From Barron's 5-14-07: "Many of Akre's favorite stocks are founded and still run by families who retain large stakes in the businesses and thus think like shareholders. A case in point: Penn National Gaming (PENN), which he discovered more than a decade ago. "When we found it, it had five off-track betting locations in Pennsylvania; today, it's the third-largest gaming-venue operator in the country," Akre says proudly." What attracted him to that stock was the combination of the industry's growth potential and the CEO's ambition and commitment. "He had his own money on the line, and had a great sense of what the risk and the potential were -- and we were able to buy at a very modest valuation," Akre adds. The company, which today owns an array of race tracks and casinos, trades at just 11 times Akre's estimate of free cash flow for 2008 and 13 times 2007 estimated free cash flow. Although Akre has held Penn National in the FBR portfolio for most of the fund's lifetime, he sees no reason to unload it anytime soon.

11.18% of the portfolio

7.73% of the portfolio

3.81% of the portfolio

From Barron's 5-14-07: "One of Akre's contrarian bets these days is on housing-related businesses like Pool Corp. (POOL), a swimming-pool distributor. Its business, he notes, isn't tied to new-home starts -- some two-thirds of gross profits come from remodeling and maintenance of swimming pools."

From Barron's 5-14-07: "One of the fund's largest holdings -- nearly 3% of the portfolio -- is 99¢ Only Stores (NDN), a beleaguered dollar-store retailer that didn't file its 10-K for the March 31, 2006, fiscal year with the Securities and Exchange Commission until this April. "Everything that could go wrong with this company, went wrong," says Akre. Management bungled the company's expansion in Texas and ran afoul of new accounting regulations. Akre started buying NDN in late summer of '04 at $13 a share, and kept buying down to 10 a share through year-end '06, convinced the company would resume its historic earnings and growth pattern. These days, the stock hovers between 13 and 15."

2.76% of the portfolio

3.55% of the portfolio