Fund's Task: Fast Growth, Decent Price; Result: Up 33% In 2003; Evergreen's Emerging Growth comes roaring back after bear clawing.(MUTUAL FUNDS)(MUTUAL FUND PROFILE)

Byline: NANCY GONDO

Evergreen Emerging Growth has been on a tear this year. A look at the fund's top 10 holdings, which include strong stocks such as Career Education, Chico's FAS and Pacific Sunwear of California, may help explain why.

What do the above names have in common? They're among the leaders of their groups and have been mainstays in the IBD 100.

Manager Gary Craven looks for firms with high, and the potential for higher, return on invested capital.

"(These firms) are doing something competitors cannot easily emulate," said Craven, 51, who's managed the fund for nearly seven years. "They've got the right products, they execute well."

They're also consumer-oriented.

"The consumer has been the one part of the economy that has had money to spend," Craven said, "primarily as a benefit of refinancing their homes."