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Stratton has been at least that successful in growing his stock portfolio. What started as a $100,000 fund in 1972 has sprouted into a $140 million entity. According to Morningstar, the Multi-Cap fund is perched in the upper canopy of its large-cap blend peers. At the end of May of this year, its 9.04% average annual 10-year total return ranked in the top 5% of its investment category and exceeded the S&P 500 by 4.8 percentage points. Over five years, a 16.46% average annual return put it in the top 2% of Morningstar's rankings and handily surpassed the S&P 500 by 7.6 percentage points. Last year, Stratton Multi-Cap's 18.76% gain bettered the S&P benchmark by 13.3 points. And so far in 2008, the fund has logged a 0.38% return, which beats the index by nearly six percentage points. Stratton has created a hybrid fund. Until May of 2006 it was known as Stratton Growth; he changed the name to better reflect his stock-selection style. The boss calls himself a contrarian, but doesn't seek out deep-value plays. He estimates that his initial stock selection is rooted 70% in valuation measures; the other 30% is tied to earnings momentum. Stratton's portfolio is packed with 40 to 50 positions, on average, with a mean market capitalization of $21 billion. Still, he's been known to venture into smaller stocks. Morningstar shows just under 25% of Multi-Cap's assets stashed in mid-caps and another 8% closer to the forest floor in small-company shares.

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