Valspar VAL

to see an Apple or a Google. Instead you see companies like Valspar and Toro. How you really describe your approach to growth investing? Henneman: Well, we're looking for companies that can deliver a sustainable

year, why the fund did so well. One of the top holdings, Valspar , is a Minnesota-based company and very good long-term performer, and particularly this past year. Bill Frels: Fortunately, Valspar was one of our larger holdings and then became the largest holding in the fund because of significantly better-than-expected performance. We certainly weren't looking for the performance that Valspar eventually gave us over the course of the year, even though we've owned the company for quite a few years and have had management into our office. We have made visits there on a number of occasions, and we are very familiar with it. But Valspar did some things establishing their Valspar -branded paint and also margin improvements. And I think some of their markets turned out to be a little stronger than many had

that a number of things happened kind of all at once for Valspar . I mean a lot of people are now planning on a recovering housing market, and of course, people need to paint their new homes. And I think they look at Valspar as a way to play that. But back to what Bill said that branded Valspar paint, which you can buy Lowe's, that change happened a little over five years ago, and the company continues to benefit from that because they are achieving better-than-expected margins on what is now their branded paint. We think that Valspar has done an excellent job of building a durable competitive advantage around itself. Falkof: Another company that did really well this year