Every quarter, mutual fund managers publicly disclose their quarter-end holdings. Let's take a look at the holdings of the Meridian Growth Fund.

Meet Meridian Growth Fund
Meridian Growth Fund was founded in 1984. At the helm is Richard Aster, who puts more emphasis on long-term stocks and considers earnings growth to be the most important determinant of stock prices. The total market value of Meridian Fund's disclosed equity holdings as of March 31 -- the latest quarter for which data is available -- was $2.25 billion across 54 holdings.

Why should you care? Meridian Growth is ranked in the top 1% of all mid-cap growth funds over the past 10 years, with an average return of nearly 9% annually.

The fund's 10 largest positions (by value) and associated changes as of March 31 were:

  1. Willis Group (NYSE: WSH) -- increased 11.8%
  2. Waste Connections (NYSE: WCN) -- increased 8.0%
  3. JB Hunt Transport Services (Nasdaq: JBHT) -- increased 9.5%
  4. Brown & Brown (NYSE: BRO) -- increased 17.0%
  5. Citrix Systems (Nasdaq: CTXS) -- increased 6.9%
  6. Bank of Hawaii (NYSE: BOH) -- increased 5.0%
  7. Valspar (NYSE: VAL) -- increased 5.8%
  8. Mattel (Nasdaq: MAT) -- increased 19.5%
  9. Coach (NYSE: COH) -- increased 25.8%
  10. BMC Software (Nasdaq: BMC) -- increased 9.5%

Outside the top 10 holdings:

  • Rising Positions: The fund increased its positions in Pall and United Stationers.
  • Falling Positions: The fund reduced its exposure to Family Dollar and Copart.
  • Eliminated Positions: During the quarter, the fund sold out of its stock position in American Tower, among others.

Selected Q1 2011 commentary
Meridian Fund has a moderately diversified portfolio, with technology, industrials, consumer discretionary, and financial stocks adding up to more than 80% of the portfolio. Here's where the fund is winning and losing, and making new bets, at the moment:

  • Current winners: Willis Group and Autodesk have both done well, increasing 17% and 15%, respectively, in the first quarter.
  • Current loser: Mattel fell 1% in the first quarter.
  • New bets: New additions to the portfolio include SBA Communications and East West Bancorp.

So there you have it -- the blow-by-blow of Meridian Growth Fund's latest moves. Tell us what you think in the comments section below.