Three fund managers whose names may not be widely known chose one household name and a couple of off-the-beaten-track companies as their highest-conviction stock picks at Morningstar's investment conference.

Ralph Shive, manager of 1st Source Income Equity FMIEX, said he's been buying General Electric GE for a while and is getting more excited the cheaper it gets. The stock is down by about 23% this year, due in part to the credit crisis's effect on its financial division. But Shive thinks the rest of the business--the industrial side of the conglomerate--is still in good shape and should benefit from the need to improve and build global infrastructure. And with its stock at 14 times his estimate of the company's earnings and offering a more than 4% dividend yield, Shive says it's as cheap as Wal-Mart WMT was a few years ago.

John Osterweis, manager of Analyst Pick Osterweis OSTFX, touted Valeant Pharmaceuticals VRX. The specialty pharmaceutical company has 350 branded products, but new management is working to streamline the firm and make it more efficient, Osterweis said. He expects the company to buy back stock. He also likes the prospects of some of the drugs in its pipeline, including an epilepsy treatment that Osterweis estimates could reap $1 billion in sales. That could transform the company from a seller of a hodge-podge of drugs to a blockbuster, Osterweis said.

Diane Jaffee, manager of TCW Relative Value Small Cap TGONX, also picked a drug stock: Arena Pharmaceuticals ARNA. The company has promising obesity and hypertension drugs far along the approval process. Arena also has high-profile partners, such as Merck MRK, to get the drugs to market, Jaffee said.