by Joe Light | The Wall Street Journal
The Fairholme Fund, a mutual fund run by stock picker and sometimes activist Bruce
Berkowitz, released its annual report over the weekend, disclosing that the manager picked up nearly 5 million common shares of mortgage-finance companies Fannie Mae FNMA -1.74% and Freddie Mac FMCC -0.46%.
Mr. Berkowitz has been one of the most outspoken investors in the companies’ shares and is a plaintiff in lawsuits against the federal government for its handling of the two companies.
According to the annual report, Fairholme bought nearly 3.1 million shares of Freddie Mac and more than 1.8 million shares of Fannie Mae between August 31 and November 30 last year. Because the share prices of Fannie and Freddie fell sharply during that period, the purchases maintained the fund’s weighting to the two companies at about 1.1%.
