Janus' Orion Hunts For Big Winners; A Tale Of Turnaround; Manager Ron Sachs tries to spear growth stocks before others spot them.(MUTUAL FUNDS)

Byline: KEN HOOVER

Orion is the hunter of the night sky, stalking his way across the midwinter heavens with his two dogs.

So when Janus wanted to start a go-anywhere, multi-cap growth fund, naming the fund for the well-known constellation might have been the right thing to do.

Manager Ron Sachs is on the hunt for his next winner. His quarry: companies with sustainable franchises, lots of cash flow and valued so that Sachs knows other fund managers haven't discovered them.

"I try to find them before everybody else," Sachs said.

Janus picked a poor time to start the fund, June 2000, just as the market was starting to cave in. And Janus itself had serious problems during the worst bear market in a generation.

Its aggressive growth style was the worst possible strategy for the time. High profile managers left. It got in trouble with regulators when the mutual fund scandal broke. Many shareholders deserted the fund family.