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Technology Stocks : CheckFree (CKFR) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TLindt who wrote (1582)	2/9/1998 2:40:00 AM
From: pat mudge	Respond to of 8545

Just found an old IBD article mentioning the Gintel funds' investment in CheckFree. I apologize if this was posted in December. This is the first I've seen it. Pat <<< 12/23/97 Most investors are better off in well-diversified funds, but Robert Gintel has done well with a highly concentrated approach. He has a whopping 25% of his GINTEL FUND's $180 million in assets in his top holding: CHECKFREE CORP. His second-largest holding, MERCURY GENERAL CORP., soaks up almost 12% of assets. The strategy has worked well for his no-load Gintel Fund, which is based in New York. The fund carries an A+ grade from IBD for its 36-month return of 126%. It's up about 27% this year, vs. 30% for the S&P 500. It turned in a 31% return last year, surpassing the S&P's 23%. Gintel overweights stocks that have a very good outlook. The 34-stock fund is eclectic, going wherever the manager finds opportunities. It prefers listed stocks, but will buy those found on the Nasdaq Stock Market. It tends to be contrarian and will sometimes load up on a stock after it gets decimated. Co-managers Ed Carroll and Cecil Godman, who have been with Gintel since the mid-'80s, help Gintel pick stocks. But Gintel decides which ones get more than 5% weighting. A non-diversified approach frightens many people, Gintel said. Some think the best way to lower risk is to spread a portfolio over a large number of stocks. But Gintel prefers to put most of his effort into finding and monitoring stocks that could be big winners. That's the way great fortunes are made over time, he says. Checkfree provides services that make it easier to pay bills electronically. The fund owns 1.65 million shares at an average cost of $16.92 each. The stock is trading at 28 3/8, giving the fund an unrealized gain of $18.9 million. ''The stock was discovered by Godman,'' Gintel said. ''I rarely find investments as exciting as Checkfree. Consumer home banking is an idea that has been around a long time. However, it is only with the proliferation of computers that it has a chance of becoming a reality. It will get rid of the paperwork and postage. It is a potentially large market.'' Checkfree has a well-entrenched position in its industry, Gintel said. It can handle bill payments securely and accurately. It has signed up many banks and has a total two million subscribers. It bought the business of one of its key competitors, Intuit Corp. The company has been losing money. But 1997 is the ''inflection year,'' Gintel said. It signed a deal to be the ''back-end provider'' for bill-paying services for Integrion. It's a consortium that includes International Business Machines Corp. and 16 banks. Checkfree should move into the black in January, Gintel added. By 2000, Checkfree's sales should hit $1 billion, up from $250 million this year. Management of Checkfree owns 51% of the stock. Gintel sees that as a plus. He likes to buy stock where management has a significant stake. Gintel practices what he preaches. He and his family hold 27% of Gintel Fund. . . . >>>