Davis to Steer Clipper Fund

(CFIMX Quote)Clipper Fund announced its new skipper Wednesday, making a somewhat surprising choice.

After two months of uncertainty over who would lead the fund, Clipper's independent directors selected a team from Davis Selected Advisers, headed by Christopher Davis, to replace James Gipson and his lineup at Pacific Financial Research. Clipper will continue to be managed by PFR through the end of the year, and Davis will take over effective Jan. 1.

The reorganization comes after Gipson and his co-managers Michael Sandler and Bruce Veaco announced in September that they would leave the fund at the end of the year. At the time, PFR's parent said Clipper would be placed under the care of investment-management firm Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Straus, which was widely expected to remain the fund's manager. The parent company, London's Old Mutual, planned to fold PFR into Barrow Hanley upon the trio's departure.

``The Fund's independent directors conducted a search to pinpoint the best candidates to replace Jim Gipson and his team,'' said Norman Williamson, independent chairman of Clipper's board, in a press release. "Davis Selected Advisers' investment philosophy and approach fit well with the approach that the Fund has historically employed.''

"BHMS is an outstanding firm," added Williamson. "However, the independent directors concluded that BHMS' approach to value investing is significantly different from PFR's unconventional definition and also features a more diversified portfolio than the PFR approach."

Christopher Davis is set to pour his own money into Clipper. "As a reflection of our commitment to Clipper, and in keeping with our philosophy of investing in the funds we manage, we will invest $50 million of our own money directly into the Clipper Fund alongside the shareholders," Davis said in the release. "We are committed to holding the shares for as long as we are entrusted with the fund's management.''