The Fairholme Fund’s Bruce Berkowitz, who was recently named Morningstar’s domestic fund manager of the year, says that we are still in the early stages of the economic recovery.

“I’m optimistic about the economy — we are in the spring of a recovery,” Berkowitz tells CNBC. “There may still be frost here and there, but the markets are thawing out and we have some wonderful companies in the portfolio that remain quite cheap in relationship to the cash that they generate for their owners.”

Berkowitz is particularly high on healthcare and financials. He also recently picked up a REIT, Winthrop Realty. He discusses Winthrop and another of his favorite real estate firms in the interview.