Recommended by: Jeffrey Donlon, co-manager of the Manning & Napier Technology Series Fund (EXTCX), ranked No. 16 by Bloomberg Rankings

Likes it because: Demand is growing for Internet Protocol-based communication networks such as those that Cisco (CSCO) designs as customers increasingly demand access to voice, video, and data over a single network. Cisco continues to sell IP routers and switchers and other equipment for traditional communications systems, sales of which Donlon expects to keep growing at 10 percent to 15 percent per year. Cisco also sells equipment for next-generation data networks such as those geared to virtualized infrastructure and data storage.

The stock's year-to-date performance through Oct. 15: -2.4 percent