In 1983 John Washington Rogers Jr. launched the very first minority owned mutual fund. John Rogers was 24 years old. At the time of inception, Ariel Investments only had $100,000 under management and 2 employees. In matter for 3 years, Ariel Investments grew from the initial $100,000 to $45 million. The mutual fund is 85.5% employee-owned. Rogers has the controlling interest. Ariel Investments manages four different kinds of funds which are: Ariel Fund, Ariel Appreciation Fund, Ariel Focus Fund, and Ariel Discovery Fund.
Recently in May, Rogers disclosed that Ariel Investments reduced its stake in Lee Enterprises (LEE) due to the plunging share prices. During the second quarter ending June, John Rogers also reduced his stake in CBS Corp (CBS) by 61%. The company has returned -18% since the end of June. He also cut his Devry (DV) holdings by 27%. Devry lost 31% since the end of June. The other companies in which Rogers reduced his bets during the second quarter are Bio Rad Laboratories (BIO), Smucker JM Co (SJM), and Stanley Black & Decker (SWK). All the companies had negative returns since the end of June. Rogers’ top stocks lost 23.4% since the end of June, underperforming the market by 12.7%. Here are John Rogers’ top stock picks as of June:
Company | Ticker | Value (x1000) | Activity | Return Since June |
JONES LANG LASALLE INC | 196,143 | -2% | -34% | |
GANNETT INC | 186,854 | -9% | -27% | |
LAZARD LTD | 176,803 | -1% | -26% | |
MOHAWK INDUSTRIES INC | 174,353 | -2% | -20% | |
INTERPUBLIC GROUP COS | 173,525 | 2% | -37% | |
ZIMMER HOLDINGS INC | 171,480 | 2% | -13% | |
DEVRY INC DEL | 169,754 | -27% | -31% | |
JANUS CAP GROUP INC | 155,808 | 18% | -30% | |
BIO RAD LABORATORIES INC | 147,274 | -15% | -18% | |
INTERNATIONAL GAME TECH | 146,228 | 4% | -17% | |
C B RICHARD ELLIS GROUP | 139,155 | -8% | -43% | |
SMUCKER J M CO | 131,773 | -15% | -6% | |
STANLEY BLACK & DECKER | 123,767 | -16% | -19% | |
NORDSTROM INC | 119,223 | -2% | -7% | |
INTERFACE INC | IFSIA | 117,891 | -4% | -28% |
IDEX CORP | 114,899 | -6% | -24% | |
FIRST AMERICAN FINL | 114,475 | 70% | -6% | |
FAIR ISAAC CORP | 110,876 | 9% | -21% | |
BRINKS CO | 103,032 | -2% | -20% | |
DUN & BRADSTREET | 102,206 | -3% | -15% | |
BRADY CORP | 94,529 | -2% | -18% | |
HOSPIRA INC | 92,957 | 0% | -21% | |
MILLER HERMAN INC | 91,921 | 0% | -33% | |
C B S CORP NEW | 89,736 | -61% | -18% | |
ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES | 89,183 | 19% | -36% |
The largest holding of Ariel Investments’ equity portfolio, as of June, is Jones Lang Lasalle Inc (JLL). Ariel Investments has the largest stake in the company. John Rogers has $196 million invested in JLL. Since the end of June, JLL lost 34%. Ken Heebner’s Capital Growth Management has one of the top 5 stakes in JLL (check out bullish stock picks of Ken Heebner).
During the second quarter, he also reduced his stake in Mohawk Industries Inc (MHK) by 2%. Mohawk Industries is Ariel Investments’ fourth largest holding. Since the end of June, the company has lost 20%. John Rogers’ Ariel Investments has the largest position in the company followed by Ricky Sandler’s Eminence capital. Ricky Sandler is bullish about Mohawk Industries. During the second quarter he increased his stake in the company by 25% (view Ricky Sandler’s latest equity portfolio).
CB Richard Ellis Group (CBG) lost 43% since the end of June. John Rogers lost excessively due to his $139 million investment in the company. John Rogers has the 3rd highest position in the company among the 300+ funds we are tracking. John Paulson’s Paulson & Co has $338.9 invested in CBG. He has the second largest stake in the company.
The only bright side of John Rogers’ portfolio is relatively strong performances of JWN and FAF. Unfortunately his remaining positions significantly underperformed the market. These are relatively small, cyclical stocks that tend to underperform during bear markets. Clearly John Rogers wasn’t expecting a sharp decline in the market.
Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.
