First Pacific managers win Morningstar award

Bob Rodriguez and Thomas H. Atteberry of First Pacific Advisors LLC have won Morningstar Inc.’s “Fixed Income Manager of the Year” award for 2008 performance that far surpassed that of the competition.

Bob Rodriguez and Thomas H. Atteberry of First Pacific Advisors LLC have won Morningstar Inc.’s “Fixed Income Manager of the Year” award for 2008 performance that far surpassed that of the competition, despite the massive global credit crunch.
The two co-manage the $2.3 trillion FPA New Income Fund (FPNIX), which posted a return of 4.3% last year.
The fund performed 9.2 percentage points better than the average intermediate-term bond fund, according to Chicago-based Morningstar.
“[Mr.] Rodriguez and {Mr.] Atteberry largely predicted the financial meltdown last year, and investors have benefited tremendously from their foresight and the risk aversion they practiced in assembling the New Income portfolio,” Russel Kinnel, director of mutual fund research for Morningstar, said in a statement.
Los Angeles-based First Pacific Advisors had $8.4 billion in mutual fund assets under management in 49 accounts as of Nov. 30.