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Five money managers examine portfolio management strategies in the latest issue of The Wall Street Transcript, available at (212/952-7433) or http://www.twst.com/info/info541.htm

TWST: I presume you do have some macro views of the different sectors before you select a stock. What has been happening to the technology sector in this past year, and what is the outlook going forward?

Mr. McLean: In your question lies one of the issues. The broader market lumps technology into one big basket. In reality, that’s really not the case. We look at five very distinct subsectors within technology — semiconductors, services, telecommunications equipment, computer hardware and computer software. Each one of these sectors has different metrics and different drivers. So you are right that we do maintain top-down views on the economy as a whole, but we also have views on each one of those subsectors. So if we focus on each of those subsectors, right now the biggest divergence between any two of them is between technology services and telecommunications hardware. The latter was the worst place to be over the past year given the glut of equipment still underutilized from the fiber-optic buildout of the late 1990s.

TWST: You mentioned Asia. In the semiconductors sector, have you taken a new look at Taiwan Semiconductor?

Mr. McLean: It’s not necessarily a new look. We’ve owned Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE:TSM) for some time. We firmly believe that the foundry model is going to take market share through the next semi cycle. The companies that have been investing in 300mm and lower linewidth technologies are going to take share, and we believe that Taiwan Semiconductor is one of those companies. We bought it last year and added to it in October, so it’s definitely one of our lead semiconductor investments.

TWST: With technology there is always the risk of obsolescence too. How do you manage to stay abreast of the latest technologies?

Mr. McLean: I think there are two ways that we do that. One, Dan and I have committed to our unit holders and to each other that we’ll be on the road as much as a week a month, if necessary, traveling to perform due diligence on companies. I just got back from two weeks in Asia. I toured China, I toured Seoul, South Korea, seeing companies and seeing management teams — not just attending conferences, but actually going to one-on-ones and getting into the companies and meeting with management teams. That’s one part of the process that really helps us stay informed and find out what’s going on out there. Running a global science and technology fund, you do have to get out to Europe and get out to Asia, because there is a lot that is happening in those areas that affects the technology supply chain globally. We also spend a lot of time in California and Silicon Valley and other areas, including Texas, Boston, and various other North American areas of influence. The other part of our process that helps us to stay on top and to watch for obsolescence is our Private Investment Portfolio. We’ve inherited two or three positions from the previous fund managers, and we’ve also done two private equity investments ourselves. We feel that staying involved in the private investment community keeps us in tune with what’s going on at the true cutting edge of technology, finding out what’s going to be available out there and where technology is going over the next three to five years.

This special Investing Strategies Report includes:

1) Kent G. Croft, President and Director at Croft-Leominster Inc., examines portfolio management strategies in this timely and deeply informative 4,000-word interview from The Wall Street Transcript.

2) Daniel D. McClure & Keith A. McLean, both Partners with I.G. Investment Management, Ltd., examine portfolio management strategies in this timely and deeply informative 5,400-word interview from The Wall Street Transcript.

3) Norman Gee, Senior Vice President and Senior Portfolio Manager at Freemont Investment Advisers, examines portfolio management strategies in this timely and deeply informative 2,700-word interview from The Wall Street Transcript.

4) David C. Jordan, Chief Investment Officer of First Bruce H. Geller, is Executive Vice President at Dalton, Greiner, Hartman, Maher & Company, examines portfolio management strategies in this timely and deeply informative 4,200-word interview from The Wall Street Transcript.