Longleaf Partners Funds 4th Quarter Letter

The fourth quarter volatility gave long-term investors terrific opportunities to pursue. Short-term, prices suffered, particularly in the two domestic funds. While negative performance is frustrating, falling prices are not necessarily worrisome. As patient, long-term investors we know that as long as appraisals remain intact, returns should be delayed, not lost. In fact, the prescription for declining stocks often is to buy more. Most of the fourth quarter losses in the Funds were attributable to companies whose values held steady or even rose. A few businesses did have company-specific challenges in the quarter that negatively impacted our appraisals; however, their stocks fell much more steeply than their values.

-

Our partners who focus on portfolio returns over the next decade will appreciate the tremendous opportunity that lower prices created during the recent quarter. Across the three Funds we bought six new names and added to eleven existing holdings. These purchases were funded by a combination of cash inflows, sales of three stocks that reached appraisal, and scale-backs of holdings that were overweighted and/or were selling at close to 90% of intrinsic worth. Southeastern's trading desk was busy.

-

....................

-

Related Previous Post: Cash Flow Analysis: A Private Lesson from Staley Cates