Koll Management Keeps Its Rank : Survey: The company is again No. 2 on Forbes magazine list of the 200 best small U.S. firms.

NEWPORT BEACH — For the second year in a row, Koll Management Services Inc. placed second on the Forbes magazine list of the nation’s 200 best small companies.

The Newport Beach-based commercial real estate management firm ranked just behind Cambex Corp., a Waltham, Mass.-based maker of IBM-compatible computer equipment. Cambex placed first last year as well.

Three other companies in Orange County also made the list, including Bridgford Foods of Anaheim at No. 46, Rainbow Technologies of Irvine at No. 78 and PDA Engineering in Santa Ana at No. 185.

The magazine, in its Nov. 9 issue, reports on its study of more than 4,400 companies nationwide with annual sales of $5 million to $350 million, comparing their latest 12-month sales. The companies were ranked on five-year average return on equity, a calculation of annual profits as a percentage of net worth. All companies had to be publicly traded.

Koll Management, which was spun off from developer Koll Co., had a 77.7% average return over the past five years compared to Cambex’s 82.1% return.

“It’s gratifying to be on the the list again,” said Koll Management President William Rothe. “It draws positive attention and visibility.”

Even so, maintaining the same growth rate could prove difficult next year. The company’s rapid-fire growth took place in the late 1980s, and average return fell to 29.6% in the latest 12 months.

“It’s a surprise to the extent that we were No. 2 again,” Rothe said. “The 77% return is very difficult to obtain. Most companies are happy if they can do 15%.”

Bridgford Foods had a five-year return of 23.8%. Return on equity information for the other two Orange County companies was not available Monday.

Koll Management posted a profit of $2.7 million in 1991 on sales of $29.1 million. The company went public in July, 1991, becoming the only public company on Wall Street that is strictly a real estate property manager. The Koll Co. remains private.

Koll Management is part of a growing trend of real estate companies moving into property management as a way to make up for the glut of office space. The company has been expanding beyond its home market in California and to properties other than those owned by its parent.

Koll also has acquired smaller real estate management companies to remain profitable. But a deal to merge with Tishman West Cos. of Los Angeles fell through earlier this month.

While the list helps, Rothe was careful to put it in perspective.

“Other people do notice it,” he said. “But we’d rather concentrate on making money and growing.”