Where's the Value in Value?

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Where's the Value in Value? AC T I V E M A N AG E ME N T Where’s the Value in Value? MARCH 2016 Based on style indices, value investing has been cold as ice, growth has seen its hottest streak since the 1990s tech bubble and value exposure has recently hurt relative performance for many diversified portfolios. Why has growth been so dominant? Is there any value left in value? We asked the experts. Six CBIS equity sub-advisers offer their perspectives on the value/ growth divide. One of the most prominent equity market trends of the past few years is the dominance of growth-style returns over those of value. The Russell 1000 Growth Index outgained the Summary Russell 1000 Value Index by more than 900 basis points in 2015. Growth’s outperformance CBIS asked six of our active equity extends, albeit to a lesser degree, over the trailing five-year period. What’s driving the trend? sub-advisers to offer their thoughts on value’s recent weakness and What conclusions should investors draw from it? growth’s dominance. Their insights include informed perspectives on We asked the experts. Six CBIS equity sub-advisers offer their take on value’s slump and market cycles, relative valuation, what it might mean for markets and portfolios from here. Read on to see why headline style global central banking and implica- tions for portfolio strategy in 2016. indices don’t tell the whole story and why the outlook for value investors is brighter than it might seem. AJO CUIT Value Equity Quant value-specialist AJO shows how sector returns have dominated growth and value Causeway Capital Management index performance; when adjusted for sector influence, value has actually performed well. CUIT International Equity Causeway Capital Management shows that investors are paying a substantial premium for Los Angeles Capital Management defensiveness and momentum characteristics and that value and cyclical stocks are among CUIT Growth Equity the market’s best bargains. The quants at Los Angeles Capital Management make clear there’s Principal Global Investors more to value and growth than headline numbers; value factor construction makes a big CUIT International Equity difference in assessing value’s performance. International sub-adviser Principal Global Inves- Scott Investment Partners tors also ties value’s slump to sector influences and explains why they apply a balanced UCITS Global Equity growth/value discipline within their CBIS growth mandate. Scott Investment Partners shows Wellington Management Company how years of global central bank easy money policies have badly distorted market valuations CUIT Growth Equity and the traditional concepts of growth and value. Growth sub-adviser Wellington Manage- ment Company digs deep into the growth universe and shows how attractively valued growth names have lagged more expensive peers; a shift in this “cycle within a cycle” could become a tailwind for valuation-conscious growth portfolios. Page 1 Value vs. Growth MARCH 2016 AJO 1: R1000 Value vs. R1000 Growth AJO 2: Growth Cycle Duration 0.5 1.0 value outperforms Post tech bubble 0.8 0.3 0.5 The 80's 0.3 0.0 0.0 (0.3) (0.3) Indexed Return (0.5) Post GFC (0.8) growth outperforms Tech bubble (1.0) (0.5) 1 10192837465564738291100 79 82 85 88 91 94 97 00 03 06 09 12 15 Months Source: AJO / Note: Log index of cumulative relative return; Jan 1979 - Feb. 2016 Source: AJO AJO 3: Price/Earnings — Sector Adjusted Cumulative Return result is a polarized group of stocks and sectors in the Russell 1000 Value Index based on a composite measure of cheapness. 40.0% In fact, the most recent period of value underperformance has 30.0% been driven largely by sector allocation. On an annualized basis, 20.0% the growth index outperformed the value index by 4% — and, interestingly, nearly 75% of this return differential is a result of 10.0% growth sectors outperforming value sectors. For example, 0.0% growth typically dominates when information technology out- 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 -10.0% performs financials and consumer stocks outperform energy. As such, the financial crisis and oil shocks define this period far Source: AJO more than a breakdown in the fundamentals of value investing. Whew! AJO Let’s just get this out there — we’re value investors. And yes, we Prior to this period, the impact of sector allocation between the realize that growth stocks outperformed value stocks over the style benchmarks went the other way, adding to the returns of last — let’s say — nine years. In fact, as shown in Charts 1 and 2, the value index. Regardless of direction, the influence of sectors we are experiencing the longest had previously only accounted for growth market (when defined by about 10% of the difference in returns “It is clear that style performance has lately the Russell 1000 Growth Index — not the 75% we noted above. been defined by sector performance. And outperforming the Russell 1000 while comparing index returns is still a But how does value perform if we Value Index) since the Russell style valid definition of style, recognizing value neutralize this sector impact? At AJO, indexes were created. The last as a determinant of stock selection tells a we assess value using a number of growth-dominated market (the different tale.” measures; one of our favorites is price 1990s tech bubble) proved that -AJO relative to forecasted earnings. To value stocks can underperform for evaluate this impact, we use this a long time and inflict plenty of measure of value to simulate an equal-weighted portfolio com- pain on value investors. But the current regime is winning on prising long exposure to the least expensive stocks within each endurance alone. Do these index results spell the end of value sector and shorting the most expensive. As shown in Chart III, it investing as we know it? Hardly! turns out we would have performed quite well if we selected It’s probably useful to review how these benchmarks are created. stocks on this measure. In a costless world, the cumulative re- Once a year, Russell evaluates securities across each capitaliza- turn of this strategy is 35% (think of it as alpha) over the nearly tion universe using three measures: price to book, earnings nine-year period, without taking on any market risk. Not too growth and sales growth. Each security is categorized as 100% shabby. value, 100% growth or some combination of each. The end Christian Brothers Investment Services, Inc. [email protected] Page 2 Value vs. Growth MARCH 2016 It is clear that style performance has lately been defined by sec- Causeway 1: Value Cycles — Cumulative Return & Drawdowns tor performance. And while comparing index returns is still a valid definition of style, recognizing value as a determinant of 0.0% 1.7 stock selection tells a different tale. The fundamental quest to -2.0% 1.6 find stocks with the most attractive valuations relative to peers -4.0% 1.5 is still our most effective tool. As Mark Twain might say (with -6.0% 1.4 some liberties): “The reports of value’s death have been greatly -8.0% 1.3 exaggerated.” -10.0% 1.2 Drawdown Depth Depth (%) Drawdown -12.0% 1.1 Causeway Capital Management Cumulative Return Index Unimpeded, stock markets will eventually correctly price the -14.0% 1.0 91 95 97 01 05 07 11 15 fundamentals of a business; this is the cornerstone of value in- - - - - - - - - Jan-93 Jan Jan Jan-99 Jan Jan-03 Jan Jan Jan-09 Jan Jan-13 Jan Jan vesting. But there’s no question that investor sentiment moves Drawdown Cumulative (RHS) in cycles and value investing is deeply out of favor. As shown Source: Causeway Capital Management / Note: Value performance based on proprietary risk model’s value factor return. in Chart 1, value’s recent weakness even rivals what occurred during the late 1990s technology, media and telecommunica- Causeway 2: High Premiums for Momentum and Defensiveness tions bubble. As shown in Chart 2, investors are paying a sub- stantial premium for defensiveness and price momentum; stocks 100% featuring these characteristics are quite expensive versus other 80% segments of the markets (and even within industries), with 60% multiples well above long-term averages. 40% The conundrum facing beleaguered value managers and their 20% clients is that value-oriented and high-beta cyclical stocks are 0% among the best bargains in global equity markets, especially in -20% emerging markets. And despite what our emotions tell us, buy- -40% Momentum Premium ing well-chosen, out-of-favor stocks generally decreases rather Defensive Premium -60% than elevates the risk of future losses. But what will spur inves- tors in general to again appreciate the value in value? Jan-01 Jan-02 Jan-03 Jan-04 Jan-05 Jan-06 Jan-07 Jan-08 Jan-09 Jan-10 Jan-11 Jan-12 Jan-13 Jan-14 Jan-15 Jan-16 An easing of deflation concerns should encourage investors to Source: Causeway Capital Management / Note: Valuation difference between top and bottom quintiles based on Causeway analytics. return to value investing rather than crowd further into the mo- strengthening currency since 2011. But with the U.S. dollar giv- mentum and growth trade. To be sure, anemic global economic ing up ground this year, depreciating versus the euro and yen, growth in many areas outside the U.S. has partly caused the downward pressure on commodity preference for defensive companies. prices should abate and prospects for But global growth should remain “The conundrum facing beleaguered value related industries should improve. The positive and, following steep de- managers and their clients is that value- Fed’s stated concern about the global clines, the risk/reward balance for oriented and high-beta cyclical stocks are effects of dollar appreciation could be companies tied to the economic and among the best bargains in global equity another factor that stalls or reverses commodity cycle swings in favor of markets.” the strong dollar/weak commodity reward.
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