How One Growth Fund Manager Has Made 20% This Year

Can't say that I've seen this gentleman before, but I like that he shared methodology along with the obligatory stock picks. Great piece, TT team!

It's amazing the borrowing, the debt. The CONSUMER is responsible! It's WALL STREET's fault! It's an entire global psychological complex. How can I feel responsible for the money I borrowed and can't pay back. I am one tiny cell in an entire body of debt- how could I be anything else? My entire global civilization is doing they same thing. I am bewildered at the people who stayed out of the matrix. Anybody in the market was/is in the matrix too, btw.

Yeah I like that methodology too- as long as the price is on the way down.

Another brilliant fund manager from the hub of the financial world, Indianapolis! There are people that have more money in their TD Ameritrade accounts than this knucklehead manages. Who cares who can make money while the market is rising? Everybody can. It's who outperforms on the way down, and this guy lost over 50% last year.

only 20%?

20% only, I am up 60%+....come on....only 20%

I don't think this man is the brightest lightbulb in the world, but that's what I like about him. The best investors I have ever met were the ones that had common sense instead of too much education and charts and graphs that made it impossible for them to make decisions. This is one of the FEW people that have come on this program and actually names stocks.

Good job, Johnny. Those all sound like great picks, and I’m sure there are dozens of others among the hundreds of stocks you own. You’ve been a VERY GOOD BOY!

Two years back his funds portfolio had $100. Last year it tanked 50% ; fund value $50. This year, it is up a MASSIVE 20% = fund value = 50+10= $60. Wow, good job. Without paying the fund manager any fees, I could have lost 40 dollars of a 100 easily myself. In contrast actually, my ROTH which I self manage has climbed a giddy 80% and then 10 days back I went 60% into cash in it.

You lost me at "He lost 50% last year." Any loser can make a lot of money buying risky investments, it takes an investor not to lose his shirt when everyone else is. This is coming from someone who is also up 20% this year but was only down 14% last year. That's real investing. Go con some more people into putting money into your useless speculation fund.

Is 20% this year a big news? No, not at all. In fact my mutual fund holding was $35,000 in March this year. Today it is $48,000. So it works out to 37%. Probably the fund manager puts in mutual funds and take a long vacation now as they seem to be doing fine!

A high management fee of 1.94% and ridiculous turnover of 116%. What are his NET, AFTER-TAX returns? Not so special I suspect....

A portfolio of mo-mo stocks. Another manager who confuses alpha with beta. You don't get paid a management fee of close to 2% for beta.

One footnote states he grew 100K of family money into 19M in over 20 years. That translates into a 29% yearly compounded return for 20 years. Now maybe 100K was started with and more added including leverage. Find that hard to believe as his fund lost 70% from peak to trough in the recent downturn the past 2 years. Perhaps the family money was invested more prudently. It states in his bio that he was a owner of a chemical company. So maybe the 100K was invested in his company and they grew it and sold it for 19M. So what does that prove that this dope can open up a fund and manage it other people's money. This guy is a dope. He's made his money in a private business and maybe he threw that 19M into his fund and now it is worth something like $7M. Great manager and a guy I would like to put my money with. lol

no way dude

If we could all get together over coffee, at Starbucks, my portfolios could demonstrate gains of 1% to 786%. For instance, if we had all bought into HTZ, or WOLF, in Nov, (10,000 shares each) when they were at pennies, look at what you would have today? Bought F @ $1.01, 10,000 shares, see what it is today? There are/have been opportunities, and Risk! Go with CVS, SWY, SVU, WMT, WAL, F, DRI, Apple, and Hold! The Ultimate in Diversification. No Emerging Markets! Can show where Funds will eat you alive! Get on the Net and check the numbers?

TraderPro: Auer's fund posts 127 million in a less than 2 year old fund...who would you even begin to know that has that in their TDAmeritrade account? He stated his family money ranged from 34 to 19 million and they have been doing this for 20 years...how does your WellsTrade account balance compare???

I forgot to add! All this article points out, is that the Fundamental approach to picking stocks has been antiquated? Re-read the items on POT (good co) and IPI, and ask why? they were so high, and now can't get out of the cellar? Also Add BUCY, and FWLT, they (CFOs)can't even meet the 1 yr targets which are about 50% of the Highs? Do you want more data? All on the Net!

TraderPro: Auer's fund posts 127 million in a less than 2 year old fund...who would you even begin to know that has that in their TDAmeritrade account? He stated his family money ranged from 34 to 19 million and they have been doing this for 20 years...how does your WellsTrade account balance compare??? MrN: are you so limited that you cannot even read Auer's fund history? It started Dec 27, 2007...less than 2 year and it started with over 10 million...your math continues to keep you in the yahoofinance poser/wannabe lap of apartment living luxury...

Why would I care about a man who made 20% this year(and the year is not even over) while losing over 50% last year? And who cares that he has beaten the SP500 the last 20? A)The past is no prediction of the future and B)Liquidity issues. I'm sure he managed a lot less money in his private accounts than what he is managing now. Beating the SP500 with a $1M account is easier than with a $500M mutual fund.