennessy Focus
HFCSX
vs. Akre Focus
AKREX
In this case, Hennessy Focus’ analysts stayed with
that fund while the manager launched a new fund
and hired a small team of analysts to replace those
he lost. Chuck Akre lost ground early on because
he started Akre Focus in September
2009
with a huge
pile of cash. That held the fund back as the market
roared. The funds share
18%
of their portfolios, with
longtime favorites
American Tower
AMT
and
Markel
MKL
in both.
Still, there’s a lot to like with Akre. He’s rebuilt the
analyst staff and continues to run a compact
portfolio of steady three-legged-stool plays. His
fund even charges less than Hennessy, though
both are expensive.
Winner:
Despite the slow start, Akre has returned
18
.
6%
versus
17
.
5%
for Hennessy. Both funds
have acquitted themselves well, and you can’t
complain with either result.
Mutual Global Discovery
TEDIX
vs.
PIMCO EqS Pathfinder
PTHDX
PIMCO
EqS Pathfinder marked
PIMCO
’s bold move
into equities. It did have some enhanced index funds,
but this would be its first attempt at stock-picking.
PIMCO
hired Anne Gudefin and Charles Lahr away
Fund vs. Fund Showdown
Continued From Cover
Fund
Morningstar
Analyst
Rating
Prospectus
Net Expense
Ratio %
Inception
Date
Return %
12/01/04
to
05/31/14
Champlain Sm Cmp CIPSX
•
1.38 11/30/04
10.08
Sentinel Sm Cmp SAGWX
‰
1.21 3/1/93 8.90
Fund
Morningstar
Analyst
Rating
Prospectus
Net Expense
Ratio %
Inception
Date
Return %
10/01/08
to
05/31/14
First Eagle Overseas SGOVX
•
1.15 8/31/93 9.64
IVA International IVIOX
•
1.26 9/30/08
11.36
Fund
Morningstar
Analyst
Rating
Prospectus
Net Expense
Ratio %
Inception
Date
Return %
09/01/09
to
05/31/14
Akre Focus Retail AKREX
•
1.36 8/31/09
18.62
Hennessy Focus HFCSX
´
1.44 12/31/96 17.47
