The former high-fliers have fallen so far that they're now attractive, he said. Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft lost about half its value since 1999. Cisco, based in San Jose, California, is down more than 70 percent.
Yacktman also holds a number of large, relatively stable stocks such as Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co.
"I have been in this business 40 years and I can't remember a time when so many quality companies were selling at low prices compared to alternatives," he said.
Tom Ognar, who co-manages the only growth fund among the five steady performers, had 6.6 percent of the $6.4 billion Wells Fargo Advantage Growth Fund in Apple Inc. as of Aug. 31, making it his largest position.
Apple has what Ognar looks for, he said: its earnings are growing at a fast, sustainable rate and the stock is inexpensive compared with the company's profit prospects.
'Cheap' Apple
"People say the stock is near an all-time high so it can't be cheap, but it is," Ognar, 41, said in a phone interview from Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. Apple, which surged to a record $422.24 on Oct. 18, gained 26 percent this year.
Apple, based in Cupertino, California, trades at 12 times estimated earnings for the next 12 months, about half its average multiple over the past five years, Bloomberg data show.
Ognar's fund climbed 8.5 percent this year, better than 99 percent of large-cap growth competitors, Morningstar data show. The fund beat 99 percent of peers over 5 and 10 years.
"It is too risky to make big macro bets," he said. Ognar and his team buy few bank stocks because it is hard to judge how much credit risk banks are taking, he said.