(Business Edge columnist Gyle Konotopetz regularly profiles the top stock picks of some of Canada's most accomplished investment pros.)

FEATURED PRO: Jean-Francois Tardif is a portfolio manager with Toronto firm Sprott Asset Management (www.sprott.com). He is the lead manager of the Sprott Opportunities Hedge Fund.

Fund Form: The Sprott Opportunities Hedge Fund has a one-year return of 49.7 per cent compared to the group average of 7.3 per cent.

Management Expense Ratio: Two per cent.

Jean-Francois Tardif

Tardif's Perspective: "We believe the energy sector will continue to be strong and I also personally favour the growth income trusts.

"Longer term, we like all the energy commodities.

We're still extremely bullish on the uranium price although in the nearer term I wouldn't be surprised if the uranium price stayed flat over the next six months.

"We're also bullish on coal, oil and natural gas. Short term, natural gas may be the most attractive energy commodity."

First Star

* Altus Group Income Fund (TSX: AIF.UN)

* Recent Price: $11.59.

* 52-Week Range: $10.26-$11.86.

* Snapshot: Altus provides consulting and advisory services through a network of offices in 13 Canadian cities. The company had an initial public offering at $10, raising $7.5 million, in April and began trading on May 19.

* CEO: David Jenkins.

* Head Office: Newmarket, Ont.

* Vital Stats: Monthly distribution, 13.68 cents per unit; Market Cap, $93.16 million; Shares Outstanding, 8.04 million.

* Tardif's View: "I bought the IPO (initial public offering) of this company and I've been buying more since then. A lot of people don't understand this company very well, but they have a good opportunity to grow their business by getting new clients and by making more acquisitions and consolidating the business that they're in. They already have the Bank of Montreal as a client and as a consultant for evaluating tax properties. The risk in this stock is if, for example, they lost a major client like Bank of Montreal."

* Tardif's Risk Rating: Medium.

* Web Watch: www.thealtusgroup.com

Second Star

* Aastra Technologies (TSX: AAH)

* Recent Price: $18.80.

* 52-Week Range: $15.33-$22.50.

* Snapshot: Aastra markets computer telephony products and other communications network products. The company acquired a telephony business last year from aerospace giant EADS.

* Co-CEOs: Francis & Tony Shen.

* Head Office: Concord, Ont.

* Vital Stats: Current Price/Earnings Ratio, 12.6; Revenue (last 12 mos), $273.1 million; 5-Yr Revenue Growth, 12.4 per cent; Earnings (last 12 mos), $26.1 million; 5-Yr Revenue Growth, 10.4 per cent; Market Cap, $324.26 million; Shares Outstanding, 17.2 million.

* Tardif's View: "This is a company I've followed for many years and it has an excellent history of acquiring companies on the cheap, turning them around and making them grow. I think in two years we'll be talking about $3 in earnings per share and people will be willing to pay a multiple to own the stock, so we could see the stock double over the next two years. The risk in this stock is that if I was wrong and they were not able to turn the company around, in which case the stock would go down."

* Tardif's Risk Rating: High.

* Web Watch: www.aastra.com Third Star

* Western Lakota Energy (TSX: WLE)

* Recent Price: $8.36.

* 52-Week Range: $2.35-$8.75.

* Snapshot: Western Lakota is an energy services company that constructs drilling rigs and sells interests in those rigs to Aboriginal partners.

* CEO: Elson McDougald.

* Head Office: Calgary.

* Vital Stats: Current Price/Earnings Ratio, 30.4; Revenue (last 12 mos), $35.7 million; Earnings (last 12 mos), $7 million; Market Cap, $224.22 million; Shares Outstanding, 26.8 million.

* Tardif's View: "I think there's a good chance this company will convert to a trust within a year. I don't think it'll happen this year, but probably in '06. If that happened, you'd get a big boost in the stock, probably about 30 per cent. Right now, you've got a lot of energy services companies in Canada converting to trusts or considering it. If they convert to a trust, their 70 cents (per share in projected earnings) next year could become almost $1 because of the tax advantages of being a trust. In that event, the stock could easily go to $10 a year from now. Short term, I see very little risk but there's always risk in a company in a cyclical business."

* Tardif's Risk Rating: Medium.

* Web Watch: www.westernlakota.com

Tardif's Edge Record (past 12 mos): Nine per cent. Best Pick: EnCana (TSX: ECA) 48 per cent. Worst Pick: Queenstake Resources (TSX: QRL) -43.6 per cent.

Disclosure: Tardif has investments in the Sprott funds in which the featured stocks are held.

(This feature is provided for information purposes. Investors are advised to do their own research or consult a qualified investment professional before making investment decisions.)