<PAGE>
WEITZ SERIES FUND, INC.
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HICKORY FUND
QUARTERLY
REPORT
DECEMBER 31, 1999
ONE PACIFIC PLACE, SUITE 600
1125 SOUTH 103 STREET
OMAHA, NEBRASKA 68124-6008
402-391-1980
800-232-4161
402-391-2125 FAX
www.weitzfunds.com
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2
<PAGE>
WEITZ SERIES FUND, INC. -- HICKORY FUND
PERFORMANCE SINCE INCEPTION
The following table summarizes performance information for the fund as compared
to the S&P 500 over the periods indicated. The table also sets forth average
annual total return data for the fund for the one and five year periods ended
December 31, 1999, and for the period since inception, calculated in accordance
with SEC standardized formulas.
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
DIFFERENCE
PERIOD ENDED HICKORY FUND S&P 500 HICKORY FUND - S&P 500
------------ ------------ ------- ----------------------
<S> <C> <C> <C>
Dec. 31, 1999 36.7% 21.0% 15.7%
Dec. 31, 1998 33.0 28.6 4.4
Dec. 31, 1997 39.2 33.4 5.8
Dec. 31, 1996 35.4 22.9 12.5
Dec. 31, 1995 40.5 37.5 3.0
Dec. 31, 1994 -17.3 1.3 -18.6
Dec. 31, 1993 (9 months) 20.3 5.5 14.8
Since Inception (April 1,
1993) Cumulative 378.5 274.8 103.7
Compound Annual
Average Return 26.1 21.6 4.5
</TABLE>
The fund's average annual total return for the one and five years ended
December 31, 1999, and for the period since inception (April 1, 1993) was 36.7%,
36.9% and 26.1%, respectively. The returns assume redemption at the end of each
period and reinvestment of dividends.
3
<PAGE>
WEITZ SERIES FUND, INC. -- HICKORY FUND
The chart below depicts the change in the value of a $25,000 investment for the
period since inception of the Hickory Fund (April 1, 1993) through December 31,
1999, as compared with the growth of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index during the
same period. The Standard & Poor's Index is an unmanaged index consisting of 500
companies generally representative of the market for stocks of large-size U.S.
companies. The information assumes reinvestment of dividends and capital gains
distributions. A $25,000 investment in the Hickory Fund on April 1, 1993, would
have been valued at $119,614 on December 31, 1999.
EDGAR REPRESENTATION OF DATA POINTS USED IN PRINTED GRAPHIC
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
WEITZ HICKORY FUND
<S> <C> <C>
HICKORY FUND S&P 500
April 1, 1993 25,000 25,000
April-93 22,905 24,396
May-93 24,000 25,046
June-93 24,152 25,119
July-93 24,872 25,018
August-93 26,801 25,965
September-93 27,001 25,765
October-93 28,757 26,298
November-93 27,860 26,048
December-93 30,067 26,363
January-94 29,605 27,258
February-94 29,119 26,519
March-94 27,527 25,364
April-94 27,265 25,690
May-94 27,516 26,110
June-94 26,197 25,470
July-94 26,038 26,306
August-94 27,590 27,382
September-94 27,297 26,714
October-94 26,947 27,312
November-94 25,452 26,318
December-94 24,869 26,708
January-95 24,968 27,400
February-95 25,999 28,466
March-95 26,378 29,305
April-95 26,307 30,167
May-95 27,764 31,370
June-95 29,583 32,098
July-95 31,215 33,162
August-95 33,361 33,244
September-95 34,777 34,647
October-95 33,309 34,523
November-95 34,336 36,037
December-95 34,932 36,731
January-96 36,745 37,979
February-96 37,212 38,332
March-96 37,083 38,701
April-96 37,913 39,271
May-96 39,878 40,282
June-96 40,846 40,435
July-96 37,536 38,650
August-96 40,117 39,466
September-96 42,189 41,685
October-96 42,857 42,834
November-96 44,915 46,069
December-96 47,281 45,156
January-97 48,987 47,976
February-97 50,153 48,352
March-97 47,530 46,369
April-97 47,615 49,135
May-97 54,306 52,124
June-97 55,237 54,458
July-97 57,395 58,790
August-97 58,096 55,499
September-97 62,047 58,536
October-97 62,877 56,584
November-97 62,141 59,201
December-97 65,803 60,216
January-98 67,763 60,882
February-98 71,394 65,270
March-98 81,664 68,610
April-98 88,465 69,300
May-98 85,283 68,110
June-98 89,485 70,874
July-98 90,988 70,121
August-98 80,006 59,993
September-98 75,548 63,837
October-98 76,215 69,025
November-98 81,957 73,206
December-98 87,522 77,422
January-99 90,666 80,658
February-99 91,426 78,152
March-99 95,887 81,278
April-99 104,102 84,425
May-99 104,548 82,434
June-99 108,215 87,005
July-99 105,837 84,291
August-99 102,055 83,871
September-99 104,176 81,575
October-99 108,960 86,734
November-99 108,531 88,501
December-99 119,614 93,710
</TABLE>
AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
SINCE INCEPTION
1-YEAR 5-YEARS (APRIL 1, 1993)
-------- -------- ----------------
<S> <C> <C> <C>
HICKORY FUND...................... 36.7% 36.9% 26.1%
Standard & Poor's 500 Index....... 21.0% 28.5% 21.6%
</TABLE>
This information represents past performance of the Hickory Fund and is not
indicative of future performance. The investment return and the principal value
of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed, may
be worth more or less than the original cost.
4
<PAGE>
WEITZ SERIES FUND, INC. -- HICKORY FUND
DECEMBER 31, 1999 - QUARTERLY REPORT
January 5, 2000
Dear Fellow Shareholder:
The last three months of 1999 were generally good to stock investors. Our
investment in Hickory gained 14.8% over this period, bringing our year to date
return to 36.7%. Over the same periods the S&P 500 (with dividends reinvested)
returned 14.9% and 21.0%, respectively. During 1999 the average growth mutual
fund (according to Lipper) returned 29.3% and the Nasdaq Composite rose an
astounding 86.1%.
REVIEW AND OUTLOOK
Relative to any reasonable standard of investment performance, Hickory had
a very good year in 1999. This statement raises an obvious question. What is a
reasonable standard of investment performance? This is a particularly important
question as we set our expectations for the future. In this letter I will try to
provide some perspective on reasonable future expectations for stock investors
and review Hickory's 1999 results. In addition, I will discuss why I remain
optimistic about our chances for long-term investment success (relative to
reasonable expectations).
This discussion of investment expectations needs to be divided into two
parts. First, what should we expect for the market as a whole? Second, how
should we measure the performance of a mutual fund relative to the market? In
discussing the first point, it is very important to remember that U.S. stock
investors have been enjoying amazingly good results over an amazingly long time.
Over the last ten years, the S&P 500 (with dividends reinvested) has returned on
average 18.2% per year. This spectacular performance has continued for so many
years that many investors have forgotten just how spectacular it is. Over much
longer time periods stocks have not done nearly as well. Measuring from the
1920's until today, stocks have returned just over 10% per year.
What does past performance tell us about the future? Warren Buffett
tackled this topic recently in FORTUNE magazine. If you believe that stock
investing can be anywhere near as profitable over the next ten years as it has
been over the last ten years, I highly recommend you read this article. Buffett
argues that past results have been helped tremendously by falling interest
rates, and that investors should not expect this factor to be as helpful in the
future. After considering frictional costs and current low dividend yields, he
concluded that 6% is a
5
<PAGE>
more realistic expectation for future stock returns, well below recent results
and long term averages.
This analysis looks at the overall market. What about a good mutual fund?
What would constitute excellent performance relative to the stock market?
Historical data may also be helpful in answering this question. Morningstar is
in the business of tracking mutual fund performance. I looked at Morningstar's
data on the ten year track records of domestic diversified equity funds. The
Morningstar website shows a universe of 572 funds that meet these criteria. The
website also shows the returns of the top forty of these funds. The fortieth
best performing fund returned 20.9% per year over the last ten years. Comparing
this return to the S&P 500's return of 18.2% per year for the same ten years
leads to a startling conclusion. A mutual fund would have outperformed more than
90% of its peers by beating the S&P 500 by less than 3% per year over the last
ten years.
By simply combining Buffett's conclusions (realistic future expectations
of 6%) with the evidence from Morningstar about top performing mutual funds over
the last ten years (less than 3% better than the market), one could conclude
that any mutual fund that delivers more than 9% per year over the next ten years
would be considered very, very good. A case could probably be made that the best
mutual funds will deliver somewhat better returns than this if the overall
market doesn't do as well, so perhaps this simple addition is too pessimistic.
Nevertheless, it seems a realistic possibility that the best returns which one
could experience over the next few years are much closer to 10% than the returns
we have experienced recently. The average mutual fund is likely to do worse.
As regular readers of Hickory quarterly letters are aware, I have been
expressing concerns about future stock market returns for several years. Thus
far, I have been wrong. In the short term, because greed and fear so influence
stock prices, the stock market will always be unpredictable. Lately, greed has
been winning. Nevertheless, I feel comfortable that greed cannot win forever,
and we should expect returns to be lower at some point. This leads me back to
where I started. This was a very good year for Hickory. The stock market
provided greater returns than we had reason to expect, and Hickory did well
relative to the overall market. I am also pleased with the source of these
returns, which were more diversified than they have sometimes been. Our media
(particularly Liberty Media) and telecommunications (Telephone and Data Systems,
Centennial Cellular) holdings continued to do well, but they were not alone. In
particular, I would highlight Noble Drilling, Harrah's Entertainment, American
Classic Voyages, and The PMI Group. As usual, not all our stocks did well. As a
group, the financial stocks (other than PMI Group) struggled in the face of
rising interest rates
6
<PAGE>
and were unable to recover from the liquidity crisis in the fall of 1998. Data
Transmission Network fell as investors continue to wait for a potential sale of
the company. Other stocks, including Premier Parks, Mail-Well, and Consolidated
Stores, did not fall very far, but also did not contribute to our positive
returns.
As to the future, I remain quite optimistic about the long-term prospects
of our investments. We have had the opportunity to trim back some of our
holdings that are no longer quite so cheap, and replace them with other good
companies that are currently out of favor. I am very comfortable with the
companies we own and the prices at which we own them. This does not mean that
the market price of our investments will go up tomorrow, or even this year. But
it should lead to reasonable returns over the long run.
At the same time, I remain quite uncomfortable with many sectors of the
stock market, particularly technology and Internet companies. Of course, I have
had these concerns for several years, and yet technology stocks continue to
perform very well. I continue to believe that the prices of many of these stocks
bear little relation to the underlying value of the companies they represent and
that a situation like this cannot last forever. I remain concerned that the
inevitable correction in technology stocks will bring with it broader market
turmoil. There are always risks in the stock market, and this is the one that
currently worries me the most.
So why am I optimistic? Mostly because I believe buying growing value,
priced at a discount is a good approach. It should be profitable to buy good
companies for less than they are worth, and thus far it has been. As long as it
is possible to find companies that fit my criteria, we should have a good chance
to experience good (but reasonable) long-term returns.
Thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
/s/ RICHARD F. LAWSON
Richard F. Lawson
Portfolio Manager
7
<PAGE>
WEITZ SERIES FUND, INC. -- HICKORY FUND
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS IN SECURITIES
DECEMBER 31, 1999
(UNAUDITED)
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
SHARES
OR UNITS COST VALUE
- ------------- -------------- -------------
<C> <S> <C> <C>
COMMON STOCKS -- 96.0%
AUTO SERVICES -- 2.2%
1,275,700 Insurance Auto Auctions, Inc.* $ 16,579,335 $ 20,092,275
-------------- -------------
CABLE TELEVISION -- 5.0%
693,383 Adelphia Communications Corp. CL A* 15,868,804 45,503,259
-------------- -------------
CONSUMER PRODUCTS AND SERVICES -- 7.7%
1,424,200 American Classic Voyages Co.* 20,197,194 49,847,000
702,200 Premier Parks, Inc.* 20,638,802 20,276,025
-------------- -------------
40,835,996 70,123,025
-------------- -------------
DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIES -- 0.2%
54,700 Lynch Corp.* 1,953,299 1,408,525
-------------- -------------
FINANCIAL GUARANTEE INSURANCE -- 4.3%
810,000 The PMI Group, Inc. 23,132,333 39,538,125
-------------- -------------
FINANCIAL SERVICES -- 11.3%
732,300 Allied Capital Corp. 12,595,005 13,410,244
350 Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. CL A* 25,528,400 19,635,000
758,000 Capital One Financial Corp. 23,682,628 36,526,125
4,983,600 Imperial Credit Industries, Inc.* 76,714,986 31,147,500
1,086,000 United Panam Financial Corp.* 10,234,294 2,104,125
-------------- -------------
148,755,313 102,822,994
-------------- -------------
HEALTH CARE -- 3.2%
608,850 LabOne, Inc. 7,868,452 4,185,844
732,500 Lincare Holdings Inc.* 18,775,793 25,408,594
-------------- -------------
26,644,245 29,594,438
-------------- -------------
INFORMATION SERVICES -- 2.9%
1,515,200 Data Transmission Network Corp.* 41,101,334 26,137,200
-------------- -------------
LODGING AND GAMING -- 3.1%
1,063,500 Harrah's Entertainment, Inc.* 15,692,726 28,116,281
-------------- -------------
</TABLE>
8
<PAGE>
WEITZ SERIES FUND, INC. -- HICKORY FUND
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS IN SECURITIES, CONTINUED
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
SHARES
OR UNITS COST VALUE
- ------------- -------------- -------------
<C> <S> <C> <C>
MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT -- 8.9%
900,000 AT&T Corp. - Liberty Media Group A* $ 15,061,249 $ 51,075,000
718,050 Valassis Communications, Inc.* 15,787,236 30,337,612
-------------- -------------
30,848,485 81,412,612
-------------- -------------
MORTGAGE BANKING -- 4.9%
323,500 New Century Financial Corp.* 2,982,558 5,095,125
1,313,400 Countrywide Credit Industries, Inc. 40,111,375 33,163,350
1,492,500 Resource Bancshares Mtg. Grp., Inc. 22,846,412 6,762,891
-------------- -------------
65,940,345 45,021,366
-------------- -------------
OIL AND GAS DRILLING -- 1.2%
327,700 Noble Drilling Corp.* 4,046,490 10,732,175
-------------- -------------
PRINTING SERVICES -- 4.0%
2,725,800 Mail-Well, Inc.* 34,948,298 36,798,300
-------------- -------------
REAL ESTATE AND CONSTRUCTION -- 0.6%
187,200 Forest City Enterprises, Inc. CL A 4,843,744 5,241,600
-------------- -------------
REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS -- 3.1%
968,113 Dynex Capital, Inc. 18,821,190 6,232,227
879,332 Fortress Investment Corp. 15,805,614 14,948,644
222,600 Hanover Capital Mortgage Holdings, Inc. 3,497,155 779,100
21,807 Healthcare Financial Partners Units** 2,170,887 2,180,700
520,000 NovaStar Financial, Inc. 9,356,282 1,625,000
220,000 Redwood Trust, Inc. 4,964,257 2,750,000
-------------- -------------
54,615,385 28,515,671
-------------- -------------
RESTAURANTS -- 0.8%
245,000 Applebee's International 5,024,688 7,227,500
-------------- -------------
RETAIL DISCOUNT -- 3.8%
2,110,000 Consolidated Stores Corp.* 36,875,928 34,287,500
-------------- -------------
SATELLITE SERVICES -- 13.0%
2,629,700 Loral Space & Communications, Ltd.* 44,897,586 63,934,581
2,956,000 Orbital Sciences Corp.* 53,638,569 54,870,750
-------------- -------------
98,536,155 118,805,331
-------------- -------------
</TABLE>
9
<PAGE>
WEITZ SERIES FUND, INC. -- HICKORY FUND
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS IN SECURITIES, CONTINUED
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
SHARES
OR UNITS COST VALUE
- ------------- -------------- -------------
<C> <S> <C> <C>
TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES -- 8.7%
369,044 Centennial Cellular Corp. CL A* $ 5,232,081 $ 30,584,522
54,700 Lynch Interactive Corp. 2,981,766 5,463,162
342,000 Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. 12,643,035 43,092,000
-------------- -------------
20,856,882 79,139,684
-------------- -------------
TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT SERVICES -- 3.3%
2,525,300 Labor Ready, Inc.* 33,419,851 30,619,263
-------------- -------------
1,712,600 MISCELLANEOUS SECURITIES -- 3.8% 24,816,726 35,108,900
-------------- -------------
Total Common Stocks 745,336,362 876,246,024
-------------- -------------
WARRANTS -- 0.0%
424,300 Hanover Capital Mtg. Holdings, Inc., Expiring 9/15/00 1,248,753 6,632
260,000 NovaStar Financial, Inc., Expiring 2/03/01 1,688,775 13,000
-------------- -------------
Total Warrants 2,937,528 19,632
-------------- -------------
CONVERTIBLE PREFERRED STOCKS -- 0.6%
871,429 NovaStar Financial, Inc. 7% Pfd. Class B Cumulative 5,772,636 5,185,003
-------------- -------------
<CAPTION>
FACE
AMOUNT
- -------------
<C> <S> <C> <C>
SHORT-TERM SECURITIES -- 3.0%
27,474,310 Wells Fargo Government Money Market Fund 27,474,310 27,474,310
-------------- -------------
Total Investments in Securities $ 781,520,836 908,924,969
============== -------------
Other Assets Less Liabilities -- 0.4% 4,045,368
-------------
Total Net Assets -- 100% $ 912,970,337
=============
Net Asset Value Per Share $ 39.65
=============
</TABLE>
*Non-income producing
**Each unit, which is restricted as to sale, consists of five shares of common
stock and one stock purchase warrant. The company distributed an additional
warrant per unit to unitholders during 1998. The warrants currently have no
value or cost assigned to them.
10
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11
<PAGE>
WEITZ SERIES FUND, INC.
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Lorraine Chang
John W. Hancock
Richard D. Holland
Thomas R. Pansing, Jr.
Delmer L. Toebben
Wallace R. Weitz
OFFICERS
Wallace R. Weitz, President
Mary K. Beerling, Vice-President & Secretary
Linda L. Lawson, Vice-President
Richard F. Lawson, Vice-President
INVESTMENT ADVISER
Wallace R. Weitz & Company
DISTRIBUTOR
Weitz Securities, Inc.
CUSTODIAN
Norwest Bank Minnesota, N.A.
TRANSFER AGENT AND DIVIDEND PAYING AGENT
Wallace R. Weitz & Company
SUB-TRANSFER AGENT
National Financial Data Services, Inc.
This report has been prepared for the
information of shareholders of Weitz
Series Fund, Inc. - Hickory Fund. For more
detailed information about the Fund, its
investment objectives, management, fees and
expenses, please see a current prospectus. This
report is not authorized for distribution to
prospective investors unless preceded or
accompanied by a current prospectus.
01/24/2000
512124
