Janus Stands Pat in Volatile Market
Times are tough, but it looks like
Janus
is pretty much standing pat.
On Wednesday, the Denver growth shop reported its firmwide stock holdings to regulators -- every fund company has to report its funds' holdings to regulators quarterly. At first blush -- simply comparing the top holdings firmwide -- the changes are modest and few since the firm's June 30 holdings. Some investors may have expected more evasive action since the firm -- whose stock funds averaged more than an 80% gain in 1999 -- are underwater so far this year.
While the holdings are dated, this report is one of the few glimpses investors get at where the big and secretive shop, the nation's fifth-largest with more than $200 billion in its retail stock and bond funds, is bullish and bearish. For shareholders of Janus' funds, it's a look at where they're money is going. For stock investors, it's a hint at where one of the biggest and most aggressive growth shops is betting the farm.
A look at the Janus top-15 holdings is more telling than with many other firms, because the firm's managers, many of whom shuttered their funds due to last year's steep inflows, tend to own many of the same stocks.
There was no jockeying between June 30 and Sept. 30 among the firm's top-six picks. Beyond that, the only changes were energy titan
Enron
(ENE)
and online security shop
VeriSign
(VRSN) - Get VeriSign Inc. Report
switching places and there was some shuffling toward the end of the top 15.
American Express
(AXP) - Get American Express Company Report
moved up a couple of spots, with
TheStreet Recommends
Nortel Networks
(NT)
and Web site host
Exodus Communications
(EXDS)
vaulting into the top 15, replacing
Veritas Software
(VRTS) - Get Virtus Investment Partners Inc. Report
and
AT&T Liberty Media
(LMG.A:NYSE).
Janus managers added about 5 million shares to their massive stake in wireless juggernaut
Nokia
(NOK) - Get Nokia Corporation Sponsored American Depositary Shares Report
. Many investors will be intrigued to know that on Sept. 30 Janus funds still owned 15 million shares of online health concern
WebMD
(HLTH)
-- Janus managers bought those shares in a high-profile
private transaction back in January for more than $60 a pop. On Wednesday, WebMD shares closed at $10.50.
While Janus' managers haven't been changing their diet too much, it's clear that their bent toward the tech, media and telecommunications (TMT) sector is a big bet vs. the more diversified
S&P 500
, commonly used as a yardstick to measure funds' performance.
In fact, a comparison of the top-10 stocks in Janus funds with the S&P 500 finds only two stocks in common --
General Electric
(GE) - Get General Electric Company Report
and
Cisco Systems
(CSCO) - Get Cisco Systems Inc. Report
.
