[Back to Annex Home]
Fund name: Manning & Napier Equity (EXEYX)
Objective: Long-term growth of capital through investments in US common stocks and
exchange-traded funds. In selecting securities, the advisor uses fundamental analysis and
looks for strong strategic profiles (what Mr. Buffett and those nice people on W. Wacker Drive
refer to as "economic moats"), improving market share, and low price relative to its breakup
value. They've used the same discipline in their private accounts for 30 years.
Adviser: Manning & Napier Advisors, which was founded in 1970 and manages about $11 billion for high-net-worth individuals and institutions.
Manager: A team of six analysts who have worked at Manning and Napier for between seven and 20 years.
Inception: July 1, 2002
Three-year return: 21.8% per year
Standard deviation: 10
Five-year return: N/A
Minimum investment: $2,000 for direct investors, $25,000 through a financial intermediary.
Expense ratio: 1.05% on an asset base of $3 million
David's comments: Manning & Napier Equity is one of Morningstar's tiniest five-star funds and serves as a really good illustration of an interesting niche in the fund world. There are a number of private managers who run one or two or a few mutual funds as a sort of side business or, sometimes, "public service." The prime audience for the fund might be the manager's own staff, or their
clients' staffs and families. As a result, these funds have no great interest in accumulating
assets, hence they don't assess 12(b)1 fees. They often have modest minimums to keep them
accessible to their target audience and frequently have much lower expense ratios than their
asset bases would otherwise support.
Manning & Napier Equity has been around for a bit over three years. It has a portfolio of about 50 mostly
large and mid-sized stocks across a range of valuations. It has about the same risk as the
S&P500 but has had consistently higher returns. Their Annual Report contains just one page
of text, which is short, clear and sensible: they've taken some profits in energy but maintain a
fair amount of exposure there as a hedge against the effects on high oil prices on the rest of the
portfolio, they stressed the importance of watching funds' performances in down markets as well
as good times, and they dismissed the notion of "spectacular returns," though there was a
steady flow of reasonable opportunities presented by the market's volatility. They've made a bit
more than their peers in up years and lost a bit less in down years. And they publish the
fund's holdings monthly, an unusually open gesture.
Company link: http://www.manningnapieradvisors.com/www/exeter_fund_listing.asp?Series=5&Type=2
[Back to Annex Home]
April 1, 2006