Robert L. Rodriguez of First Pacific Advisors is the best fund manager for the past 25 years as shown by his FPA Capital Fund's performance records:

"According to Lipper Analytical, [FPA CApital] Fund’s 14.77% annualized return for the twenty-five years ended September 2009, 30, 2009 ranks it as the number one U.S. diversified equity fund out of 216 such funds with twenty-five year records. By comparison, the total returns for the various indexes were as follows: Russell 2000, 8.95%; Russell 2500, 10.75%; and the S&P 500, 10.36%. Your Fund’s total return is after all fees and expenses that have averaged approximately 93 basis points. Out of these 216 funds, only 20 have been led by the same manager [Robert L. Rodriguez] for the entire period." ~ Source: FPA Capital Fund Semi Annual Report ended on Sep 30, 2009.

Here is  Mack Consuelo of WealthTrack's Interview with Robert L Rodriguez, CEO of FPA Advisors and manager of FPA Capital Fund.

Highlights:

- Don't like following the norm. Not being afraid to fail. Be different . Turn around not-so-favorable-things and situations that you experience to make them your competitive advantages.

- Current economic state is a repression and crossing to a new financial era. This is different economic environment like in the depression. Today the US does not have balance sheet flexibility as in the Franklin D. Roosevelt's era. 

- We are entering new systems where US government is a larger percentage of GDP. The US has to change its economic systems. The US has to expand its export as emerging markets like China is trying to increase its internal demand.

- Where and what to invest during this uncertain environment: "Stay high quality and let other people destroy themselves."

- You have to be riffle shooting over the course of the next five to ten years. Highly diversified funds will be at disadvantages during this market and hence, FPA is doing things differently by choosing and focusing on key areas. If active managers did not identify the last blowups (internet blowup, financial blowup) in the past 25 years, when will they? MIght as well go to index fund.

- System in California and Washington (Federal-level) are fundamentally broken. Real problems are brewing in the US finances.

- People invest in you because they can trust you and your strategies.

- It is gonna take a long-time for 2007- to-early-2009 wealth destruction to come back for many Americans and hence, their retirements are in jeopardy. Homeowners may become renters nowadays, sooner or later.