Arnold Van Den Berg

Arnold Van Den Berg’s latest 13F filing shows a portfolio that is, for now, a blank slate. The data contains no top holdings, no fund assets, and no quarter designation. That absence is itself the story: the value investor has either liquidated positions, moved assets to a vehicle that does not require a 13F, or is between reporting cycles. For a manager who built his reputation on concentrated, long-term bets in beaten-down energy and industrial names, an empty filing is a sharp divergence from his own history and from peers who typically hold 20 to 30 positions. Van Den Berg’s style has always been patient, buying companies with tangible book value and low price-to-earnings ratios, often holding through multi-year drawdowns. The current filing offers no evidence of that discipline in action. It is possible he has shifted to cash, waiting for valuations to reset. It is also possible the fund’s assets fell below the $100 million threshold that triggers 13F reporting, which would make the filing legally unnecessary rather than strategically revealing. Either way, the lack of disclosed equity exposure means Van Den Berg is not participating in the current market’s momentum-driven rally. Most value managers have added to financials and energy in recent quarters. He has not, at least not in a way that shows up in public records. The next filing will clarify whether this is a temporary pause or a permanent retreat from the public equity arena. Until then, the only concrete fact is the empty page.