THE OAKMARK INTERNATIONAL FUND

Report from David G. Herro

David G. Herro photo 

THE VALUE OF A $10,000 INVESTMENT IN THE OAKMARK INTERNATIONAL FUND FROM ITS INCEPTION (9/30/92) TO PRESENT (12/31/07) AS COMPARED TO THE MSCI WORLD EX U.S. INDEX14 (UNAUDITED)

 
Oakmark International Fund Chart
   
  Average Annual Total Returns
(as of 12/31/07)
(Unaudited) Total Return
Last 3 Months*
1-year 5-year 10-year Since
Inception
(9/30/92)

           

Oakmark International Fund (Class I)

-4.78%

-0.51%

19.51%

11.94%

12.72%

MSCI World ex U.S.

-1.62%

12.44%

22.12%

8.99%

9.40%

MSCI EAFE15

-1.75%

11.18%

21.59%

8.66%

9.12%

Lipper International

 

 

 

 

 

Fund Index16

-0.99%

14.24%

21.83%

9.46%

10.45%


The graph and table do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on fund distributions or the redemption of fund shares.
Expense Ratio as of 9/30/07 was 1.05%.
The performance data quoted represents past performance. The above performance information for the Fund does not reflect the imposition of a 2% redemption fee on shares held for 90 days or less to deter market timers. If reflected, the fee would reduce the performance quoted. Past performance does not guarantee future results. The investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. Average annual total return measures annualized change, while total return measures aggregate change. To obtain most recent month-end performance data, visit oakmark.com.
* Not annualized

The Oakmark International Fund returned -5% for the quarter ended December 31, 2007, lagging behind the MSCI World ex U.S. Index return of -2%. More importantly, however, since the Fund’s inception in September 1992, it is up 13% per annum, which compares favorably with the MSCI World ex U.S. Index’s return of 9% over the same period.

Impact Players

SK Telecom Co., a South Korean telecommunication service provider, was the Fund’s largest contributor this quarter, returning 26%. The market reacted favorably to SK Telecom’s purchase of 39% of Hanaro Telecom Inc., South Korea’s second largest high-speed Internet service provider. This transaction will provide SK Telecom access to25% of the nation’s Internet users in a market where 9 out of 10 homes have broadband. We sold our position in SK Telecom during the quarter as it approached fair value and used the proceeds to purchase names which provided more upside. Another top contributor was U.K.-based security service provider G4S plc, which returned 19.6% for the quarter. The end of quarter announcement that the company acquired GSL helped boost G4S’s stock price. A majority of the GSL business is in U.K. public sector contracts, an area G4S knows well. Management has identified this area as a focus for acquisitions and has indicated that similar transactions are in the pipeline, which should further benefit performance. Vivendi, a French media conglomerate, returned 9% for the quarter and rounded out the Fund’s top three performers. There are no extraordinary reasons for Vivendi’s positive performance other than it is not economically exposed to cyclical downdrafts.

Lotte Chilsung Beverage Co. (“Lotte”), a South Korean beverage manufacturer, experienced a 26.5% price decrease making it the Fund’s worst performer this quarter. Lotte’s price soared during the second quarter due to expectations that the company would be able to re-zone and develop its Kangnam land bank. Unfortunately, shares performed poorly in the fourth quarter as the prospects for re-zoning began to dim. Additionally, the company’s core beverage business continues to suffer from strong competition, increasing raw materials cost, and lack of a new hit product. Another detractor during the quarter was U.K.-based credit and market service provider Experian Group, which declined 25%. Due to the credit and housing market downturn, banks have scaled back their lending practices which have negatively impacted Experian’s business. We were aware of this potential impact to Experian and were able to purchase the valuable business at an attractive price. Signet Group, a U.K.-based jewelry retailer that operates the Kay Jewelers and Jared’s chains in the U.S., also detracted from the Fund, declining 18.6% for the quarter. Signet management indicated poor results for the fourth quarter with November’s like-for-like sales off 7%, the worst like-for-like performance in recent history. With consumers becoming increasingly concerned about the credit crisis and the housing downturn, they are less likely to spend on luxury items such as jewelry. While we do not expect results for Signet to turn around in the near term, we believe the market has over-reacted creating an opportunity to purchase additional shares of a quality business at a discounted value. We maintain our positive long-term outlook for this stock.

Portfolio Composition

In order to take advantage of extreme market volatility during the past quarter, our activity was greater than normal. We sold our positions in Henkel, SK Telecom, Nikko Cordial Corp., Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Givaudan, and Nestle SA because they reached fair value or because better investment opportunities materialized. Four new names were added to the portfolio: Luxottica Group, the leading global manufacturer and retailer of prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses; Nomura Holdings, a Japan-based financial service provider; Canadian National Railway, a Canadian-based railway operator; and Geberit AG, Europe’s largest manufacturer of sanitary systems and piping products.

As mentioned in the International and International Small Cap Funds letter we were underweight sectors that performed favorably in the quarter and overweight those that underperformed, including financials, consumer discretionary, and information technology, which together detracted approximately 4.8% from Fund performance. The Fund also lacked any exposure to energy; one of the quarter’s best performing sectors.

In closing, we would like to thank our shareholders for continuing to support us and our value investing philosophy. Short-term market fluctuations give us the opportunity to invest in quality companies trading at low prices. We are long-term value investors and focus on finding attractive, under-valued foreign companies.

David G. Herro, CFA
Portfolio Manager
oakix@oakmark.com
   
December 31, 2007  

THE OAKMARK INTERNATIONAL FUND

International Diversification—December 31, 2007 (Unaudited)


Oakmark International Fund Pie Chart

THE OAKMARK INTERNATIONAL FUND

Schedule of Investments—December 31, 2007 (Unaudited)

Name Description
Shares Held
Market Value

Common Stocks—97.0%    
Advertising—2.8%    
Publicis Groupe (France) Advertising & Media Services 5,651,400 $220,894,853
     
Apparel Retail—0.4%    
Giordano International, Limited
(Hong Kong)
Pacific Rim Clothing Retailer & Manufacturer 64,109,300 $30,751,021
     
Apparel, Accessories & Luxury Goods—4.0%    
Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA (Switzerland) Manufacturer and Retailer of Luxury Goods 2,510,700 $172,135,701
LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA (France) Diversified Luxury Goods Conglomerate 986,400 119,034,406
Luxottica Group S.p. A (Italy) Manufacturer and Retailer of Eyeglass Frames and Sunglasses 718,300 22,792,102
     
      313,962,209
     
Automobile Manufacturers—6.6%    
Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW) AG (Germany) Luxury Automobile Manufacturer 4,299,000 $265,729,541
Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Japan) Automobile & Motorcycle Manufacturer 3,699,400 124,436,023
Daimler AG Registered (Germany) Automobile Manufacturer 1,281,400 124,372,780
     
      514,538,344
     
Broadcasting & Cable TV—8.7%    
Societe Television Francaise 1 (France) Television Production & Broadcasting 8,322,800 $222,300,032
Gestevision Telecinco SA (Spain) Television Production & Broadcasting 6,860,900 175,342,104
British Sky Broadcasting Group plc (United Kingdom) Television Production & Broadcasting 11,818,400 145,360,765
Grupo Televisa S.A.
(Mexico) (b)
Television Production & Broadcasting 5,464,200 $129,884,034
     
      672,886,935
       
Movies & Entertainment—0.2%    
Vivendi Universal SA (France)
Music, Games, Television, Film, & Telecommunications
428,200 $19,611,851
     
Publishing—2.2%    
Trinity Mirror plc
(United Kingdom)
Newspaper Publishing 15,461,248 $107,064,427
Johnston Press plc
(United Kingdom)
Newspaper Publishing 11,173,130 61,052,776
     
      168,117,203
     
Restaurants—0.2%    
Compass Group PLC (United Kingdom) International Foodservice Group Operator 3,135,721 $19,221,641
     
Specialty Stores—2.7%    
Signet Group plc (United Kingdom) Jewelry Retailer 154,080,300 $213,544,895
       
Distillers & Vintners—1.4%    
Diageo plc (United Kingdom) Beverages, Wines, & Spirits Manufacturer 5,222,900 $112,081,345
     
Household Products—0.4%    
Uni-Charm Corporation (Japan) Toiletry Products Manufacturer 528,900 $33,541,041
       
Packaged Foods & Meats—2.2%    
Cadbury Schweppes plc
(United Kingdom)
Beverage & Confectionary Manufacturer 13,884,100 $171,319,659
     
Soft Drinks—0.5%    
Lotte Chilsung Beverage Co., Ltd. (Korea) Soft Drinks, Juices & Sports Drinks Manufacturer 33,695 $37,760,862
       
Asset Management & Custody Banks—2.0%    
Schroders PLC
(United Kingdom)
International Asset Management 6,109,700 $158,062,460
     
Diversified Banks—17.4%    
Bank of Ireland (Ireland) Commercial Bank 16,766,221 $249,409,837
Barclays PLC (United Kingdom) Commercial & Investment Banking, Insurance, Financial, Asset Management and Related Services 23,854,800 238,893,418
BNP Paribas SA (France) Commercial Bank 2,076,200 224,910,180
Lloyds TSB Group plc
(United Kingdom)
Commercial Bank 23,039,500 216,079,176
HSBC Holdings plc (United Kingdom) International Banking & Financial Services 11,558,900 193,386,639
Chinatrust Financial Holding Co. (Taiwan) (a) Commercial Bank 233,188,318 165,741,311
Kookmin Bank (Korea) (a) Commercial Bank 861,850 63,530,420
     
      1,351,950,981
Diversified Capital Markets—8.4%    
Credit Suisse Group (Switzerland) Wealth Management & Investment Banking 5,773,300 $346,917,612
UBS AG (Switzerland) Wealth Management & Investment Banking 6,497,200 300,408,789
     
      647,326,401
Investment Banking & Brokerage—4.7%    
Daiwa Securities Group, Inc. (Japan) Stock Broker 29,870,000 $272,215,276
Nomura Holdings, Inc. (Japan) Financial Services 5,494,800 93,399,525
     
    365,614,801
Multi-Line Insurance—1.9%    
Allianz SE (Germany) Insurance, Banking & Financial Services 668,000 $144,248,202
       
Reinsurance—1.0%    
Hannover Rueckversicherung AG (Germany) Reinsurance 1,721,100 $79,254,594
     
Pharmaceuticals—7.6%    
GlaxoSmithKline plc
(United Kingdom)
Pharmaceuticals 12,821,300 $325,837,057
Novartis AG (Switzerland) Pharmaceuticals 4,775,800 261,693,444
     
      587,530,501
       
Building Products—0.6%    
Geberit AG-Registered (Switzerland) Building Products 324,400 $44,510,897
     
Diversified Commercial & Professional Services—5.2%    
Experian Group, Ltd. (Ireland) Credit and Marketing Services 21,932,400 $173,011,325
G4S PLC (United Kingdom) Security Services 31,531,500 153,343,439
Meitec Corporation (Japan) Software Engineering Services 2,483,800 75,081,006
     
      401,435,770
       
Human Resource & Employment Services—2.8%    
Adecco SA (Switzerland) Temporary Employment Services 3,966,600 $214,377,702
       
Industrial Conglomerates—0.2%    
Koninklijke (Royal) Philips Electronics N.V. (Netherlands) Electronics Manufacturer 453,900 $19,556,697
       
Railroads—0.4%    
Canadian National Railway Company (Canada) Operates Network of Rail Tracks 606,400 $28,467,908
       
Application Software—2.3%    
SAP AG (Germany) Develops Business Software 3,391,200 $175,860,210
       
Electronic Equipment Manufacturers—3.1%    
OMRON Corporation (Japan) Component, Equipment, & System Manufacturer 9,028,600 $215,824,721
Orbotech, Ltd. (Israel) (a) Optical Inspection Systems 1,237,700 21,721,635
     
      237,546,356
       
Semiconductors—6.4%    
Rohm Company Limited (Japan) Integrated Circuits & Semiconductor Devices Manufacturer 2,941,500 $257,250,976
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (Korea) Consumer & Industrial Electronic Equipment Manufacturer 411,900 244,662,571
     
      501,913,547
       
Name Description
Shares Held/
Par Value
Market Value

Semiconductor Equipment—0.7%    
ASML Holding NV (Netherlands) (a) Develop, Produce, and Market Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment 1,804,711 $57,053,868
       
Total Common Stocks (Cost: $7,169,855,886)   7,542,942,754
     
Short Term Investments—1.2%    
Repurchase Agreement—1.2%    
State Street Bank and Trust Co. Repurchase Agreement, 4.00% dated 12/31/2007 due 1/2/2008, repurchase price $91,971,245, collateralized by a United States Treasury Index Inflation Bond, with a rate of 3.50%, with a maturity of 1/15/2011, and with an aggregate market value plus accrued interest of $128,380,000 $91,950,811 $91,950,811
Total Repurchase Agreement (Cost: $91,950,811)   91,950,811
     
Total Short Term Investments (Cost: $91,950,811)   91,950,811
Total Investments (Cost $7,261,806,697)—98.2%   $7,634,893,565
Foreign Currencies (Cost $116,135)—0.0%   $114,334
Other Assets In Excess Of Other Liabilities—1.8%   141,286,983
     
Total Net Assets—100%   $7,776,294,882
     
       
(a) Non-income producing security.
(b) Represents an American Depositary Receipt.