Despite Wally Weitz’s strong track record, the value investor has more recently decided to stockpile cash, with around 30% of his fund invested in cash and bonds. While value investors typically try to find undervalued companies trading at discounts, Weitz commented “right now [the market] is not giving us anything.”

What’s significant is the fact that Weitz hasn’t been invested so much in cash ever before in his entire career, which spans three decades. Despite stocks continuing to soar Donald Yacktman and Steven Romick, two peers of Weitz, have each agreed to forego potential upside performance for safety as well. Leon Black and Wesley Edens, both private equity executives, have offered similar sentiments saying that the current market presents a perfect environment for sellers.

These men are the minority though. Mutual funds have generally increased their US stock holdings this year, as the S&P 500 has climbed over 20 percent in 2013. Romick explained his current investing difficulties, suggesting that the markets seem “manipulated to engineer higher asset prices regardless of business fundamentals”.

Conversely, Weitz’s portfolio was less than 8% cash at the end of 2008 in the wake of the financial crisis. After bearish markets often come bullish markets though and while some value investors are still buying into stocks, Weitz and some of his peers don’t seem all too convinced.

Related article: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-11-07/value-fund-managers-see-few-stock-market-bargains-let-cash-pile-up