Ron Baron, our long term value investing guru is having a miserable year. Through November 30, 2008, his Baron Asset Fund lost 42.59%, Baron Growth Fund lost 41.31%, and all the other six funds in the Baron Fund family had losses in there 40-50 percent.
Despite of the performance, Ron remains optimistic. In a recent letter to his shareholders he commented:
During my career that began in 1970, we have witnessed numerous recessions, stock market “panics,” the prolonged 1973-74 bear market, the Crash in 1987, the market freefall after 9/11 and other market dislocations both here and abroad from which our country has always rebounded. This statement is not intended to be dismissive of the seriousness of America’s current circumstances. He summarized his investment philosiphy by saying:
We invest in what we think are financially strong, well-managed businesses that have prospects to become significantly larger. If circumstances have changed so that, in our opinion, these businesses’ long-term prospects have been impaired, or we think they may not be able to continue in business, we sell their shares. In our view, just because a business may be earning less money or even losing money for a short period does not mean that business’ viability or long-term growth prospects are threatened. In most cases, we expect businesses in which we have invested to recover their value over the next several years.
However, on short term, he is just as cautious as many of us. He said:
This is although stock prices in the short term may continue to decline.
For his Q3, 2008 Baron Funds Quarterly Report, read on
Despite of the performance, Ron remains optimistic. In a recent letter to his shareholders he commented:
During my career that began in 1970, we have witnessed numerous recessions, stock market “panics,” the prolonged 1973-74 bear market, the Crash in 1987, the market freefall after 9/11 and other market dislocations both here and abroad from which our country has always rebounded. This statement is not intended to be dismissive of the seriousness of America’s current circumstances. He summarized his investment philosiphy by saying:
We invest in what we think are financially strong, well-managed businesses that have prospects to become significantly larger. If circumstances have changed so that, in our opinion, these businesses’ long-term prospects have been impaired, or we think they may not be able to continue in business, we sell their shares. In our view, just because a business may be earning less money or even losing money for a short period does not mean that business’ viability or long-term growth prospects are threatened. In most cases, we expect businesses in which we have invested to recover their value over the next several years.
However, on short term, he is just as cautious as many of us. He said:
This is although stock prices in the short term may continue to decline.
For his Q3, 2008 Baron Funds Quarterly Report, read on
