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To: IceShark who wrote (6819)	2/4/2000 8:54:00 AM
From: Cynic 2005	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 42523

Ice, you gotta see this: A Fearless Aggressive Growth Fund biz.yahoo.com ------------Related Quotes AFM ALGX BEAS BGEN CALP CCU GBLX GOTO PHSKX TMCS UVN WCII 82 115 85 103 108 92 50 82 33.16 42 109 78 +0 +0 +0 +0 +0 +0 +0 +0 +1.17 +0 +0 +0 delayed 20 mins - disclaimer Thursday February 3, 6:25 pm Eastern Time worldlyinvestor.com Fund Talk A Fearless Aggressive Growth Fund By Lori Pizzani, Special to worldlyinvestor.com Here's an aggressive growth fund that's not afraid to hold cash during volatility. What is it that drives the $590 million Phoenix-Engemann Aggressive Growth Fund (Nasdaq:PHSKX - news)? Its courage, perhaps. This aggressive growth fund, which invests in small- to mid-cap firms isn't afraid to be itself; to take sector bets, or invest a modest portion (up to a maximum of 2%) of the fund's assets in private placement securities, hoping to capture a profit when those companies go public. But most of all, the fund isn't afraid to hold cash through thick and thin. In 1999, the five-star fund returned 83.7%, putting it ahead of nearly 25% of other funds in its mid-cap growth peer group. In 1998, the fund returned a more modest 30.4%, and over the past three years the fund's average annual return was a respectable 41.2%. While the fund officially benchmarks its performance against the Russell 2000, it acts more like an S&P MidCap 400 benchmarked fund according to the fund managers. Last year the S&P MidCap 400 returned a mere 14.7%. Looking for Growth Potential A team of managers, including two technology analysts-turned-senior portfolio team members, manages the fund. The fund is advised by Phoenix Investment Partners and sub-advised by its subsidiary, Roger Engemann & Associates of California. The management team rolls out the full complement of portfolio strategies in managing the fund. They seek out companies that have demonstrated top-line growth and have long-term growth prospects. They also look for more mature companies that have some barriers to entry but have a business model that is expected to be profitable in the future. The fund will sometimes take sector bets by moving into several companies within an enticing sector, then weed out the unappealing ones. At other times it targets specific stocks that have been tracked on the fund managers' radar. ''We look at valuation but we focus on growth,'' says senior portfolio management team member Ned Brines. ''If a company is growing, don't underestimate its growth potential.'' Brines likes companies showing growth at a hefty pace of 25% annually. Brines, previously a tech analyst with the firm for six years, prides himself on investing in what he knows best '\200'' technology stocks. Right now a hefty 65% of the Phoenix-Engemann Aggressive Growth Fund's portfolio is concentrated in technology stocks says Brines. For the tech sector, Brines uses a bottom-up approach to find interesting stocks. Cash Can Be King But Brines knows just how volatile tech stocks can be. ''The tech market doesn't go straight. It goes up and down and up and down,'' he says. When things start looking overly expensive, or the market changes, Brines is not afraid to sell out and park the cash on the sidelines. ''We took a negative view on interest rates last March and built up a cash position,'' he says. ''We're not afraid to tilt into cash.'' The fund typically maintains between an 8% and 12% cash position, says Brines. ''We get nervous when it is under 8%,'' says Brines. While other funds strive to push the performance envelope by being fully invested at all times, the Phoenix-Engemann team prefers to hold cash to buffer the volatility of the tech-heavy portfolio. There are two views to this strategy, Brines says. ''The first is that you have to run with all out investments because you are competing with other funds. But we are here to get total return for clients,'' he says. ''Cash provides us with some balance.'' Brines says that three times last year the fund manager team made major cash calls. Some Telecom, Some Dot-Com The managers use a top-down approach for sectors they invest in. In the first few months of 1999, the fund held many communication stocks. Then in April it added semiconductor firms and enterprise software companies and backed off from communications companies. Sectors with equivalent weightings right now include financial, capital goods, communications services, and consumer staples. Brines's list of best picks includes: Allegiance Telecomm (Nasdaq:ALGX - news), which provides telecommunication services to small and mid-sized businesses; Global Crossing (Nasdaq:GBLX - news), which owns the world's largest global undersea network; Winstar Communications (Nasdaq:WCII - news), which helps global companies use seamless communication technology and provides Internet services, and BEA Systems (Nasdaq:BEAS - news) which provides software for e-commerce infrastructures. Dot-com stocks are an anomaly rather than the rule in this fund. It only owns two: Ticketmaster.com (Nasdaq:TMCS - news) because the ticket business readily lends itself to the online environment, and GOTO.com (Nasdaq:GOTO - news) a search engine not driven by ad sales. The firm derives revenues from company searches. Brines is also fond of Caliper Technology (Nasdaq:CALP - news), which designs and manufacturers lab chips that automate lab experiments, and Biogen (Nasdaq:BGEN - news), a drug manufacturer which just developed a promising drug to delay the development of multiple sclerosis. In the communications universe, Brines has taken a shine to Univision Communications (NYSE:UVN - news) the Spanish language broadcaster and Clear Channel Communication (NYSE:CCU - news), which will become the largest radio broadcaster in the country when it finalizes its announced purchase of AMFM (NYSE:AFM - news) The fund charges a 4.75% front-end load. The minimum initial investment is $500 '\200''- only $25 for IRAs -- and additional investments for either are $25. Lori Pizzani is a New York-based freelance financial services journalist who focuses on the mutual fund industry. Go to www.worldlyinvestor.com to see all of our latest stories.