The high-flying mutual fund of the moment is not without its critics.

Scott Barbee Aegis Value Fund Managing Director

This week Suzanne McGee of the Wall Street Journal crowned McLean, Virginia-based Aegis Financial Corporation's [profile] flagship Aegis Value Fund (AVALX) as the winner of the paper's Q3 2016 Winner's Circle survey of actively managed U.S. stock mutual funds. Yet M* gives the $133.1-million fund a one-star rating.

The WSJ's ranking covers active funds with at least $50 million in AUM and a three-year track record, and the funds are ranked on trailing 12-month performance. The 18-year-old deep value fund, PMed by Aegis founder Scott Barbee, returned 40.5 percent for the 12 months ended September 30, 2016 and came out on top of the pack.

The WSJ talks with Barbee about some of his stocks picks (notably in the energy and mining sectors). And it also notes that the Aegis fund has gone "from the top of the heap, into the doldrums, and back to the pinnacle again," thanks to Barbee taking "the roller-coaster ride of investing in deep-value stocks."

"Few other investors share Mr. Barbee's stoicism, or his tolerance for pain," the WSJ muses. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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