Oakmark Portfolio Manager Wins Top Honor

USA - English

CHICAGO, March 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Clyde McGregor, co-manager of two mutual funds in the Oakmark family of funds, is the inaugural recipient of the Lipper Award for Excellence in Fund Management.

The award was presented to Mr. McGregor as the top honor at the annual Lipper Fund Awards dinner, held Wednesday night at the Plaza Hotel in New York.

The award recognizes Mr. McGregor's achievements over his 34-year investment career, most of it with Harris Associates L.P., a value-oriented asset management firm in Chicago that advises The Oakmark Funds.

"We are extremely pleased to see Clyde honored by Lipper for the excellence he has achieved for The Oakmark Funds," says Kristi L. Rowsell, president of Harris Associates and the Oakmark Funds. "Clyde's investment leadership at Harris Associates and Oakmark, and his unwavering dedication to putting our clients and shareholders first, makes this recognition richly deserved."

Mr. McGregor co-manages the Oakmark Equity and Income Fund (OAKBX) and the Oakmark Global Fund (OAKGX). Together the two mutual funds had more than $20 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2010.

The Oakmark Equity and Income Fund was one of two Oakmark funds that received a Lipper Fund Award this year for consistent, risk-adjusted performance. The Equity and Income Fund won its category for the 10-year period ended December 31, 2010, while The Oakmark Fund (OAKMX) won its category for the three-year period ended December 31, 2010.

It is the sixth Lipper Fund Award for funds managed by Mr. McGregor and the 10th for Oakmark overall since the awards began in 2003.

Jeff Tjornehoj, head of research for Lipper Americas, says the new Excellence in Fund Management award recognizes outstanding asset managers who have delivered consistently strong risk-adjusted returns to their investors at shareholder-friendly expense levels over the long term and, in the opinion of Lipper's research analysts, represent the best of the funds industry.

"Throughout the search process Clyde's name emerged again and again on everyone's short list of candidates," says Mr. Tjornehoj. "We congratulate Clyde on his accomplished career and know that he has set the bar high for future recipients of this award."

About The Oakmark Funds

The Oakmark Funds are an award-winning family of seven value-oriented mutual funds that invest in equity and fixed-income markets around the world while adhering to a long-term philosophy focusing on capital preservation and risk management. The funds are advised by Harris Associates L.P., based in Chicago. The Oakmark Funds had approximately $37 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2010.

Investing in value stocks presents the risk that value stocks may fall out of favor with investors and underperform growth stocks during given periods.

Investing in foreign securities represents risks which in some way may be greater than in U.S. investments. Those risks include: currency fluctuation; different regulation, accounting standards, trading practices and levels of available information; generally higher transaction costs; and political risks.

The Oakmark Equity and Income Fund invests in medium- and lower-quality debt securities that have higher yield potential but present greater investment and credit risk than higher-quality securities, which may result in greater share price volatility. An economic downturn could severely disrupt the market in medium or lower grade debt securities and adversely affect the value of outstanding bonds and the ability of the issuers to repay principal and interest.

Harris Associates Securities L.P., Distributor, Member FINRA.

SOURCE The Oakmark Funds