另类明星基金经理传奇（节选）

    一到午饭时间，奥斯汀市的县界烧烤点总是格外热闹——远在半英里外就能闻到烤肉的香味。在一个角落里，唐•亚克曼正在享用他常吃的美味：一盘精瘦牛胸肉，胡椒火鸡胸脯肉，土豆沙拉，还有烤豆子。一群银行家团团簇拥着他，争相向他兜售他并不需要的服务，同时急切地向他抛出各种问题：怎么才能跑赢市场？他的成功秘诀是什么？

    当然，这并不是沃伦•巴菲特在Piccolo Pete's餐厅（位于奥马哈市——译注）举办的午餐会，但也十分类似了。亚克曼是全球最成功的共同基金经理之一，但表面上却绝不显山露水。他穿的是卡其裤，戴的是天美时手表（Timex）。他言语温和，还常常低着头。当那些银行家追着问他的投资秘诀时，他先是开了个俗气的玩笑：“秘诀就在这些酱汁里”。他一边说一边递给他们一杯烧烤酱汁——然后告诉他们，他的做法很简单：静待那些高品质的公司股票下跌再买入，一直持有，直到它们的股价反弹，而这种公司几乎总会反弹的。他表示，不需要频繁地买进卖出各支股票。他说：“只需要充分抓住时机就行了，但同时需要非常非常耐心。”

    再也找不到比亚克曼更耐心的投资者了——今天的股市面临财政悬崖和收益不确定的考验，而他似乎总能掐准每个时机，抵御市场的大幅下挫。这位71岁的老人身材魁梧，已经谢顶。他在金融危机后的这个跌跌不休的股票共同基金市场里业绩非凡、一骑绝尘。过去这十年里，他的旗舰亚克曼基金（Yacktman Fund）年回报率达到了10.5%，几乎是标普500指数的两倍，而其更集中的亚克曼核心基金（Yacktman Focused Fund）回报率高达11%。自金融危机中期以来，他所创造的记录就更惊人了。这只基金富有先见之明地投资了维亚康姆公司（Viacom）和新闻集团（News Corp.）这样的老牌股票，之后，它从2008年年末到今年11月中旬飙升了99%，让98%的竞争对手和整个市场望尘莫及。

    惊人的回报率和稳健的投资策略已吸引了更多资本——大量新资本——投入亚克曼基金。晨星公司（Morningstar）预测，亚克曼的两支基金自2008年以来已吸纳了129亿美元——除了另一家名为黑石（BlackRock）股利基金的股票基金外，这个成绩超越了所有对手。

    让人惊讶的还有，作为当今最炙手可热的基金经理之一，亚克曼并不像其他那些明星基金经理，比如肯恩•何伯纳和比尔•米勒几年前那样以其横扫市场的回报率而著称。亚克曼并不是百发百中的神射手，他也不认为自己每年都能战胜标普500指数。一般而言，人们听不到他高谈阔论，对欧债危机发表高见。实际上，如果不是看到他偶尔在CNBC电视频道上露面，你可能根本就不会听说有他这号人物。

    他的不同寻常还在于对家庭生活的热情。他在芝加哥住了38年，2005年，他搬到了奥斯汀市，而他的七个子女中，有六个都跟着他一块儿搬了来。现在他已将基金的控制权交给第二个儿子——42岁的斯蒂夫。他的大女儿曾因中风而陷入“闭锁”状态（locked-in state），过去七年里，他全身心投入到帮助女儿康复的治疗中。

    见到亚克曼，就能懂得何谓谦逊低调——他的言行举止更像是一个教堂主教（他在自己的摩门教教会里确实也担任这个角色），而不是一个掌握几百亿美元的明星投资人。他很少会用比平时谈话更高的嗓门说话。他自己接电话，不雇人负责公关事务。他35岁的女儿梅丽莎回忆说，暑假为父亲工作时，一到午饭时间，他就会请路过的无家可归者一起进餐。她说：“常常只有我、爸爸和一个流浪汉一起在温迪快餐店（Wendy's）吃饭。”

    The County Line barbecue joint in Austin is buzzing at lunchtime -- you can smell the charred red meat half a mile away. Way in the back corner, Don Yacktman is enjoying his usual: a plate of lean brisket, peppered turkey breast, potato salad, and baked beans. He's surrounded by a gaggle of local bankers who are pitching him on services he doesn't need and eagerly asking him questions. How does he beat the market? What's his secret?

    This isn't Warren Buffett holding court at Piccolo Pete's, but it's close. Yacktman is one of the world's most successful mutual fund managers, yet you would never know it. He's dressed in khakis and wearing a Timex. He speaks softly and keeps his head down. When the bankers press him for investing tips, Yacktman first cracks a corny joke -- "the secret's in the sauce," he says, passing a cup of barbecue sauce -- then tells them it's simple: He waits to buy great companies when they're down and rides them until they recover, which great companies almost always do. You don't need to jump in and out of stocks, he tells them. "You just need to catch the wind enough times," he says. "And you need to be very, very patient."

    You won't find a more patient investor -- one who's seemingly programmed to withstand the whipsaw stock market of today, with its fiscal cliffs and earnings uncertainty -- than Yacktman. The 71-year-old with a broad build and bald pate is thriving in the slumping, post-crisis world of stock mutual funds. During the past decade his flagship Yacktman Fund (YACKX) has returned 10.5% a year, almost double the S&P 500's return, while his more concentrated Yacktman Focused Fund (YAFFX) has returned 11%. His record since the middle of the financial crisis is even more impressive. After prescient bets on beat-up stocks like Viacom and News Corp., the fund skyrocketed 99% from the end of 2008 through mid-November, scorching 98% of competitors as well as the overall market.

    The spectacular returns and conservative approach have attracted new money -- a lot of new money -- to Yacktman's funds. The two funds have pulled in $12.9 billion since 2008, Morningstar estimates -- more than all but one other stock fund, a BlackRock dividend fund.

    What's shocking is that one of the hottest fund managers today isn't celebrated for his market-trouncing returns the way stars like Ken Heebner and Bill Miller were a few years ago. Yacktman's not a gunslinger, nor does he think he'll beat the S&P 500 every year. You won't hear his opinion about the European debt crisis. In fact, if you don't catch his rare segments on CNBC, you might not hear him at all.

    What's also exceptional is Yacktman's dedication to his family. Six of his seven children have followed him from Chicago, where he lived for 38 years, to Austin, where he moved in 2005. He's been transferring control of the funds to his second-oldest son, Steve, 42. And for the past seven years he has dedicated his life to helping his adult daughter recover from a devastating stroke that left her in a locked-in state.

    Meeting Yacktman is a lesson in humility -- he acts more like a church bishop (which he was, incidentally, at his Mormon congregation) than a multibillion-dollar investing star. His voice rarely rises above a quiet conversational level. He answers his phone himself. He doesn't employ anyone to handle public relations. His daughter Melissa, 35, recalls working for him during summer breaks, when lunchtime included inviting the passing homeless man to eat. "It'd be me, my dad, and a homeless guy at Wendy's," she says.