Sifting through the wreckage, looking for growth.(Stein Roe and Farnham Inc.'s Liberty Growth Stock Fund)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)(Interview)

Crain's Chicago Business, March, 2001 by Murphy, H. Lee

Value investing has been in vogue for more than a year, but even so, new money has been pouring into Stein Roe & Farnham Inc.'s Liberty Growth Stock Fund, which now holds more than $1.9 billion in assets. Much of the fund's appeal is owed to Erik Gustafson, a portfolio manager who has kept faith in blue-chip, large-capitalization names such as Johnson & Johnson and General Electric Co.

Founded in 1958, Liberty Growth has outperformed most benchmarks since Mr. Gustafson, 37, took charge in late 1994. As of Jan. 31, the fund had lost 8.97% over the previous year, still better than the 10.53% loss in the Lipper Large-Cap Growth Index. The five-year return was 19.39%, outpacing the Lipper average of 18.27% and the Standard & Poor's 500 return of 18.36%. Born...

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