What I'd Like for Christmas 2007

Among her blue-chip holdings is Diageo(DEO Quote), the world's biggest drinks company. Brands include Smirnoff vodka, Bailey's Irish Cream, Johnny Walker scotch and a variety of single malts. For years, when I still owned individual equities, it was my favorite personal holding for its awesome cash flow and its growth potential in China. It also meant St. Patrick's Day in Boston was a time for celebration for me, even though I am not Irish and I don't drink: Diageo also owns Guinness.

Rounding out the fund's top 10 holdings are Christian Dior, Coach(COH Quote), French drinks company Pernod-Ricard (PDRDF Quote) and New York-based Starwood Hotels (HOT Quote), which owns up-market brands such as Le Meridien and Sheraton.

Among her offbeat picks is Dufry, an Italian company that is aggressively buying up duty-free retailing franchises in international airports.

If you were out shopping for That Special Someone two weeks ago, you know just what a great business the world's leading luxury goods companies are in. These are high-margin intellectual-property businesses with some pretty strong defensive moats.

I don't care how hard they try -- I doubt anyone is ever going to dislodge Swiss watchmakers, French champagne makers or Scotch whisky distillers from their perch. I find it hard to believe the lesson was lost on all the stock brokers, mutual fund managers and other investment "professionals" who were in Tiffany's earlier this month. So what I'd really like for Christmas 2007 is a U.S. fund like the one Caroline Reyl runs in Europe. Is that so much to ask?