A Fund Family on Fire - Janus Capital Corp - Company Profile

Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, August, 1999 by Fred W. Frailey

But no white flag appeared from a fifth-floor window of Fillmore Place. Jim Craig saw the assault on his portfolio as a buying opportunity. Early on the afternoon of April 19, just 45 minutes before the stock market closed, he spent almost $1 billion picking up the likes of Time Warner, Sun Microsystems, Tyco International, General Electric, Wal-Mart, AIG and American Express--"basically my whole portfolio." Says Craig: "I wasn't nervous about this break. The whole premise was that Asia might be turning and the U.S. and world economies would strengthen. So everyone wanted to rush to cyclicals and so forth."

Craig didn't buy that argument. "Growth rates have to come down in the U.S. Great Britain is in a mini recession. The only strong economy in Europe is France's. China is fraying at the edges. Japan is nowhere--it's eight years into its recession. In this environment, I see the money going to companies showing the best earnings, and I think we've got 'em." Says Claire Young of Olympus: "The fundamentals of my companies did not change in three or four days, and I'm paid not to get the willies and panic."

The Janus funds pulled out of their tailspins after a week and posted strong gains. Lammert remarks that Mercury yo-yoed from being up 35% for 1999 to being up 20%, to being up 38%--all in a week's time.

Conventional wisdom would suggest that the Janus group is due its comeuppance pretty soon--you know, what goes up must come down. But for now, you have to give the Janus people credit. Almost alone among major fund groups, its managers have found the map to the kingdom. Yes, it took Craig, their leader, years to realize that the old rules he invested by no longer applied and then to wheel his team around. The question at the end of the '90s is how quickly he will react to the next big turn in the investment road.

RELATED ARTICLE: How to Tell Them Apart: A Buyer's Guide to the Janus Funds

THESE THUMBNAIL descriptions are designed to help you tell the Janus funds apart. Total returns to June 14 can be found in the rankings that begin on page 104. The funds are listed in order of their volatility--a measure of short-term risk. For prospectuses, call 800-525-8983, or visit www.janus.com.

OLYMPUS. Seeks fast growers of all sizes--recently, 30% in big companies, 20% in small and 50% in midsize. Claire Young looks for earnings growth, first or second position in an industry and management obedience to shareholder enrichment, in that order. "Not many meet those criteria."

VENTURE. A pure small-company fund. It has suffered from investor fascination lately with corporate giants. Still, it returned 23% last year and hasn't had a down year since 1990. Managed by Jim Craig, Will Bales and Jonathan Coleman.

ENTERPRISE. Manager Jim Goff looks for medium-size companies with market values (share price times the number of shares) ranging from about $150 million to $75 billion. Returns the past three and five years exceed those of Venture, but without the new-economy giants that have fueled many other Janus funds.