Farr, Miller Leaning to Cash
The stock market's gains over the past couple of months have money managers at Farr, Miller & Washington LLC taking a more cautious stance these days.</br></br>"The recent run-up is probably more than reflecting the current economic conditions," said analyst and portfolio manager Keith Davis.</br></br>Farr, Miller & Washington, with some $500 million in separately managed accounts, is expressing that uncertainty via its cash position. Generally representing between 5% and 10% of assets, cash has topped 10% lately as the firm trimmed some stakes to lock in recent gains.</br></br>Mr. Davis said investment managers are searching for large-cap growth companies with "rock-solid balance sheets," but they look hard at valuations to avoid overpaying.</br></br>"While I think the [market] lows we saw in March could ultimately be the lows for the cycle, it wouldn't surprise me if we got another round of economic data that scares the heck out of people," said Mr. Davis, one of five members of the firm's investment committee.