DD, Lots of Janus news at Morningstar site:
Janus Tries Its Hand at Global Value
Provided by morningstar.com (http://www.morningstar.com)
Written by Catherine Hickey
There was a time when the word "value" was rarely uttered in the same breath as the word "Janus". But times are changing just as fast as you can say "tech wreck".
Janus has filed plans for its most recent foray into the value end of the investment spectrum: Janus Adviser Global Value and Janus Aspen Global Value are set to launch May 1. They will be managed by Jason Yee, who worked as an analyst at Janus from 1992 to 1996 but then
left the firm to work at Bee & Associates, a Denver-based
investment firm. Yee rejoined Janus in April 2000 as a research analyst. This will be his first stint as manager of a retail offering.
Investors shouldn't expect these funds to be typical value
offerings
that load up on cheaply priced but slow-growing stocks. Instead, the funds' investment approaches will likely be similar to the value approach David Decker takes with Janus Strategic Value Fund [JSVAX:NA]. According to the filing, Yee will seek out companies with strong free cash flow and returns on invested capital that he believes are undervalued relative to their intrinsic
values.
Such a strategy leads Decker away from traditional value areas such
as financials and toward more cash-rich businesses like media stocks.
Using this approach may lead the Global Value funds to similar companies.
Interestingly, Janus has not filed for a Global Value fund for distribution in the no-load retail channel. The Aspen funds are for institutional investors and are sold through 401(k) plans. The Adviser funds are sold through brokers and financial advisors,
and they carry 12b-1 fees that pay those advisors.
The launch of the Global Value funds comes after a year of
tumultuous
performance for many of Janus' go-go growth funds. In 2000,
Janus
Venture [JAVTX:NA] lost more than 45%, and Janus
Enterprise [JAENX:NA] lost more than 30%. Investors
have become more attracted to the relative stability of value
funds
after 2000's tech wreck, and indeed, Strategic Value has held up
relatively well so far.
Also, Janus isn't drawing any new accounts in the foreign-stock area
these days, as both Janus Overseas [JAOSX:NA] and
Janus Worldwide [JAWWX:NA] are closed. However, it
remains to be seen how the firm will fare on the value side of foreign investing, since both Overseas and Worldwide are planted firmly in growth.>
Janus Turns Up the Juice
Provided by morningstar.com (http://www.morningstar.com)
Written by Catherine Hickey
Janus Capital found a soft spot for energy stocks late in 2000.
According to a February 15 filing with the Securities and
Exchange
Commission, the Denver-based investment firm reported new
positions
in a slew of energy names. Janus managers initiated positions
in,
among others, AES [AES:NYSE], which manages power-
generation facilities, oil- and gas-well operators Anadarko
[APC:NYSE] and Devon Energy [DVN:AMEX],
and integrated oil firm BP Amoco [BP:NYSE]. In
addition, the firm added 282,565 shares to its existing position
in
independent power producer Dynegy [DYN:NYSE] (though
it slimmed a position in Enron [ENE:NYSE] a bit).
Janus made only minor changes to its stakes in some of its
mainstay
holdings. It trimmed its position in Nokia [NOK:NYSE]
by more than 1 million shares. That stock has been shellacked so
far
in 2001 after ending a weak year in 2000. The firm also
increased its
position in Cisco Systems [CSCO:NNM] by 8.5 million
shares. That stock, too, took a beating in both 2000 and 2001
thus
far.
Fiber-optic companies got some attention from the firm in 2000's
fourth quarter. Janus was a big buyer of Corning
[GLW:NYSE]; the shop snapped up almost 20 million
shares of that stock. The firm also bought nearly 3 million
shares of
Ciena [CIEN:NNM], a fiber-optic network manufacturer.
Janus also upped its position in JDS Uniphase
[JDSU:NNM], a fiber-optic telecommunications equipment
maker, by about 6 million shares.
Janus isn't abandoning some of the value names it picked up in
the
third quarter. Indeed, the shop added 13 million shares to its
stake
in Boeing [BA:NYSE], and increased its position in
Goldman Sachs [GS:NYSE] by about 3 million shares.
The firm also made some notable sales in the fourth quarter of
2000,
particularly in the realm of the Internet. The shop sold all
4.87
million shares of Yahoo [YHOO:NNM] that it held as of
the third quarter of 2000. That stock lost a gut-wrenching 86%
in
2000 as the Internet bubble deflated. In addition, small
positions in
Internet consulting firms like Razorfish [RAZF:NNM]
and Scient [SCNT:NNM] were eliminated. The market
brutalized those companies in 2000.
So far, 2001 has been a mixed bag for Janus funds' performance.
Several of the more mild-mannered offerings have snapped back
from
the lackluster numbers they put up in 2000. For example, Janus
Special Situations [JASSX:NA] is up 9.55% so far this
year, after losing 17.5% in 2000. However, some of the racier
offerings still haven't climbed from the doldrums, as the Nasdaq
has
given up its gains from January. Janus Twenty
[JAVLX:NA] is back at the bottom of the large-growth
category so far in 2001, on the heels of its dismal 32.4% loss
in
2000. Janus Enterprise [JAENX:NA] has lost more than
6% so far this year, after a 30.5% loss last year.
Top Janus Managers Unload Shares in Firm
Provided by morningstar.com (http://www.morningstar.com)
Written by Christine Benz
Janus managers will sell approximately 197,000 shares of Janus
stock,
amounting to an estimated $200 million, back to parent company
Stilwell Financial [SV:NYSE], Janus announced
Thursday. Those shares represent about 2% of Janus shares
outstanding.
The sales come less than a month after Janus chief Tom Bailey
announced his decision to sell half his Janus stake to Stilwell.
In both cases, Janus said that the sales would free up shares to
incentivize key employees and to attract new talent to the firm.
"We
have a long-term incentive plan and this enhances it," Janus
spokeswoman Jane Ingalls said of the recently announced sale.
"We can
use these shares to broaden stock ownership in the company."
Some Stilwell watchers are less sanguine about the news,
however. The
stock has skidded $2.17, or 6.4%, this morning, amid concerns
that
the sales could indicate that the key Janus managers who sold
the
shares intend to depart the firm. At the very least, the
thinking goes, the sales indicate that top Janus fund managers
have
less at stake in their funds', and the firm's, success.
Janus' Ingalls denies that the share sales foretell any manager
defections, however. "I don't have any reason to believe that
any
portfolio managers will be leaving because of this," she said.
It's hard to blame Janus investors for feeling skittish,
however. Most Janus funds saw devastating losses in 2000, which
have
continued into 2001 amid a tough investment climate for Janus'
favored technology and telecommunications stocks.
Meanwhile, the firm has seen substantial tumult behind the
scenes.
The firm engaged in a very public spat with former parent
company
Kansas City Southern [KSU:NYSE] over the latter's
decision to spin off Janus with its other financial-services
units.
(Kansas City Southern went ahead with the spin-off in early
2000,
however.)
And former chief investment office Jim Craig stepped down from
the
firm in August to run a family foundation. Janus replaced Craig
with
an investment committee composed of top Janus portfolio
managers,
including Worldwide [JAWWX:NA] and Overseas
[JAOSX:NA] manager Helen Young Hayes and Twenty
[JAVLX:NA] manager Scott Schoelzel. |
