Mr. Greig: The firm, as you may know, has been around for a long time, 65 years, and it was basically founded on the basic principle of wanting to invest for clients in high-quality growth companies. The philosophy of the firm is to look for companies with above average growth, and some sort of long-term advantage in their businesses, whether it be in terms of asset or capital base, or market position, or proprietary-product position that can provide a sustained, above average return. We run the international funds exactly the way we run our domestic funds.
TWST: How important a part will investing internationally play in
William Blair's overall strategy for 1999 and into 2000?
Mr. Greig: We hope to see international investments play a growing role
in client portfolios. We've been here for three years managing the fund,
and part of what we do is try to work with other managers within the
firm in getting clients more internationally diversified, as
international companies start to follow some of the same standards of
seeking higher returns and adding shareholder value that American
companies have.
Tickers included in this excerpt: AXA, AXL.T, BKP.A, COLT, ENGSY, FJTSY, FS, IDR, ING, JDSU, NOK, TSM, TZH, VOD
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