Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Manager Reveals Top Picks for 2019 and Beyond

May 17, 2019

Jon Christensen, CFA, is a Portfolio Manager and Senior Research Analyst who has primary research responsibilities for the small- and mid-capitalization health care sector at Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management.

Before joining Kayne Anderson Rudnick in 2001, Mr. Christensen was a portfolio manager and senior research analyst for Doheny Asset Management.

In his exclusive 5,138 word interview with the Wall Street Transcript, the Kayne, Anderson fund manager details his investing philosophy and the methodology behind several top current holdings:

“We don’t usually keep a lot of cash in the account, right, because we want to find companies that will hold up well during difficult economic times. Traditionally, that is why we don’t need to hold a lot of cash because our companies will protect us on the downside.

We also give ourselves sector benchmark weightings that are typically within plus or minus 10% of the Russell sector benchmark weighting. But I will tell you that we are OK being completely empty or naked certain sectors.

So again, we usually buy high-quality businesses or low-capital-intense businesses with not very much debt on the balance sheet.”

One example is Elanco (NYSE:ELAN):

“Another name we own that is a recent IPO in the last year is Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN). Elanco is a spinoff from Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) from 2018. They develop, manufacture and market for both companion and production animals in the United States and internationally as well.

They make products for worms, fleas and ticks for companion animals. They also make animal therapeutics for pain, osteoarthritis, and ear infections and other conditions. They also have production animal products, such as ruminants and items for swine production.

So we like this business because, in health care, it is driven a lot by the animal companion market.”

Get the detail on many more top portfolio holdings by reading the entire 5,138 word interview, exclusively in the Wall Street Transcript.