Oakmark is the mutual fund family launched in 1991 by Harris Associates, the Chicago deep-value firm founded in 1976 (about $105bn AUM). Bill Nygren runs the flagship Oakmark Fund and David Herro the Oakmark International Fund, buying businesses at large discounts to intrinsic value and holding them like owners — publishing quarterly fund commentaries, market commentaries and insight articles.
This report shows how Oakmark Fund performed through the end of 2016. Since its start in 1991, it has averaged 12.74% annual returns, beating the market. It also did well recently: 18.35% in the past year and 16.05% over five years. The fund uses 'value investing'—buying stocks that are cheap or overlooked, not trendy ones. For everyday investors, this suggests that sticking with a low-cost fund for the long term can pay off, though you should watch out for shifts in market trends.
The Oakmark Fund (Investor Class) has demonstrated strong long-term performance as of December 31, 2016: since its inception on August 5, 1991, it has achieved an average annual total return of 12.74%, with returns of 8.50%, 16.05%, 18.35%, and 8.29% over the past 10 years, 5 years, 1 year, and 3 mo
This section presents the long-term performance of the Oakmark Fund (Investor Class) as of December 31, 2016, aiming to showcase the fund's investment results since its inception in 1991. The market environment was characterized by low interest rates and heightened volatility, yet the fund achieved significant excess returns through its value investing strategy.
The author's central investment argument is that the Oakmark Fund's value investing strategy has consistently outperformed the market over both the long term (over 25 years) and the near term (1 year, 5 years), validating the effectiveness of its stock selection approach. The counterintuitive insight is that, despite the market's general pursuit of growth stocks, the fund achieved high returns of 18.35% over the past year and 16.05% over the past five years by contrarian positioning in undervalued value stocks, demonstrating that value investing remains competitive in specific cycles.
| Time Period | Average Annual Total Return |
|---|---|
| Since Inception (08/05/1991) | 12.74% |
| 10 Years | 8.50% |
| 5 Years | 16.05% |
| 1 Year | 18.35% |
| 3 Months | 8.29% |
This section does not mention any specific companies or assets, focusing solely on the Oakmark Fund's own performance data. The fund is a multi-asset portfolio, but the report does not disclose its holdings.
For investors, this data suggests that holding a low-cost, value-oriented mutual fund (such as the Oakmark Fund) over the long term may yield stable excess returns. It is recommended to monitor the fund's historical performance persistence and assess the applicability of its value investing strategy in the current market environment. The high short-term (1-year) return of 18.35% indicates the fund's strong ability to capture opportunities during market rebounds, but investors should be mindful of the risk of style rotation.