NYU Stock-Pickers Beat Growth and Value Benchmarks

MPSIF Value Fund: Up 3%

Marc Albanese, manager of the MPSIF Value Fund, also reported good results, with a return of a little over 3% from Aug. 31 to Dec. 5. This was stellar compared with the fund's benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value Index, which was down almost 2% for the same period. Marc attributes the results to "good stock-picking" as well, with the intent to "get international exposure." Examples include Yum! Brands (YUM - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), Dell (DELL - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) and PepsiCo (PEP - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr).

Marc Albanese details two recent investments that he believes will extend the value fund's winning streak:

Legg Mason (LM - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr). Albanese explains: "Legg Mason enjoyed a 23% year-over-year growth in earnings per share in the most recent quarter. It's one of the larger asset management funds, with a big share repurchase plan. We valued Legg Mason using a discounted cash flow model, establishing a price target of $105."

Unit Corp. (UNT - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) is a domestic oil and natural gas driller and explorer that Albanese picked as "more of a play on natural gas." Albanese says that the company's "management is taking advantage of the depressed natural gas [price] environment by buying rigs at a discount." According to his research, Unit is "poised to profit when natural gas prices rise." Albanese adds, "Based on the recent consolidation of Transocean (RIG - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) and Global Santa Fe, we [the MPSIF] believe Unit could be in play as an acquisition (see "How to Play the M&A Game")."

Value and Growth Up, Small-Caps Down

While the MPSIF's growth and value funds saw benchmark-beating returns, the MPSIF Small Cap Fund ended the fall semester down 5% -- compared with its benchmark, the Russell 2000 Index, which was down 2.88% for the same period. What happened? Zach Shannon, manager of the small cap fund, cites a "difficult three-month period."

Next time, we'll take a look at Shannon's steps to navigate the small cap fund into positive territory.