PARTNERS III OPPORTUNITY FUND
WPOPX / WPOIX

Summary Prospectus
July 31, 2021

Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund’s Prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. The Fund’s Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, both dated July 31, 2021 and as currently filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus. You can find the Fund’s Prospectus and other information about the Fund online at https://weitzinvestments.com/resources/product-literature/default.fs. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 800-304-9745 or by sending an e-mail request to clientservices@weitzinvestments.com.

Investment Objective

The investment objective of the Fund is capital appreciation.

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

The tables below describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.

SHAREHOLDER FEES     
(fees paid directly from your investment)     
  Institutional Class  Investor Class 
Maximum sales charge (load) on purchase  None  None 
Maximum deferred sales charge (load)  None  None 
Redemption fee  None  None 

 

ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES     
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) 
  Institutional Class  Investor Class 
Management fees  1.00%  1.00% 
Distribution (12b-1) fees  None  None 
Other expenses(1)  0.20%  0.65% 
Dividend expense on short sales  0.23%  0.23% 
Total annual fund operating expenses  1.43%  1.88% 

 

(1) Restated to reflect current expenses. Effective July 31, 2021, the Fund’s administrative services fees were revised.

Example

This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the periods indicated and then redeem in full at the end of each of the periods indicated. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same each year.

Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

  1 YEAR  3 YEARS  5 YEARS  10 YEARS 
Institutional Class  $146  $452  $782  $1,713 
Investor Class  $191  $591  $1,016  $2,201 

 



Weitz Funds – Partners III Opportunity Fund

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transactions costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 23% of the average value of the portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund’s investment strategy (which we call “Quality at a Discount”) is to buy above-average to highest-quality businesses, at prices that we believe are less than what the companies are worth. The Fund is a “multi-cap” fund and may invest in securities of any market capitalization. The Fund may invest in securities issued by non-U.S. companies, which may be denominated in U.S. dollars or foreign currencies. As part of the Fund’s strategy, the Fund may concentrate its investments in securities of relatively few issuers. The Fund invests in long positions in stocks and other securities, when we anticipate that the value of such securities will increase. The Fund also invests in short positions in stocks and other securities, including short sales of exchange traded funds, when we anticipate a decline in the value of such securities. The Fund has the ability to borrow money to invest in its long positions, and may buy and sell futures contracts, such as stock index futures contracts. The Fund’s mix of long positions and short positions will change over time based on the investment adviser’s assessment of market conditions.

We assess a company’s quality based on its competitive position, return on invested capital, ability to redeploy capital, cash flow consistency, financial leverage and management team. We compare the company’s stock price to our estimate of business value, i.e., all the cash that the company will generate for its owners in the future. For each company, we look at a range of business value estimates. We then seek to buy stocks of companies that meet our quality criteria when they are priced are at a discount to our estimates of business value.

We invest with a multiple-year time horizon. We believe that purchasing stocks at prices less than our business value estimates provides opportunities for stock price appreciation, both as business values grow and as the market recognizes companies’ values. Typically, we consider selling stocks as they approach or exceed our business value estimates. We may also sell stocks for other reasons, including for the purchase of stocks that we believe offer better investment opportunities.

We do not try to “time” the market. However, if there is cash available for investment and there are not securities that meet the Fund’s investment criteria, the Fund may invest without limitation in high-quality cash and cash equivalents such as U.S. government securities or government money market fund shares. If the Fund takes such a defensive position, it may be temporarily unable to achieve its investment objective.

The Fund’s investment strategies for short positions can include (1) selling short an exchange traded fund (“ETF”) or other security that tracks a broad or narrow market index, in hopes of buying the security at a future date at a lower price, (2) simultaneously buying a put option and selling a call option on an ETF or other security that tracks a broad or narrow market index, (3) buying an ETF or other security that is designed to appreciate in value when the value of a broad or narrow market index declines, (4) simultaneously holding a short position in one security and a long position in another security, with the objective of earning positive returns on the combined set of positions, (5) selling a covered call option on a security that the Fund owns for the duration of the option period and (6) holding a short position in an ETF or other security that tracks a broad or narrow market index and adding to the Fund’s long positions in particular stocks by a corresponding amount.

Principal Investment Risks

You should be aware that an investment in the Fund involves certain risks, including, among others, the following:

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Weitz Funds – Partners III Opportunity Fund

management depth. Also, securities of small companies may be affected to a greater extent by the underperformance of a sector or changing market conditions.

Your investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured nor guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other governmental agency.

Performance

The following chart and table provide an indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year over the period indicated and by showing how the Fund’s average annual total returns for the periods indicated, both before and after taxes, compared to those of relevant broad-based securities market indices. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, the Fund’s primary comparative index, is generally representative of the market for the stocks of large-size U.S. companies. The Russell 3000 Index measures the performance of the largest 3,000 U.S. companies. All Fund performance numbers are calculated after deducting fees and expenses, and all numbers assume reinvestment of dividends. Total returns shown include fee waivers and expense reimbursements, if any; total returns would have been lower had there been no waivers and/or reimbursements. The Fund’s past performance is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future both before and after taxes. Updated performance information is available at weitzinvestments.com or by calling us toll-free at 800-304-9745.

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Weitz Funds – Partners III Opportunity Fund

The year-to-date return for the Fund’s Institutional Class for the six months ended June 30, 2021 was 11.51%.

         
BEST AND WORST PERFORMING QUARTERS         
(during the period shown above)         
    Quarter/Year  Total Return 
Best quarter  1st quarter 2019    19.48% 
Worst quarter  1st quarter 2020    -16.17% 
       
AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS         
(for periods ended December 31, 2020)         
    1 Year  5 Year  10 Year 
Institutional Class         
Return before taxes    9.46%  9.31%  9.13% 
Return after taxes on distributions    6.32%  7.68%  7.73% 
Return after taxes on distributions and sale of fund  7.59%  7.15%  7.26% 
shares         
Investor Class return before taxes    8.82%  8.71%  8.69% 
Comparative Indices (reflect no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes):     
Standard & Poor’s 500 Index    18.40%  15.22%  13.88% 
Russell 3000 Index    20.89%  15.43%  13.79% 

 

After-tax returns are calculated using the highest historical individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. In some instances, the return after taxes may be greater than the return before taxes because you are assumed to be able to use the capital loss on the sale of Fund shares to offset other taxable gains. After-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as a 401(k) account or individual retirement account (IRA).

Fund Management

Investment Adviser

Weitz Investment Management, Inc. (“Weitz Inc.”) is the investment adviser for the Fund.

Portfolio Manager

Wallace R. Weitz, CFA, and Andrew S. Weitz are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund. Wallace R. Weitz has been a portfolio manager of the Fund since its inception. Andrew S. Weitz became a portfolio manager of the Fund on July 31, 2020.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

For Investor Class shares, the minimum investment required to open an account in the Fund is $2,500. The subsequent minimum investment requirement is $25.

For Institutional Class shares, the minimum investment required to open an account in the Fund is $1,000,000. The subsequent minimum investment requirement is $25.

Investors may purchase, redeem or exchange Fund shares by written request, telephone, online, or through a financial intermediary on any day the New York Stock Exchange is open for business. You may conduct transactions by mail (Weitz Funds, c/o FIS Investor Services LLC, 4249 Easton Way, Suite 400, Columbus, Ohio 43219), by telephone at 800-304-9745, or online at weitzinvestments.com. Purchases and redemptions by telephone are only permitted if you previously established this option on your account.

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Weitz Funds – Partners III Opportunity Fund

Tax Information

The Fund’s distributions may be taxable to you as ordinary income and/or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA. Such tax-deferred arrangements may be taxed upon withdrawals made from those arrangements.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a financial adviser), the Fund and/ or its investment adviser may pay the intermediary an administrative fee to compensate them for the services they provide (commonly referred to as administrative fee payments). These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the financial intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

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Weitz Funds – Partners III Opportunity Fund

WPOPX, WPOIX Sum Pro
3102021

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