FUNDVIEW-Top-line growth makes retail attractive: Accessor

* Likes discount retail, basic materials stocks

* Negative on energy stocks, despite commodity price rally

* Underweight on large financials, likes regional banks

* Conviction buy: Koppers Holdings

By Adveith Nair and Deepti Govind

BANGALORE, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Fund managers at Accessor are increasingly positive on the retail sector, given growing investor preference for top-line growth, but are negative on the energy sector, despite a recent rally in commodity prices.

After fighting slumping sales for about a year now, retailers got an early Christmas gift, when in September they posted their first monthly sales increase in more than a year.

"Investors prefer sales-based valuations and the retail sector has very attractive valuations on a sale-to-price basis (rather than earnings-to-price)," Thomas Stevens and Laina Ceddia, co-managers of the Accessor Small to Mid Cap Fund, said.

According to global fund tracking firm Lipper, the Accessor Small to Mid Cap fund has outperformed more than a quarter of its peers over a three-month period, but has lagged half of them year to date.

"We like the more discount-oriented retail companies and some selected specialty retailers, but it's typical as you start seeing signs of recovery that the segment is going to look attractive," Stevens said.

Stevens and Ceddia, who had about $200 million of assets under management as at Sept. 30, said they like OfficeMax Inc (OMX.N), American Eagle Outfitters Inc (AEO.N), and BJ's Wholesale Club Inc BJ.N.

Investors are now waiting for the holiday season roundup, hoping that the all-important selling season props sales further.

However, the fund managers are not so bullish about the prospects of game publisher Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O), which is set to release "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" -- billed as the biggest release on the video game calendar this holiday season.

"It's (Activision) one of our bigger bets and has not been one of our better calls," Stevens said, adding that he was possibly looking to get out of the name.

They are also negative on online travel agency Priceline.com Inc (PCLN.O).

ENERGY NOT YET ATTRACTIVE

Stevens and Ceddia are also shifting out of energy stocks, which are trading around their year-highs following the recent rally in commodity prices.

Oil prices CLc1 touched a year high this month, while November natural gas NGX9 rose to a fresh nine-month spot chart high.

"Prices have risen slightly, but so far it has not come to our model as being a preference that people are pursuing," Stevens said.

Ceddia said one name that they were looking to potentially reduce their holding in would be Plains All American (PAA.N).

The fund managers, however, like basic material stocks that they say "caught fire" based on expectations of an economic rebound.

Their "conviction buy" in that space, and also across sectors, is carbon-compounds maker Koppers Holdings Inc (KOP.N), whose stock has so far tripled from a March low.

The fund managers are underweight on the finance sector, saying that the rally in finance stocks were really a "rebound from depressed levels."

They, however, prefer regional banks to the larger organizations, saying regional banks managed their portfolios better than their larger peers, particularly the ones that were selling their loans.

"The regional banks got hit hard with the financial demise, but they came back quite a bit stronger and much more quickly than the larger banks," they said.

Regions Financials (RF.N) and First Financial Bancorp (FFBC.O) are two names that they like in the space. Both stocks have, so far, doubled from 52-week lows. (Editing by Savio D'Souza)