NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Fund manager Donna Calder has been on the road these days playing to a tough crowd.
Since the Nasdaq started its nose-dive in March, Calder has been crossing the country from Florida to Los Angeles to pitch the new SunAmerica TechNet Portfolio to jittery investors and brokers.
But she tells the sea of nervous faces sipping Chardonnay and munching hors d'oeuvres that the best time to invest in tech stocks is when they are trading at big a discount.
"Now that we've had a valuation decline without any fundamental changes, I'm feeling this is a huge opportunity," Calder said Tuesday. "Technology fundamentals have not changed one bit."
Also in this column: Fidelity manager changes in the high-yield sector; some new winners and losers for the week ending May 19; and Internet funds are still taking it on the chin.
The fund, which debuted Monday, is a focused portfolio of 30 stocks. Calder co-manages the fund with two subadvising groups: Huachen Chen and Walter Price at Dresdner RCM Global Investors, and Garrett Van Wagoner and Raiford Garrabrant at Van Wagoner Capital Management. Each of the advisers will pick their 10 best ideas.
 Technology stocks have suffered substantially since the Nasdaq peaked March 10. And on Tuesday, the Nasdaq tumbled to its lowest close of the year as investors worried about how rising interest rates would affect profits of tech companies.
"People only want to buy stocks when they're going up," Calder said. "I don't want people to shy away from the fund just because the market is going down. The time to buy is when the chips are down."
Calder thinks there's no question technology shares are in a correction, but believes it's clear the market is close to bottoming out. While the summer may be rocky, she remains upbeat about the long term.
Still, Calder is getting into the market slowly. On Monday and Tuesday, she moved very gingerly into equities. (She declined to name any stocks).
"I'm taking it easy," Calder said. "I barely stuck my toe in the water. I know when there's a green light (to invest) and we're not in a green light district."
Check your mutual funds, and read the latest fund news on CNNfn.com.
Calder said she likes Internet infrastructure companies, storage companies, optical networking and support systems businesses, and satellite TV delivery companies.
Calder, whose road show most recently took her to Los Angeles, said she gets a lot of questions from investors who are worried about where the market is headed.
"I always say we're pleased to have this correction -- it's just healthy," she said. "I tell them they're getting in on the ground floor of a great investment over the next one, three, five or seven years."
Changes at Fidelity
Fidelity Investments this week said Margaret Eagle, manager of Fidelity Advisor High Yield Fund, would retire effective June 28. Thomas Soviero, manager of Fidelity High Income Fund, will take her place.
Jim Lowell, editor of the newsletter Fidelity Investor, said the change isn't as noteworthy as other recent Fidelity departures. But it could be significant for investors of the High Income Fund, Lowell said.
"I don't think it's a big deal at all, unless you're invested in high yield," Lowell said. Soviero has proven to be an effective manager during his tenure at High Income Fund, he said.
Frederick Hoff, manager of the high-yield portions of several of Fidelity's asset allocation funds, will take over High Income Fund.
Lowell said he prefers Fidelity Capital and Income Fund to Fidelity High Income Fund. But he recently sold Fidelity Capital and Income Fund from all but one of his recommended portfolios.
New fund winners and losers
Looking for a place in the fund market that isn't feeling the pinch of falling prices? Asia funds that exclude Japan were the biggest winners for the week ending May 19, with average returns of 1.05 percent, according to fund tracker Morningstar.
The top winners in the category include AIM New Pacific Growth Fund, up 5.27 percent, Guinness Flight Main China Fund, up 4.63 percent, and AIM Asia Growth fund, up 4.14 percent.
Health funds and natural resources funds were the next categories on the list, up an average of 0.58 percent.
 There were plenty of big losers for the week, however. Topping the list were Europe stock funds, down 5.12 percent, communications funds, off 4.91 percent; Latin America stock funds, down 3.43 percent; and foreign stock funds, down 3.40 percent. Tech funds fell 3.19 percent.
And year-to-date, Internet funds continue to take it on the chin. Jacob Internet Fund, the new offering of manager Ryan Jacob, is down 46.14 percent year to date as of May 19, Morningstar said. Ing Internet Fund is down 36.57 percent, followed by Monument Internet Fund, down 30.87 percent.
Jacob told shareholders recently that the stocks he's buying have good long-term potential. "Unfortunately, we expect share prices for these companies to remain weak in the short term as investors wait for stability to return to the broader markets," he said. 
|
