Morningstar names 2010 fund managers of the year

Bob Goldfarb and David Poppe of Sequoia Fund, Brent Lynn of Janus Overseas and Michael Hasenstab of Templeton Global Bond were named mutual-fund managers of the year for 2010 by Morningstar Inc.

“These managers posted exceptional gains — enough to overcome the difficult market environment of the past few years,” Karen Dolan, director of mutual-fund analysis for Chicago-based Morningstar, said today in a statement.

Goldfarb and Poppe won in the domestic stock category, Lynn for international stocks and Hasenstab for fixed income.

The $3.5 billion Sequoia Fund returned 20 percent last year, better than 75 percent of peers, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The fund was started in 1970 by Bill Ruane and Richard Cunniff, well-known value investors. The New York-based fund’s largest holding as of Sept. 30 was Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the company run by Warren Buffett, according to Bloomberg.

Lynn’s $13.5 billion fund returned 19 percent last year and 13 percent over the past five years. The five-year returns beat 99 percent of peers, Bloomberg data show. Janus Capital Group Inc. is based in Denver.

While Lynn historically has favored emerging-market stocks, more recently he is finding attractive bets closer to home. Delta Air Lines, Ford Motor Co. and Bank of America Corp. were among his top 10 holdings as of Sept. 30.

“Some of the best investing opportunities may be in the developed markets of the United States and Europe,” Lynn said in an October interview.

Hasenstab’s $46 billion bond fund averaged returns of 12 percent for the past five years, better than 98 percent of comparable funds, Bloomberg data show. Last year the fund returned 13 percent.

Hasenstab generally avoids the bonds of the developed economies in favor of those from emerging countries that have lower debt levels and better growth prospects, Morningstar said.

“Sitting here in the U.S., we are focused on massive debts,” Hasenstab told investors at a presentation in New York in May. “In other places the opportunities are more compelling.”

Templeton Global Bond is run by San Mateo, California-based Franklin Resources Inc.

–Bloomberg News–