Positive earnings revisions good sign for tech, oil sectors

The technology and energy sectors continue to stand out as attractive investment opportunities, according to Christopher Baggini, manager of the newly launched Turner Titan Fund Ticker:(TTLFX). “We believe the market continues to move higher over the coming months,” he said. The long-short equity fund is one of three new alternative funds launched this week by Turner Investment Partners Inc., which has more than $17 billion under management. The other new funds include the Turner Market Neutral Fund Ticker:(TMNFX), managed by Matthew Glaser, and the Turner Medical Sciences Long/Short Fund Ticker:(TMSFX), managed by Vijay Shankaran. The Titan Fund, which has the flexibility to be up to 20% net short or 60% net long, is currently 36% net long. The portfolio, which contains approximately 100 mostly large-cap stocks, was launched in July as a hedge fund. Mr. Baggini said that on an individual-company basis, he is looking for above-average growth and positive earnings revisions that will be well-received by the market. The short side of the portfolio is essentially the opposite extreme, including signs of decreasing earnings and negative revisions. In the tech sector, he is seeing a “significant amount of positive revisions,” as well as a “big-picture theme in the form of mobile apps.” “The tablet phenomenon is creating lots of winners,” he said. Some of his favorites are Apple Inc. Ticker:(APPL), Google Inc. Ticker:(GOOG) and Broadcom Corp. Ticker:(BRCM). The energy sector is being driven largely by China's unquenchable demand for commodities, he said. “We think oil prices will continue to move higher,” he said. With that in mind, Mr. Baggini owns shares of Anadarko Petroleum Corp. Ticker:(APC), Concho Resources Inc. Ticker:(CXO), Baker Hughes Inc. Ticker:(BHI) and Cameron International Corp. Ticker:(CAM). Portfolio Manager Perspectives are regular interviews with some of the most respected and influential fund managers in the investment industry. For more information, please visit InvestmentNews.com/pmperspectives.