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

FEATURED PRO: Martin Ferguson is a partner with Mawer Investment Management (www.mawer.com). He manages the Mawer New Canada small-cap fund and also is on the management team for the Calgary firm's Canadian Equity Fund.

Fund Form: The Mawer New Canada Fund has a five-year compound annual return of 23 per cent compared to the group average of 8.9 per cent for small caps.

Management Expense Ratio: 1.51 per cent.

Martin Ferguson

Ferguson's Perspective: "Small caps have had an incredible bull run and most people don't realize that. Over the last two and a half years, the Nesbitt Burns small-cap index, as of Sept. 30, has a total return of 99.7 per cent and that's a compound annual return of 31.9 per cent. During that time, it has not corrected by more than 10 per cent at any time.

"When you have tremendous performance like this, the market does tend to look for consolidation to basically get its breath back before it moves again. Historically, small caps tend to have poor relative performance (versus large caps) closer towards the end of an economic cycle, so now we're seeing performance start to lag. While this economic cycle may not be ending, the slowing economic growth the market is seeing is sufficient to make investors wary. And their wariness may be turning them out of small caps. So we're cautious. Although we think there will be positive returns in the next 12 months, we are definitely not looking for strong returns for the small-cap sector."

First Star

* Morneau Sobeco Income Fund (TSX:MSI.UN)

* Recent Price: $10.35.

* 52-Week Range: Not applicable ($10.25-$10.82 since the initial public offering on Sept. 30).

* Snapshot: Morneau Sobeco is a pension and benefits consulting firm that operates through offices in 11 cities spanning North America.

* CEO: Robert Chisholm.

* Head Office: Don Mills, Ont.

* Vital Stats: (Financial history not available as company was private until recently). Market Cap, $207.79 million; Shares Outstanding, 19.98 million; Initial Monthly Cash Distribution estimate, 7.1 cents per unit.



* Ferguson's View: "We focus on companies with high return on their invested capital and this company is in an industry where very little capital is required. It's basically human capital. But they have very long-term relationships with their clients, so there's a good degree of visibility in recurring revenue. They're also one of the leaders in outsourcing of pensions and benefits. We're always concerned when the government is involved (as it is in reviewing the income trust sector) because government can do what the government wants to do. Yet, in this case, the majority of buyers of income trusts have been individuals, a lot of whom have put income trusts into their RRSPs (registered retirement savings plans) for retirement. I do not believe the government will do anything that is detrimental to the income trusts. It may do something on a relative basis to even the playing field, such as improve the dividend tax credit or eliminate taxes on dividends (for corporations)."

* Ferguson's Risk Rating: Medium.

* Web Watch: www.morneausobeco.com

Second Star

* CHC Helicopter Corp.

(TSX:FLY.SV.A)

* Recent Price: $23.64.

* 52-Week Range: $22.84-$59.88.

* Snapshot: CHC provides helicopter services to the offshore oil and gas industry, operating in 34 countries. The company also provides transportation services for search and rescue operations and emergency medical services.

* CEO: Sylvain Allard.

* Head Office: Richmond, B.C.

* Vital Stats: Current Price/Earnings Ratio, 17.3; Revenue (last 12 mos), $903.3 million; 5-Yr Revenue Growth, 9.7 per cent; Earnings (last 12 mos), $62.6 million; 5-Yr Earnings Growth, 17.4 per cent; Market Cap, $1.53 billion; Shares Outstanding, 64.7 million; Dividend Yield, 1.7 per cent.

* Ferguson's View: "I very much like this company's business model and its market positioning. They are a transportation company with mostly long-term contracts with their clients and they mostly serve the offshore oil and gas industry. Also, about 50 per cent of the contracts have fixed monthly rates on them. They have been restructuring the company in a positive way, taking a lot of costs out and they'll be taking more costs out."

* Ferguson's Risk Rating: Medium.

* Web Watch: www.chc.ca

Third Star

* Sico Inc. (TSX:SIC)

* Recent Price: $14.10.

* 52-Week Range: $13.60-$30.78.

* Snapshot: Sico is a manufacturer and marketer of paints and metal coatings for the transportation industry. The company recently acquired Mills Paint Sales, which operates specialty paint stores in British Columbia and Alberta.

* CEO: Pierre Dufresne.

* Head Office: Longueuil, Que.

* Vital Stats: Price/Earnings Ratio, 9.5; Revenue (last 12 mos), $311.5 million; 5-Yr Revenue Growth, 8.6 per cent; Earnings (last 12 mos), $17.8 million; 5-Yr Earnings Growth, 12 per cent; Market Cap, $193.27 million; Shares Outstanding, 13.7 million; Dividend Yield, two per cent.

* Ferguson's View: "They're the leading Canadian manufacturer of architectural paint - paint for your house - and the company also has an industrial paint division. It has grown through acquisition and recently acquired Mills Paint Sales. And this stock is as exciting as watching paint dry, no pun intended. Its largest client is Rona.

They make paint. Paint is produced year in and year out. Warren Buffett (chairman of Berkshire Hathaway) owns his paint company (Benjamin Moore Paint) and I own Sico."

* Ferguson's Risk Rating: Medium.

* Web Watch: www.sico.com Ferguson's Edge Record: +7.3 per cent. Best Pick: Steeplejack (TSX:SID) +62.1 per cent. Worst Pick: Global Railway Industries (TSX:GBI) -55.7 per cent.

Disclosure: Mawer partners are restricted from owning shares in the equities held in its funds. They may own shares in the funds that they manage.

(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.)