"We think equities are the asset class to be in," David Fording told CNBC. The manager of the four-star William Blair Growth Fund also has some ideas about the star pupils in that class.
Recommendations:
"We're buying a company like Fastenal," he said. "They're an industrial distributor, about a $7 billion market cap; we do think there will be a re-acceleration in U.S. growth, probably before the re-acceleration in global growth."
Lots of companies are leveraged to U.S. markets, so why Fastenal?
"They have a new growth initiative called 'Pathway To Profit' that we think will enable them to grow through any sort of malaise in the U.S. industrial sector," he said.
In technology, Fording likes FLIR Systems.
"They make infrared cameras and thermography cameras," he said. "The applications are used by the federal government; 50 percent of their revenue is government-related, mostly serving the Department of Defense. This company has 'unbelievability' into their forward revenue, which is something we like in this uncertain environment."
Also on his list are trade-school operator DeVry and animal-health technology company IDEXX Laboratories.
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Disclosures:
Disclosure information for David Fording was not immediately available.