The fund stashed 16 percent of its assets in cash and 8.3 percent in gold-related investments as of Sept. 30, according to the First Eagle website.
"Gold is a source of stability," Lamphier said of the longtime holding, seen as a haven in times of tumult.
FirstEnergy Corp., an Akron-Ohio utility and the fund's fourth-biggest stock position, advanced 23 percent this year. The company can increase earnings as the price of natural gas climbs, Lamphier said.
The $987 million SunAmerica Focused Dividend Strategy Portfolio picks stocks only once a year. The managers select 10 from the Dow Jones Industrial Average with the highest dividend yields and 20 from the Russell 1000 Index based on valuation and profitability as well as payouts.
Lorillard, Reynolds America
The fund doesn't hold utility or financial companies, which it considers bond substitutes.
"Not owning financials has contributed mightily to performance," Timothy Pettee, 53, chief investment officer for SunAmerica Asset Management Corp., said in a phone interview from Jersey City, New Jersey.
The fund beat 98 percent of large-company value competitors this year with a return of 6.1, Morningstar data show, aided by gains in tobacco holdings. Lorillard Inc., based in Greensboro, North Carolina, and Reynolds America Inc., in Winston Salem, North Carolina, surged 40 percent and 21 percent, respectively.
The top stock pickers have all attracted deposits in 2011 even as active funds head for a fifth consecutive year of redemptions.
Yacktman Focused and the $5.8 billion Yacktman Fund reaped a combined $3.6 billion in the first nine months, according to Morningstar. Investors withdrew $4.7 billion from Fairholme Fund and $1.5 billion from Miller's two funds.