Carl Marker of IMS Capital Value Fund

MARKER: We don’t look at it in terms of sectors, but there are some sectors where more money is made over time than in other sectors. Over the last 50 years, more money has been made in health care, technology, finance, consumer staples, and communications, so we want to be in those areas.

We try to stay in the fast moving streams, so we practice concentrated diversification. We avoid any large sector bets, and make sure our holdings are diversified. At any given time, we’ll be in the ten largest sectors of the S&P 500. We now have about 50 holdings, which is in the middle of our range of 40 to 60 holdings.

S&P: Do you have a minimum or maximum weighting for a holding?

MARKER: We start with a 2% position, and will reduce it if it gets above 10%. Tyson Foods (TSN), our largest holding, is now about 6.5%, and Service Corp. International (SRV), our second largest holding, is 4.5%. Tyson Foods is a play on changing dietary habits, as people eat more protein. Service Corp. International, the largest provider of funeral services in the world, has earnings momentum, and is aggressively reducing its debt. They also have aging demographics in their favor.

S&P: Although the fund’s returns have been strong each year since 1999, why were they less competitive in 2000, despite being higher than the peer group average?

MARKER: Lower p/e tech holdings, such as Novell Inc. (NOVL), Semtech Corp. (SMTC), and Intuit Inc. (INTU), hurt us relative to our peers in 2000. Also, we had begun to add momentum to our process in 1998, and 2000 was the last year of that transition. But, combining momentum with value over the last four years has helped us relative to our peers.

S&P: What have been some of the major changes in the fund in the past year?

MARKER: There haven’t been any major changes. Our median market capitalization — $4.3 billion, as of March 31 — has stayed constant, between $3 billion and $5 billion. A year ago, our largest holding was Marvel Enterprises (MVL), which we’ve reduced, although it’s still a large holding. We felt that Marvel had lost a lot of momentum.

S&P: Do you have any favorite stocks?

MARKER: Along with Tyson Foods and Service Corp. International, my other favorite holding is E Trade Financial (ET), which is the most innovative financial service company. They’re doing things that no other finance company is doing, such as rebating part of the 12b-1 fees they receive back to their customers.