Hodges, along with Ariel Investments' John Rogers, will be navigating the small- and mid-cap space for the Squawk Box Portfolio team. They both are betting on industrials which will benefit from a strong domestic economy.
Hodges likes Trinity Industries, which makes rail cars, cement-maker Eagle Materials and trucking company, Swift Transportation.
And Rogers is looking toward cable and wire distributor Anixter and Kennametal, a developer of metalworking tools.
But the team is not just going small this year for big performance. Nearly every style you can think of is well represented among the members of this year's squad, from value investing to technology to international and even, quantitative.
Read MoreClick here to see the full roster.
True to form, the strong originality of this team is on clear display as very few managers picked the same stocks on Dec. 31. You'll have to keep your eyes tuned to CNBC Pro and "Squawk Box" this week to follow all the varying picks for this year as the individual managers go on the air to make their case.
However, it is worth discussing one stock two of the team are banking on: Apple.
The stock has trailed the market over the last one month as some investors believe the release of the Apple Watch will not replicate the new category success of the iPhone and iPad before it. Also the company's dividend yield stands at just 1.7 percent, hardly justifying this stock as an income play amid coming volatility.
However, Kevin Landis made it the top holding in the Firsthand Technology Opportunities Fund on the belief the crowd is concentrating on the wrong new product development.
"I really like the tantalizing upside of Apple Pay," said Landis.
Read MoreLandis betting on Apple, Netflix in 2015
The other tech guru on the "Squawk Box" team, Saturna's Paul Meeks, believes the dividend yield for Apple is nothing to sneeze at in an environment of low interest rates. And with an ongoing buyback, the company's monster cash hoard will make its way back to investors' pockets in some form.
"If I give this stock a market multiple on 2015 earnings and add its $20.47 per share net cash, I get to a $154 target price. Folks also forget that this stock pays a dividend yield about as high as the market's."
Ann Winblad of Hummer Winblad has three technology stocks among the three total holdings allowed in these concentrated portfolios. No Apple here, but instead the downtrodden Internet giant Google.
Investors lost patience with Google last year as the stock dropped 40 percent. Facebook has turned out to be a worthy competitor to the onetime Internet darling, stealing ad dollars and making timely acquisitions in the mobile space.
Read MoreAre Google's best days behind it?
Winblad doesn't see Google sitting on its hands for long.
"Google is patient and innovative in its business diversification. They build and buy successfully (Android and Nest as examples)."
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