Treasure Hunt Finding value where you might not expect it

Nothing is simple anymore. Take value investing, for example.This strategy used to be cut-and-dried. Basically, portfoliomanagers bought good companies selling at low multiples--in otherwords, on the cheap. Today, however, not all value funds arecreated equally. Just look at the Thornburg Value Fund. It'sgot a mind all its own.

Bill Fries, portfolio manager of the Thornburg fund, cuts abroad cloth when he's shopping for companies in which to investthe fund's assets. "We look at low price-to-earnings, lowprice-to-cash, above-average dividend yield and that kind ofthing," says Fries, who has been at the fund's helm sinceits inception in 1995. "But we also buy consistentgrowers--blue chip stocks. And we have a small portion of theportfolio in emerging companies."

Why does Fries invest in so many different types of companies?First, he wants to build a diversified portfolio of securities. Andsecond, he says there are different contexts of value. "Aconsistent grower, for instance, may be a company that's spentbillions of dollars over decades building its name--and that hasvalue," he explains.