If you've never heard of the White Oak Growth Stock Fund, you're not alone. And when you consider that at press time the fund only had 24 stocks in its portfolio, its performance looks even better. Nondiversified growth funds like White Oak typically have only one or two dozen stocks in their portfolios. And although they've been around just as long as diversified funds, the extended bull market has brought a number of them to the foreground. But impact comes with a cost.
Nondiversified funds are riskier than diversified ones.
That said, the three industries Oelschlager was investing the fund's assets in in mid-July were technology, health care and finance. He likes to buy companies with strong future earnings and growth expectations at attractive prices and hold on to them as long as possible. Because the fund invests primarily in large-cap domestic companies, most of the stocks in its portfolio are names you're probably familiar with, like American Int'l Group, Ascend Communications, Ciena, Cisco Systems, Citicorp, Merck, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, and Pfizer. And I think that if you really want to do well, you've got to be a little more aggressive, play offensive ball and keep your expenses low. So far, he's met his objectives.