(MONEY Magazine) – Merrill Lynch used to be known for its value funds, which became a pretty tough sell during the aggressive growth craze of the late 1990s. So last year the firm persuaded PBHG star Jim McCall to defect and start a concentrated, tech-driven portfolio. His Merrill Lynch Focus Twenty made its debut in March--with a whopping $1.2 billion in assets to start--just in time to get mauled by the tech correction. It lost 14% in April and fared nearly as badly in May.

So was Merrill hopelessly late to the growth game? Maybe not. Focus Twenty is still a money loser since its inception, but the recent rebounds of top McCall picks such as PMC Sierra and Juniper Networks have pushed the fund to a 35.7% three-month return. That's 31 percentage points better than the S&P 500. Since the fund's average stock costs a huge 58 times earnings, expect more drama to come.

--LISA REILLY CULLEN