Yesterday I was one of six or seven writers ushered into a beautiful conference room on the 53rd floor of 30 Rockefeller Center for lunch with General Electric Co.'s (NYSE: GE) CFO Keith Sherin. 45% of GE shareholders are individual investors and Sherin thinks the stock is a great fit for individuals who want to hold onto shares of a stable, growing company.

I was surprised at Sherin's approachability and his ability to switch gears among topics ranging from arcane points about accounting for derivatives and Sarbanes Oxley to describing GE's philosophy of organic growth and its strategy for globalizing the value chains of its businesses. But his easy manner could not mask his power. Workers were drilling into the wall on the floor below our conference room -- making quite a racket. Sherin mentioned a few words to a colleague in the meeting and moments later the drilling stopped.

My first question: What is the case for owning GE? Sherin made the following points:

• Solid, secure growth at double digit rates
• Leadership businesses
• AAA credit rating
• 3% dividend yield
• Future outlook of growth from emerging markets
• Strong balance sheet
• Perfect stock for a retail portfolio, not a day-trading stock

Is this the kind of stock you want to own? If so, does GE deliver on these promises? As a shareholder myself, I hope GE keeps rising at 23% a year as is has in the last 12 months. If it does, I will be pleased.

Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He owns General Electric stock.