Third Avenue Value Fund Has Positive Outlook

The Third Avenue Value Fund managers passed along this positive news this week:

"As of Sept. 30, the Third Avenue Value Fund portfolio traded at 0.70 times book value. Comparatively, the S&P 500 traded at 2.02 times book and the MSCI World Index traded at 1.47 times book. This is the lowest price to book ratio for the Value Fund portfolio since March 31, 2009. We believe that the fund’s current price to book ratio represents significant embedded value. Over the last decade the fund has typically delivered positive performance when the price-to-book value is low. Though there is no way to pick a bottom (the ratio could fall lower still), a reading below 1 signals to us that the portfolio owns assets that have not yet had their value recognized in the market."