Bonds Push Stattman Toward Cash

Top fund manager Dennis Stattman is holding about 20% of his portfolio in cash. But unlike bubble-wary investors, he’s holding cash because of the bond market, not the stock market.

“We don’t like the bond market,” Stattman recently told CNBC. “You know the same story that I know. Coupons in the bond market are simply not adequate to meet our investors’ return needs. And spreads, to take credit risks, are skinny also,” he said. “While we see a few select opportunities in the world’s bond markets, principally outside the U.S., the fact is we just need to be underweight bonds today.”

Stattman has 58 percent of his fund in stocks, 23 percent in bonds and 19 percent in cash. “What I will say about the stock market is we see a lot of individual opportunities,” he says. “We see a lot of opportunities outside the U.S., particularly in Japan. … Increasingly, we’re seeing the U.S. market as fully valued and needing to be fed a diet of good news to keep it up.”

Several Japan-based stocks are getting high scores from Validea.com’s guru-inspired strategies, including FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation (FUJIY) and Nissan Motor Co. (NSANY).