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September 29, 2003 at 08:00 PM
Quick Take: Surveying the overall market, Denis Amato, manager of Fifth Third Multi Cap Value/Adv (MXSEX) believes it’s possible to find attractive opportunities across the market capitalization spectrum. Currently, Amato sees compelling values throughout the market, resulting in a balanced portfolio based on market-cap size.
Instead of looking for sizzle, Amato focuses on a stock’s normal, i.e., reasonable, prospects based on the underlying company’s history, industry, and present conditions. The manager looks closely at a company’s long-term earnings prospects rather than a sudden earnings surprise.
The fund is enjoying sizable gains in this year’s rally while also building up a respectable record in the difficult market of recent years. This year through September 17, the fund rose 25.1%, versus 18.0% for the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index. For the five-year period through August, the fund gained 12.5%, on average, versus 2.5% for the index.
The Full Interview:
S&P: What is your overall investment strategy?
AMATO: We are a basic value fund that focuses on a company’s normalized returns and normal earnings power. Rather than play the earnings surprise game, we take a long-term approach and try to determine a company’s value based on its total assets, including cash.
To forecast a company’s normalized returns, we look at its history, its industry, and its current conditions to find what we believe its return on equity will be going forward. This earnings outlook helps us decide what a reasonable multiple would be.
S&P: As a multi-cap fund, how do market capitalizations figure in your investment decisions?
AMATO: We take a bottom-up approach, but we may focus on certain market areas based on capitalization if we find more value. It’s an evolving thing, rather than an overnight decision.
S&P: How is the fund currently positioned in terms of market capitalization?
AMATO: The fund is generally balanced in terms of market caps. Our market caps haven’t changed a whole lot this year, although they may be higher because the market is up in general this year. We are willing to go where the right value is and aren’t constrained by a particular market capitalization.
Averages can be funny, though. Our average market cap may be misleading. We probably have a medium market cap, although a few large companies may have boosted the average market cap. These large companies include some drug companies and a couple of oil companies, including ChevronTexaco Corp. (CVX).
