Brian Rogers was only three years into his tenure at T. Rowe Price when he was tapped in 1985 to launch its value- oriented Equity Income Fund. “I raised my hand, but to be honest,” he says, “this was mostly a growth-stock organization then and not many other hands went up.”
Still at the helm 28 years later, Rogers’ 29 billion (assets) fund has earned a net annualized 11.0% since inception, vs. 9.4% for the Lipper Equity Income Fund Index. Since 2004 he has also served as T. Rowe Price’s Chief Investment Officer, and in 2007 was named its Chairman.
Rarely lacking for ideas on which to take a contrarian stance, he’s finding investment opportunity today in such diverse areas as consumer electronics, energy, department stores and cruise lines.
Scenic Detours
So-called “fallen angels” often never really rise back up. Jim Larkins over time has shown an impressive knack for identifying the ones that will.
That most of his Wasatch Advisors’ colleagues are growth investors doesn’t bother Jim Larkins in the least. “Our core competence as a firm is identifying great growth stories,” he says. “I just wait to pick them off if they become value priced.”
His eye thus far has proven reliably sharp. The Wasatch Small Cap Value Fund Larkins has managed or co-managed since the beginning of 1999 has earned a net annualized 12.5% since then, vs. 7.5% for the Russell 2000 index.
Pursuing ideas that growth investors are leaving and value investors have yet to find, he’s seeing opportunity today in a variety of places, including biotechnology, energy, apparel retailing, enterprise software and mattresses.
