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Bill Miller, fund manager of LeggMason Value Trust (877-534-4627;www.leggmason.com), has done somethingthat no other fund manager in historyhas done. He has beaten the S&P500 for 13 years in a row. Miller hasmade his investors a cumulative 680%return during this streak, more than doublethe return of the S&P 500 over thesame time period. He has stayed ahead ofthe S&P 500 through three presidents,two recessions, the Internet bubble, andthe big bear market that followed. Theodds of beating the market 13 yearsstraight are one in 149,012, according tothe calculations of Michael Mauboussin,chief US investment strategist at CreditSuisse First Boston.
Miller's strategy has been to buystocks no one else wants and then holdthem for years. He also loaded up on techstocks in the late 1990s when other managersstayed away. In fact, his two topholdings still remain Amazon.com andNextel Communications. Miller is notafraid to gamble. A total of 10 stocks representabout 50% of his $10.7-billionportfolio. While everyone said he waswrong, he kept buying Amazon stock asit fell from $80 to $5.50 in 2001. Thispast year, Amazon has made a run-up of155%. If people are talking up a stock, heavoids it. One of his favorite sayings is,"If it's in the papers, it's in the price."