Investment legends Warren Buffet and George Soros piling into Walmart may have raised some eyebrows but a number of big name fund managers this side of the pond have also being snapping up retailers.

Motley Fool in the United States - who we humbly thank for the angle and it must be said the headline - reports that Soros’s hedge fund bought one million shares in the much derided supermarket chain last quarter while Buffett upped his stake from 19.9 million to 37.8 million shares, a position worth in excess of $2 billion.

The website, notes that Walmart has been a serious laggard in the post-March rally, up 16% compared to the S&P 500’s 60% plus gain.

Admittedly, the stock didn’t fall as far as the market given the fact that its pile ‘em high sell ‘em cheap mantra played well into the theme of rising unemployment and falling consumer spending.

On these shores, David Cumming, manager of the Standard Life Investments UK Equity Recovery fund, has also been finding value in the retail sector, believing that the sell off has been overdone and special situations abound.

His favoured picks are DSG International and Debenhams.

‘DSG is benefiting from a new management team, store refits and signs of returning price inflation,’ he says. ‘We also hold Debenhams, which is attractively valued compared to its peers and is taking market share.’

Artemis Income fund manager Adrian Frost is also a backer of Debenhams and has just added HMV to his portfolio too, which he admits is an ‘interesting’ choice.