Will Catalyst Funds become a household name by the time the calendar flips to 2011? The odds are against it, but Baron's points out that Catalyst did beat the odds in 2010, finishing the year as the top performing mutual fund.

And, it was not only a good year for tiny Catalyst. Despite giving up more than 100 bps to the S&P 500 during the fourth quarter, the average diversified equity fund scored by Morningstar ended up beating the index by 377 bps (the final returns were 30.23 percent for equity funds to 26.46 percent the S&P).

Baron's also throws hosannas to the John Hancock High Yield Fund (JHHBX), which returned 10.91 percent during the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, Bill Gross' Pimco Total Return A (PTTAX) eked out a 0.88 percent return for the quarter (and a 13.30 percent gain for all of 2009).

Also interviewed are Turner Investment Partners co-founder Robert Turner, James P. O'Shaughnessy and Tweedy, Browne principal Will Browne. 

Edited by: Sean Hanna, Editor in Chief


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