Legends coming up Short

A lot of questionable financial advice is dispensed on television by so called experts. Nearly every week I see people I used to work with pitching their wares and advice in the media.  Here is the dirty little secret....they stink.

But they are good marketers.

And the start of the year Dagen McDowell of Fox News offered up a few picks of her own. Dagen is no slouch, having dispatched the Boys on her show three years running.  Maybe Wayne Rogers and Co. checked into the infirmary given the bloody beating Dagen gave them in 2004-’06.

We decided to defend the honor of men everywhere, and picked four mutual fund managers to take on the four mutual fund picks Dagen went with.

Nobody is lighting the world on fire. I will take a gain of 8.80% through the first six months of the year, although I could be in trouble if small-caps lag in the second half.

Dagen’s portfolio is about 200 basis points behind mine, and are managers our as a whole are tracking in line with the 50th percentile rank against their peers.

What is notable is who is coming up short. Dagen has one fixed income manager in her ranks, the one and only Bill Gross of PIMCO. His Harbor Bond fund is struggling mightily this year:  its performance against its peers is about as lame as the .05% year-to-date gain he is showing.

Equally as pathetic is Tom Marsico’s showing in his large-cap growth stock fund. Tom’s success in recent years allowed him to gather assets at a rapid pace, his shop is likely a very profitable one given the business model. It might not be 1 and 20 but he has reached the scale needed to make for a nice annuity stream.

With Marsico’s Focus (MFOCX) fund up only 1.61% through the end of June, he better hope an outsized position in United Healthcare (UNH-NYSE) works out.

True, these positions are stale, and might have changed, but we wonder what is going on in Denver. We initially considered picking up-and-comer Corydon Gilchrist, pictured, as a horse in the race, but Marsico’s name is on the door. In addition, we appreciate Marsico’s chutzpah given he told Tom Bailey to stick it a few years ago, just as Janus began to unravel. Nice timing there.

Gilchrist’s vehicle, the Marsico 21st Century (MXXIX) fund, is shooting the lights out, up over 22% over the past year thanks to stocks like Mastercard Inc. (MA-NYSE) and is among the top two or three Large-Cap growth funds over the trailing three and five years.  Which leads us to wonder…

Who is the real stud at Marsico Capital?

Not bad for a Hawkeye.

Well done Cory, well done.

Boys Town
1440 Wall Street
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The content contained represent the opinions of 1440 Wall Street. This commentary in no way constitutes a solicitation of business or investment advice. It is intended solely for the entertainment of the reader, and the author. No position in securities mentioned

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