Morningstar called Manning & Napier Pro Blend Maximum Term fund the best fund no one has hear of according to Barron’s. The fund has come back to earth this year, down about 15%, but its three- and five-year returns rank in the top 25% of its Morningstar peer group.

In a Barron’s article, the fund’s director of research, Jerry Coons, outlined the fund’s philosophy:

“From a valuation standpoint, we are looking for some measure of value that makes sense for a particular company. For more of a growth company, we might use a discounted-cash-flow model. Or in the case of a more stable asset value-driven investment, we might use an LBO [leveraged buyout] or breakup value. We try to keep focusing on the absolute fair value of a company, rather than its relative value to other stocks.”

His Top Stock PIcks where he sees Discounted Values

1. Google

Thinks that earnings growth is going to be higher than what general expectations are, and that this will be true longer-term. Even with very conservative assumptions, Google istrading at about a 40%-to-50% discount to its fair value.

2. Medtronic

We have it trading at about 17 times next year’s earnings, and we see organic sales growth in the double digits and earnings growth in the 15%, 16%, 17% range. So you are not paying too much for the growth. Recently, Medtronic decided to raise its dividend, and management has been talking about returning about 40% of the free cash flow they generate over the next five years through dividends and buybacks. So we see this as generating a lot of free cash flow, along with having a wonderful pipeline of products.

3. Continental Airlines and Southwest Airlines

we look at them as being in much better shape than some of its other competitors. And if they get a little bit of pressure taken away from jet fuel prices, it doesn’t take much profitability to give you a very good return when a company is trading at a fraction of sales, as Continental and Southwest are.

4. Home Depot and Lowes

Home Depot and Lowes are financially stronger than the others. We think that they will be able to gain market share through this downturn. These are companies that, over the long term, have returns on equities in the high teens or low 20s, and they are trading at 1.5 times to two times book value. That’s a pretty good potential return if you have the patience to live through some of the volatility we are seeing now.

Track Jeff’s picks at:

http://www.trackthepros.com/categories.php?category_id=1265