At The Motley Fool, we understand that it often pays to zig when the rest of Wall Street zags. Like us, fund managers rarely move in lockstep with the broader market. By tracking these little-followed funds' buy and sell decisions, we can often gain valuable insights into opportunities the market might be missing.

Every quarter, any fund managers overseeing more than $100 million must publicly disclose their quarter-end holdings via the Securities and Exchange Commission's Form 13-F. It lists all U.S.-traded securities the fund's manager held at the end of the quarter. Although the form doesn't disclose short positions or intraquarter trades, it can illuminate long stock bets.

Meet Schneider Capital Management
Arnold Schneider is the president of Schneider Capital Management. The company's philosophy is to produce solid long-term performance through investing in undervalued companies with potential for positive fundamental change. The total market value of Schneider Capital Management Corp.'s disclosed equity holdings as of March 31, 2011 -- the latest quarter for which data are available -- was $1.8 billion across 143 holdings.

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

  1. Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI) -- reduced 1.9%.
  2. Consol Energy (NYSE: CNX) -- increased 2.6%.
  3. Cloud Peak Energy (NYSE: CLD) -- increased 17.3%.
  4. PNC Financial (NYSE: PNC) -- reduced 1.1%.
  5. Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) – reduced 1.8%.
  6. GenOn Energy (NYSE: GEN) -- reduced 2.1%.
  7. Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) -- increased 1.1%.
  8. Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) -- reduced 46.8%.
  9. Navistar International (NYSE: NAV) -- reduced 0.1%.
  10. KB Home (NYSE: KBH) -- increased 14.1%.

Outside the top 10 holdings:

  • Rising positions: The fund increased its positions in Monster Worldwide and Cloud Peak Energy.
  • Falling positions: The fund reduced its exposure to AAR and J.C. Penney.
  • Eliminated positions: During the quarter, the fund sold out of several stock positions, including Smithfield Foods and Orthovita.

Selected Q1 2011 commentary

Schneider Capital Management has a somewhat diversified portfolio, with energy stocks and financials combining to make up more than half of the portfolio. Here's where the firm is winning and losing, and making new bets, at the moment:

  • Current winner: Chesapeake Energy did well, jumping almost 30% in the first quarter. Even after its position reduction, the stock comprises about 2.3% of the total portfolio.
  • Current loser: KB Home fell more than 7% in the first quarter.
  • New bets: New additions include First Energy, among many others. FirstEnergy makes up 1.6% of the total portfolio.

So there you have it -- the blow-by-blow of Schneider Capital Management's latest moves. Tell us what you think in the comments section below.