Weitz HickoryWEHIX

Morningstar Rating

Fund Research and Analysis

by Michael Breen

Weitz Hickory is better than it looks.

At first glance this fund looks like a dud. It's in the red over the past decade, landing it in the category's bottom decile. But until 2003, it was run as an aggressive small-cap fund by Rick Lawson. Like current manager Wally Weitz, Lawson didn't mind firms with a bit of debt. Read more

Kudos

Has had extended periods of strong performance.

The fund's manager has built great long-term records at his other charges. Read more

Risks

Concentrated portfolio and sector biases lead to dramatic performance swings, including deep losses. Read more

Strategy

Historically, the fund has emphasized out-of-favor stocks that its management thinks are cheap relative to the present value of their future cash flows, and it has frequently made large individual stock and sector bets. Read more

Management

Rick Lawson ran the fund from its 1993 inception through 2002. Firm founder Wally Weitz took his place at the end of 2002. Weitz has built great long-term records at Weitz Value and Weitz Partners Value. The firm has seven investment professionals, including a recently added small-cap analyst. Read more

Inside Scoop

This value fund holds only about 30 stocks and concentrates its holdings in a few sectors. Although the fund has stumbled badly at times, over the years the strategy has worked well. Read more

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