Tilson Focus Fund - TILFX
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DESCRIPTION:

Date updated:01-08-2008

The Tilson Focus Fund is a New York based mutual fund managed by value investor Whitney Tilson and Glenn Tongue. In 2006, it finished the year #1 in its Multicap Core category of 867 funds with a 25.7% return. Tilson and Tongue buy stocks they deem to be trading at least 30 percent below what they estimate the companies are worth.

From Bloomberg, December 2006:
"The fund has 37 percent of its assets split among McDonald's, Berkshire Hathaway and Microsoft. Only nine of the 2,530 equity funds tracked by Morningstar have such a large proportion of their money in so few stocks.

"It's not that we're gunslingers," said Tilson..."We reduce risks by concentrating our fund in the stocks we know the best and have the highest degree of conviction in."

Whitney Tilson is the founder and Managing Partner of T2 Partners LLC and the Tilson Mutual Funds. The former manages three value-oriented private investment partnerships, while the latter is comprised of two value-based mutual funds, Tilson Focus Fund and Tilson Dividend Fund. Mr. Tilson is also the co-founder, Chairman and co-Editor-in-Chief of Value Investor Insight, an investment newsletter; and is the co-founder and Chairman of the Value Investing Congress, an investment conference that takes place twice per year, in New York City in November and Los Angeles in May.

In Q4 2006 Tilson Mutual Funds sent out its latest Annual Report. In it one can find a good review of their investment philosophy, and an excellent breakdown of the funds' criteria for exiting a position.

Archive of Tilson’s articles at The Motley Food.



Current Returns:

1-Year: -13.20%

symbol name last price % change open
  • +
  • MCD
    Mcdonalds Cp
  • $62.92
  • -0.71%
  • $63.48

Tilson and co-manager Glenn Tongue note that McDonald's ( MCD) is also a cash generator, partly because of the way it depreciates company-owned property on which it earns a steady flow of franchise fees.

People owning MCD also tend to own: DENNDRTEHNZIASGJRCCNOOFPBY

TheStreet.com Rating: A What is this?

  • +
  • BRK-B
    Berkshire Hath Hl
  • $74.23
  • +0.90%
  • $73.99

Whitney Tilson likes Berkshire Hathaway (symbol BRK.B for Class B shares) because it's "safe, cheap and rapidly growing." Its operating businesses throw off mountains of cash for investment maestro Warren Buffett to allocate. Berkshire Hathaway reported stellar quarterly earnings a month ago, Tilson said, as its U.S. insurance units rebounded from the 2005 hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

People owning BRK-B also tend to own: AEGAZINGINTCOPA.VORCLSDA

TheStreet.com Rating: No Rating What is this?

  • +
  • MSFT
    Microsoft Corpora
  • $27.72
  • -1.07%
  • $27.96

With Microsoft ( MSFT) overhauling Windows, Office and its server software in 2007, the duo think Wall Street grossly underestimates the software giant's earning power. "Shares of Microsoft are undervalued, Tilson added. They do not adequately reflect the company's $36 billion stock-repurchase program or the lift to earnings from the release of Windows Vista, the newest version of the company's operating system. "It's a no-brainer," Tilson said.

People owning MSFT also tend to own: AAPLAMDCSCODELLGOOGIBMINTC

TheStreet.com Rating: B What is this?

  • +
  • WMT
    Wal Mart Stores
  • $52.93
  • -0.97%
  • $53.38

Wal-Mart’s stock fell slightly during the month and is at the same level first reached eight years ago, as the business continues to struggle amidst weak sales – in fact, Wal-Mart’s U.S. same-store sales, at 3%, were the lowest in 26 years in both 2005 and 2006. The poor results are due in part to external factors such as weakness in the housing market and high gas prices, which have hit Wal-Mart’s low- and moderate-income customers particularly hard, but the company’s problems are deeper. It has made many mistakes – but, fortunately, ones that are fixable we think, which is why we remain enthusiastic about the stock. We believe earnings per share have to potential to grow at a high single digit or low double digit rate and, at 16x this year’s earnings estimates and only 14.5x next year’s, there’s also room for multiple expansion.

People owning WMT also tend to own: ABTDGXEPDFMDGSKJNJJOSB

TheStreet.com Rating: B What is this?

  • +
  • COST
    Costco Wholesale
  • $58.14
  • -0.75%
  • $58.36

No Analysis added

People owning COST also tend to own: AMTANFAVIDCNOCOHESIEXPD

TheStreet.com Rating: B What is this?

  • +
  • REXI
    Resource America
  • $4.04
  • +1.00%
  • $N/A

No Analysis added

People owning REXI also tend to own: AXPCEFCOMSCRESYIBAIRSQUIP

TheStreet.com Rating: D What is this?

  • +
  • SHLD
    Sears Holdings Co
  • $89.93
  • -1.52%
  • $91.69

No Analysis added

People owning SHLD also tend to own: ACFBMYBRK-ABRK-BCNQDJCODUK

TheStreet.com Rating: C- What is this?

  • +
  • BDAY
    Celebrate Express
  • $0.00
  • 0.00%
  • $N/A

No Analysis added

People owning BDAY also tend to own: IOCOPSWBRK-ACBSDLIAEQLEA

TheStreet.com Rating: No Rating What is this?

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01/25/2007 06:29 AM CST Asked by Robert Deaton
I like the way this guy thinks.

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