Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Value Investing -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sjemmeri who wrote (18811)	3/3/2004 11:47:50 AM
From: - with a K	Respond to of 78625

ACS news snips: NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - Ted Parrish still remembers what Gene Henssler told him when he joined the Henssler investment management team: "We like to own companies that can survive the next depression instead of the next recession." Not exactly the most optimistic advice, but it made an impression on Parrish, co-manager of the Henssler Equity fund (HEQFX: news, chart, profile). The Henssler fund follows a high-quality mandate of buying only stocks that investment research firm Standard & Poor's rates "A-" or better for dividend and earnings quality, or "A" or better based on Value Line's financial strength. Roughly 800 companies scale that hurdle, Parrish said. After accounting for dividend yield, valuation and liquidity, only about 100 remain. Then, as Parrish put it, the "black magic -- the intuition" comes into play as the managers whittle the list. The $110 million portfolio owns just 44 stocks, and Parrish intends to hold them over a three- to five-year stretch. "The No. 1 risk in investing is bankruptcy," he said. "We avoid that by buying high quality companies. Three years ago that was almost laughable, but looking at WorldCom and Enron now, it gets people's attention." Over the past year, Henssler Equity is up 39 percent, in line with its S&P 500 Index benchmark, according to fund research firm Lipper. The no-load fund's average 2 percent annualized gain over three years leads the S&P 500 by about 4 percentage points Business process outsourcing company Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) is another favorite. The U.S. government is giving the company increased business, Parrish said. In addition, the stock's price to earnings-growth (PEG) ratio is less than 1, which is rare in the technology sector. marketwatch.com