Brandywine Quietly Putting Ill-Timed Move Behind It

Last year, the mutual fund world shamed Foster Friess into near oblivion, staring down its collective nose with a disapproving glare. The (BRWIX Quote)Brandywine fund manager had committed the cardinal sin of pulling money out of the market as it was taking off, and putting it back in as it was landing.

This year, Friess' fortune is back on track. Friess can now meet those accusatory glances with his easy smile and, without gloating too much, simply point to the recent performance of his Brandywine mutual fund: It's returning 42.7% year to date, according to Morningstar.

That's better than two-thirds of its mid-cap peers, and more than doubles the 17.1% return of the S&P 500 index. With the latter feat, Friess is solidly among the 34% of active mutual fund managers who are beating the index this year. ...