The Large Cap Growth Portfolio strategy combines a disciplined “top down” analysis with a detailed fundamental “bottom up” security selection process. The approach is bottom up. We look at companies’ insides first, focusing on sustainable yields and businesses that are becoming more valuable over time. We pay careful attention to all the earnings numbers, with the intent of determining whether those businesses are still on track. The key is to find healthy businesses that can thrive over the course of varying points in economic cycles. Companies should be able to weather tight credit conditions as well as high, and rising raw material costs. These businesses should not only be able to maintain a steady payout, but also be positioned to increase the dividend over time.