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m* take on oakmark addition to vanguard windsor2

a2z
edited December 2025 in Fund Discussions
i like 31 flavors of value from good managers, but not higher fees for more largecap index members.
maybe more fees needed for what seems to be regular dismissal costs by vanguard? let's take it out from ceo & friends comp.

"...a mix of value approaches: Aristotle for quality value; Hotchkis & Wiley for deep value; Sanders for behavioral value; and now, Harris Oakmark for flexible but traditional value. However, the resulting portfolio will remain sprawling, with 175-195 stocks, and relatively diffuse, with active share expected to remain among the lowest in the large-value Morningstar Category. Moreover, it’s unclear whether the strengths of the underlying subadvisors are preserved or diluted in the aggregate..."

Comments

  • Sven
    My sentiment is the same. Multiple active manager approach, in my opinion, creates more conflicting stock picking that may cancelling out each unique approaches. In the end, this may increase the short term volatility and not yet not obtaining the desired long term performance. If the “active shares %” stays low, this approach is not any better than the respective large cap value index fund.

    Why not invest with Dodge & Cox stock fund that has one of the highest active share %, and a single proven value investing approach?

    This approach reminds me of the Masters Selected funds started by Gregory and Litman Advisors back in the 90’s.
  • sma3
    Masters Select sounded like a great idea but the fees killed it.

    Anybody know good source of active share stats?
  • Sven
    The free version of MorningStar does not have active share statistics on funds. Some mutual fund websites disclose them such as Dodge & Cox. Oakmark has their active share data buried inside and one has search for them.
  • Observant1
    edited December 2025
    Several of Vanguard's actively manged funds have too many subadvisors.
    Vanguard Windsor II Fund with four subadvisors is one such fund.
    When there are three or more subadvisors, they may conflict with one another
    and/or the portfolio holdings may resemble an index fund albeit with higher fees.

    If I'm seeking a Vanguard actively managed equity fund,
    I prefer funds managed solely by PRIMECAP Management or Wellington Management.
    VWILX managed jointly by Baillie Gifford and Schroder Investment Management
    is also worthy of consideration (it's a relatively volatile fund).

    A link for Vanguard's active portfolio managers is below.
    https://workplace.vanguard.com/tools/investment/active-portfolio-managers.html
  • equalizer
    Some high active share funds
    90%+

    Note on Data: Performance is based on data available as of late 2025. "Active Share" data is typically reported quarterly.
    | Fund Name | Ticker | 5-Year Return (Ann.) | 10-Year Return (Ann.) | Sharpe Ratio (5-Yr) |
    |---|---|---|---|---|
    | Baron Partners Fund | BPTRX | 11.33% | 21.60% | 0.41 |
    | Oakmark Select Fund | OAKLX | 14.26% | 9.77% | 0.66 |
    | Dodge & Cox Global Stock | DODWX | 13.06% | 10.77% | 0.72 |
    | Baron Focused Growth | BFGFX | 11.87% | 19.13% | 0.51 |
    | Ariel Fund | ARGFX | 10.40% | 8.65% | 0.44 |
    | AMG Yacktman Focused | YAFFX | 9.58% | 10.82% | 0.49 |
    | Oakmark Int'l Small Cap | OAKEX | 9.24% | 7.52% | 0.41 |
    | Fairholme Fund | FAIRX | 9.04% | 7.92% | 0.35 |
    | Miller Opportunity Trust | LGOAX | 8.16% | 10.28% | 0.32 |
    | Mairs & Power Small Cap | MSCFX | 7.90% | 8.06% | 0.34 |
    The Baron Partners Fund (BPTRX) demonstrates the classic "high active share" profile. It has crushed the market over 10 years (21.60% annualized) but has a relatively low Sharpe Ratio (0.41) over the last 5 years, indicating that the returns came with significant volatility.

    Consistency vs. Concentration: Dodge & Cox (DODWX) and Oakmark Select (OAKLX) have the highest Sharpe ratios on this list. While they are concentrated, they have managed to dampen volatility better than the hyper-concentrated growth funds like Baron.

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