Akre Focus Fund Q3 commentary
Akre Focus Fund
The Akre Focus Fund Retail Shares (AKREX) and Institutional Shares (AKRIX) returned 6.99% and 7.11% net of fees and expenses, respectively in the third quarter of 2013 versus the S&P 500 with a return of 5.24%. Therefore, for the nine months ending September 30, 2013, the fund had returns of 26.99% for retail shares and 27.23% for the institutional shares versus the S&P 500 with a return of 19.79%.
Our positions in MasterCard and Moody’s Corp. were the largest contributors to performance over the quarter. NuSTAR Energy L.P. and DirecTV were the most meaningful detractors from performance over the quarter. At the end of the third quarter the Fund was approximately 89% invested and the portfolio held 29 positions.
For many, the strength of the stock market in the first nine months of 2013 has been a pleasant surprise. Year to date we have kept a relatively high level of capital deployed while retaining sufficient cash to enable us to be flexible should we encounter uncertainty in the market. We continue to remain highly confident about the businesses owned in the portfolio as well as in our process for finding new opportunities.
As always we thank you for your confidence in our firm’s ability to manage your assets. Do know that we treat each dollar as if it were our own, striving to achieve desirable outcomes.
Chuck Akre