The saying "if you build a better mousetrap, people will beat a path to your door" certainly rings true for Bermuda-based investment fund, Orbis Global Equity.

Although they do not build mousetraps, investors will be beating a path to Orbis headquarters on Bermudiana Road after the company was featured in the latest edition of Forbes global magazine after being ranked the number one offshore global equity fund for the past decade.

The fund enjoyed a 17.3 percent compound annual return since its inception, which is more than double the average global fund's performance.

Forbes global magazine gives the example: "At 17.3 percent a year compounded, money doubles every 52 months. "Factoring in all fees (but excluding taxes), $100,000 invested in Orbis Global equity in 1991 would now be worth almost $500,000. The same amount invested in the FTSE World Index ... Just $270,000 - and Orbis Global was no more volatile than the index."

And although the FTSE World Fund is down seven percent his year, Orbis is enjoying a 21 percent gain.

And a report released this week by Standard and Poor's (S&P) fund services on the Orbis fund will add to the trail makers after the rating agency said: "True to Orbis' contrarian investment style the fund returned an impressive 34 percent over the past 12 months while over 85 percent of its peers have suffered a fall in value."

However, the report added: "This follows relative underperformance in the previous review period when the team's reluctance to invest in TMT's (Technology, Media and Telecommunications) saw the fund slip into the bottom quartile of the sector."

The S&P report also says that while the fund recorded bottom quartile performances in two of the past five discrete years, it has earned consistent positive returns in each of these periods, and added: "The fund has tended to give stronger performance in tougher market conditions, rendering it interesting from a diversification perspective."

The report added: "The fund has one of the best risk-reward profiles within the sector but, because our process emphasises consistent relative performance rather than absolute consistency, the rating is held back to AA

"Qualitatively and by alternate quantitative measures, this is one of the strongest funds in this sector."

Born and raised in East London, South Africa, Orbis founder Allan Gray attended Harvard Business School in 1963, obtaining an M.B.A. before going to work at Fidelity Investments in 1965 with legends such as Gerry Tsai and Peter Lynch.

Returning to Cape Town in 1973, he started Alan Gray Ltd., an institutional manager of South African stocks.

Money invested by Allan Gray Ltd. has outpaced the Johannesburg All Share index by a compound average margin of 11 percent a year, beating the index in 21 out of 27 years.

The firm is now the largest privately owned manager of retirement assets in South Africa, with $3.4 billion under management as well as advising the $60 million Orbis Africa Equity Fund.

Orbis Investment management was established in Bermuda in 1989 by Mr. Gray and he was joined by his son William in 1993, and as of May 31, Orbis managed $890 million which represents a 53 percent rise since June 2000.

Orbis now employs 21 analysts, traders and support staff in Bermuda, 23 people in London, and 64 people in Cape Town.

The management approach is team-based and combines top-down analysis with bottom-up stock selection using proprietary research based on fundamental analysis.

Director of Orbis Geoffrey Gardner said yesterday that the company's style and philosophy was attractive to potential clients, saying: "We believe that the way we approach investing is a most effective way to achieve superior returns over the long term."

Mr. Gardner said he believed the article in Forbes magazine would raise the public profile of the Orbis funds and added: "Individual investors are realising how it's important to relate the price to the value of what you are buying."

Mr. Gray told Forbes global magazine that he is a person who likes to let the results speak for themselves.

On the Net:

www.orbisfunds.com