Bruce Berkowitz is probably the best among the younger generations of investors. He has delivered stellar returns for a large group of shareholders over the past decade. He was named by our users as Investment Guru of the Year 2009, and was also Morningstar Fund Manager of the Decade.
Berkowitz’s ability to outperform the market when it is both up and down contributes greatly to him earning these titles. Since inception in 1999, his Fairholme Fund has beat the S&P500 in ten out of eleven years, often times by double digit percentage points. Despite the down markets in 2002 and 2008, he successfully navigated his fund through the crashes and came out on top.
Another one of the factors that sets Berkowitz over other investors is that he is able to outperform the market no matter how much money he manages. During the Fairholme Fund’s early years, Berkowitz managed around $100 million, and beating the market was relatively easy. Just 11 years later, he now manages almost $19 billion, and still gained 25.5% last year, once again bettering the market by more than 10%.
How can he possibly do it? What is his secret?
Everyone wants to ask these questions. That is why when GuruFocus users got a chance to ask him questions, so many questions were asked and it seemed impossible to get all of them answered.
“Do you have a limit to the amount of money you can manage effectively?” Perots, one of our members, asked.
Maybe there isn’t. But with so much money under management, Mr. Berkowitz has a smaller investment universe that most of us. He has to work extra harder to move the mountain.
This may not be good news for Fairholme shareholders (congratulations to you if you are). But it is certainly good news for those who follow the gurus.
Why? Because with so much money under management, Bruce Berkowitz can now easily own more than 5% of the company total shares outstanding. He is required by SEC to report his holdings in these companies within 2-10 days of his trades. Once he reports, these trades are within minutes reported on GuruFocus, with information fully processed. Premium Members will also receive email alerts.
For clarifications, most of fund managers are required to report their portfolios once every three months. The reported portfolio is usually 1-2 months old. These are the guru stock picks and portfolios you see on GuruFocus if you are not a premium member. But if you are, you can check out the most recent trades of the gurus with the companies that they own at least 5% of the companies. A lot of these trades are within 2 days. They are listed under Real Time Picks.
Strictly speaking, these trades are not the trades that just happened, they are the trades that gurus made in the last several days.
With the money he now manages, Bruce Berkowitz has to report his trades even if he made a very small change to the numbers of shares. Since we reported 2010 third quarter portfolio of Bruce Berkowitz back in Nov., we also reported ten “Real Time Trades” of Bruce Berkowitz. These ten trades have gained an average of more than 40%!
Do you wish you have bought these stocks immediately after he bought?
Today one of his favorite companies, St. Joe (JOE, Financial) made a lot of news. Shares are drastically higher following news that the the Standstill Agreement with Bruce Berkowitz's Fairholme Capital will expire and be terminated immediately. The agreement will allow Fairholme to acquire more than 30% of the non-voting shares.
Interestingly, he reported his trades with St. Joe in the past several days. They are filed under Real Time Buys/Sells by Bruce Berkowitz.
GuruFocus Premium Members can monitor the real time picks of Bruce Berkowitz, Warren Buffett through the page of Real Time Picks or email alerts. If you are not a Premium Member, we invite you for a 7-day Free Trial.
Also check out:
Berkowitz’s ability to outperform the market when it is both up and down contributes greatly to him earning these titles. Since inception in 1999, his Fairholme Fund has beat the S&P500 in ten out of eleven years, often times by double digit percentage points. Despite the down markets in 2002 and 2008, he successfully navigated his fund through the crashes and came out on top.
Another one of the factors that sets Berkowitz over other investors is that he is able to outperform the market no matter how much money he manages. During the Fairholme Fund’s early years, Berkowitz managed around $100 million, and beating the market was relatively easy. Just 11 years later, he now manages almost $19 billion, and still gained 25.5% last year, once again bettering the market by more than 10%.
How can he possibly do it? What is his secret?
Everyone wants to ask these questions. That is why when GuruFocus users got a chance to ask him questions, so many questions were asked and it seemed impossible to get all of them answered.
“Do you have a limit to the amount of money you can manage effectively?” Perots, one of our members, asked.
Maybe there isn’t. But with so much money under management, Mr. Berkowitz has a smaller investment universe that most of us. He has to work extra harder to move the mountain.
This may not be good news for Fairholme shareholders (congratulations to you if you are). But it is certainly good news for those who follow the gurus.
Why? Because with so much money under management, Bruce Berkowitz can now easily own more than 5% of the company total shares outstanding. He is required by SEC to report his holdings in these companies within 2-10 days of his trades. Once he reports, these trades are within minutes reported on GuruFocus, with information fully processed. Premium Members will also receive email alerts.
For clarifications, most of fund managers are required to report their portfolios once every three months. The reported portfolio is usually 1-2 months old. These are the guru stock picks and portfolios you see on GuruFocus if you are not a premium member. But if you are, you can check out the most recent trades of the gurus with the companies that they own at least 5% of the companies. A lot of these trades are within 2 days. They are listed under Real Time Picks.
Strictly speaking, these trades are not the trades that just happened, they are the trades that gurus made in the last several days.
With the money he now manages, Bruce Berkowitz has to report his trades even if he made a very small change to the numbers of shares. Since we reported 2010 third quarter portfolio of Bruce Berkowitz back in Nov., we also reported ten “Real Time Trades” of Bruce Berkowitz. These ten trades have gained an average of more than 40%!
Do you wish you have bought these stocks immediately after he bought?
Today one of his favorite companies, St. Joe (JOE, Financial) made a lot of news. Shares are drastically higher following news that the the Standstill Agreement with Bruce Berkowitz's Fairholme Capital will expire and be terminated immediately. The agreement will allow Fairholme to acquire more than 30% of the non-voting shares.
Interestingly, he reported his trades with St. Joe in the past several days. They are filed under Real Time Buys/Sells by Bruce Berkowitz.
GuruFocus Premium Members can monitor the real time picks of Bruce Berkowitz, Warren Buffett through the page of Real Time Picks or email alerts. If you are not a Premium Member, we invite you for a 7-day Free Trial.
Also check out:
