Artisan Mid Cap Value Fund topped 99 percent of rivals over the past 10 years in part because it has performed well in volatile climates, Kieffer said.
"When markets shift from risk-seeking to risk-fearing, our stocks go down less," he said.
Cushioning Bear Markets
The fund outperformed the Russell Midcap Index, one of its benchmarks, by 14 percentage points in the two worst stock market years of the past decade, 2002 and 2008.
Kieffer, 46, attributes the success to the fund's emphasis on "bottom-up" stock picking and the balance-sheet strength of its investments. The fund beat 98 percent of rivals in 2011, Morningstar data show.
Cigna Corp., one of the biggest holdings, gained 24 percent this year, Bloomberg data show. The Philadelphia-based medical insurer has rallied, Kieffer said, because "the reality of national health-care reform doesn't look as harsh as people initially thought."
The $1.4 billion First Eagle U.S. Value Fund also beat its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index, in 2002 and 2008.
The fund didn't own technology stocks in 2002 or financial shares in 2008 as those industries were sold off, according to Matt Lamphier, associate portfolio manager.
Avoiding 'Permanent Impairment'
"We avoided permanent impairment," Lamphier, 43, said in a phone interview from New York. First Eagle beat 96 percent of peers in 2011 among funds that hold a mix of growth and value stocks, Morningstar data show.
The managers look for stocks selling at a discount of at least 30 percent to the price an all-cash buyer would pay for the business, Lamphier said. When they can't find enough companies they like, they hold cash.