These are hardly the halcyon days for US investors. The critical housing market remains in tatters. Local and state-level finances are dicey across the country, to say nothing of the federal government’s swelling debt burden. As the European sovereign debt crisis threatens to spread from the periphery to the continent’s core economies, the knock-on effects could be damaging for a broad range of US sectors. In these markets, investors would be wise to recalibrate their expectations for growth and seek safety above all.

“We’re value investors, in good times we’re cautiously optimistic. In bad times, we’re just cautious,” said Thomas Bastian, lead manager of Invesco Van Kampen Growth and Income (ACGIX.lw).

Bastian notes that although the outlook for the broad economy is bleak, the news isn’t all bad. Corporate America is in decent form, boasting cash-heavy balance sheets and low debt levels. Although US consumers haven’t exactly regained their swagger, spending power has increased since the dark days of the global economic crisis. But now more than ever, success in the market will depend upon savvy stock picking and a correct analysis of the business cycle.

Although the fund does not explicitly seek out dividend-paying stocks, the broad array of dividend payers in the portfolio is a happy byproduct of management’s stock picking strategy, and the portfolio has delivered five-year dividend growth of 1.53 percent compared to 0.25 percent for the benchmark Russell 1000 Value Index. The fund’s three- and five-year performance puts it in the top quarter of Morningstar’s Large Value category and its yield recently came in at a respectable 1.05 percent.

Furthermore, Invesco Van Kampen Growth and Income has delivered these earnings with less volatility than its benchmark. The fund’s three-year beta clocks in a 0.92 compared to its index; standard deviation comes in at 21.16 over the same time period compared with 22.59 for the Russell 1000.

Invesco Van Kampen Growth and Income’s management employs a bottom-up approach to finding “undervalued, under-loved and under-earning” companies with a catalyst for future growth in place, usually a change in management, according to Bastian. In a move that’s emblematic of the fund’s investment philosophy, the fund holds a sizable position in Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE: MMC), an insurance brokerage and consulting firm. In 2004-05, then-New York attorney general Elliott Spitzer led a charge to eliminate contingent commissions in the US insurance industry. The removal of these high-margin revenues decimated Marsh’s pretax operating margins almost overnight and Wall Street quickly turned bearish on the sector. Bastian and his team believed that the company could eventually return operating margins to pre-Spitzer levels of about 20 percent. They were also encouraged by the company’s new management, which swiftly divested non-core businesses, paid down debt, boosted dividends and instituted a share buyback program.

A management change underpins the investment case for several of the fund’s top 10 holdings. A new team in the corner office helped breathe life into media conglomerate Viacom’s (NYSE: VIA.B) lackluster programming lineup. The result: MTV’s runaway hit The Jersey Shore, which helped revive MTV’s brand.

Likewise, the new CEO of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), Ian Read, has demonstrated a willingness to spin off non-core businesses and place a greater focus on research and development (R&D) efforts that will redound to the firm’s bottom line. Although Pfizer faces a looming patent cliff, Bastian believes the market has already priced in this outcome.

Management believes the health care sector is attractive from a cyclical standpoint and the fund remains in the hunt for health care related investments. The fund is also bulking up on consumer staples while trimming positions in energy and consumer discretionary names.

Invesco Van Kampen Growth and Income is an offering for the buy-and-hold crowd, and sports a low turnover rate of 23 percent. Although this fund may not run with the bulls in up markets, nor will it plumb the depths in difficult times. Instead, expect Invesco Van Kampen Growth and Income to plod along, marginally outpacing its category year in and year out—a favorable attribute in uncertain times.

“We’re not in the business of making market calls. Instead we will continue to have our heads down, following our process and looking for opportunities,” Bastian said.