Sequoia Fund, Inc.
767 Fifth Avenue, Suite 4701
New York, NY 10153
(800) 686-6884
Dear Stockholder:
Sequoia Fund's results for the first quarter of 2001 are as shown below with the usual comparable data for the leading market indexes:
| Sequoia Fund |
Dow Jones Industrials |
Standard & Poor's 500 |
|
| 3 months to 3/31/01 | -4.1% | -8.0% | -11.9% |
As we write, Sequoia is up 3.3% compared to year-to-date returns on the S&P 500 of
The annual meeting of Sequoia was held on April 20th in New York. Outstanding Investor Digest has prepared a summary of our comments at the meeting. We thought it would be useful to provide all of our stockholders with this review which Outstanding Investor Digest kindly provided to us again this year in the form of the enclosed reprint.
We are also enclosing our Privacy Notice describing our policies relating to personal client information as required by the recently enacted Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.
John M. Harding, a valued director of Sequoia since 1980, retired from the Board in May. We will miss John's wisdom and wry wit and wish him a relaxed and happy retirement. We are pleased to welcome our new director, Vinod Ahooja, whose impressive professional and personal experience in the financial and investment fields should be a valuable asset to the Fund shareholders.
| May 30, 2001 | Sincerely, | |
| Carley Cunniff Executive Vice President |
Richard T. Cunniff Vice Chairman |
|
| Robert D. Goldfarb President |
William J. Ruane Chairman |
|
SEQUOIA FUND, INC.
STATEMENT OF INVESTMENTS
MARCH 31, 2001 (UNAUDITED)
COMMON STOCKS (75.5%)
| Shares | Value (a) | |
| BANK HOLDING COMPANIES (13.3%) | ||
| 8,710,393 | Fifth Third Bancorp | $465,461,626 |
| 243,300 | Mercantile Bankshares Corporation | 9,002,100 |
| 970,200 | National Commerce Bancorp | 24,073,087 |
| 498,536,813 | ||
| CHEMICAL PRODUCTS (0.7%) | ||
| 1,439,800 | MacDermid Inc. | 26,031,584 |
| DEPARTMENT STORES (6.7%) | ||
| 7,893,800 | TJX Companies, Inc. | 252,601,600 |
| DIVERSIFIED COMPANIES (34.2%) | ||
| 19,661 | Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Class A (c) | 1,286,812,450 |
| HOME FURNISHINGS (2.2%) | ||
| 2,414,000 | Ethan Allen Interiors, Inc. (b) | 81,544,920 |
| INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL MACHINERY (2.9%) | ||
| 3,087,350 | Dover Corporation | 110,650,624 |
| INSURANCE (6.3%) | ||
| 2,430,500 | Progressive Corporation-Ohio | 235,880,025 |
| MANUFACTURING—MOTORCYCLES (0.7%) | ||
| 690,900 | Harley Davidson, Inc. | 26,219,655 |
| PERSONAL CREDIT (2.4%) | ||
| 1,532,200 | Household International Inc. | 90,767,528 |
| Miscellaneous Securities (6.1%) | 231,979,974 | |
| TOTAL COMMON STOCKS | $2,841,025,173 |
| Principal Amount |
Value (a) |
|
| U.S. GOVERNMENT OBLIGATIONS (24.1%) | ||
| $ 20,000,000 | U.S. Treasury Bills due 5/17/01 | $19,884,998 |
| 687,500,000 | U.S. Treasury Notes, 6 1/8% due 12/31/2001 | 697,060,547 |
| 187,500,000 | U.S. Treasury Notes, 6 3/8% due 01/31/2002 | 190,869,141 |
| TOTAL U.S. GOVERNMENT OBLIGATIONS | $907,814,686 | |
| SUMMARY | ||
| Common Stocks | 75.5% | $2,841,025,173 |
| U.S. Government Obligations | 24.1% | 907,814,686 |
| Net Cash & Receivable | 0.4% | 11,191,975 |
| Net Assets | $3,760,031,834 | |
| Number of Shares Outstanding | 32,725,717 | |
| Net Asset Value Per Share | $114.90 | |
| (a) | Securities traded on a national securities exchange are valued at the last reported sales price on the principal exchange on which the security is listed on the last business day of the period; securities traded in the over-the-counter market are valued at the last reported sales price on the NASDAQ National Market System on the last business day of the period; securities traded in the over-the-counter market and listed securities for which no sale was reported on that date are valued at the mean between the last reported bid and asked prices; U.S. Treasury Bills with remaining maturities of sixty days or less are valued at their amortized cost. U.S. Treasury Bills that when purchased have a remaining maturity in excess of sixty days are stated at their discounted value based upon the mean between the bid and asked discount rates until the sixtieth day prior to maturity, at which point they are valued at amortized cost. |
| (b) | Affiliated Companies: Investment in portfolio companies 5% or more of whose outstanding voting securities are held by the Fund are defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940 as "affiliated companies." |
| (c) | Non-income producing. |
SEQUOIA FUND, INC.
767 Fifth Avenue, Suite 4701
New York, New York 10153-4798
Website : www.sequoiafund.com
DIRECTORS
William J. Ruane
Richard T. Cunniff
Robert D. Goldfarb
Carol L. Cunniff
Vinod Ahooja
Roger Lowenstein
Francis P. Matthews
C. William Neuhauser
Robert L. Swiggett
OFFICERS
William J. Ruane — Chairman of the Board
Richard T. Cunniff — Vice Chairman
Robert D. Goldfarb — President
Carol L. Cunniff — Executive Vice President
Joseph Quinones, Jr. — Vice President, Secretary & Treasurer
INVESTMENT ADVISER & DISTRIBUTOR
Ruane, Cunniff& Co., Inc.
767 Fifth Avenue, Suite 4701
New York, New York 10153-4798
CUSTODIAN
The Bank of New York
MF Custody Administration Department
100 Church Street, 10th Floor
New York, New York 10286
REGISTRAR AND SHAREHOLDER SERVICING AGENT
DST Systems, Inc.
P.O. Box 219477
Kansas City, Missouri 64121
LEGAL COUNSEL
Seward & Kissel
One Battery Park Plaza
New York, New York 10004
This report has been prepared for the information of shareholders of Sequoia Fund, Inc.