In the financial sector, the six largest banks have been returning capital to shareholders in the form of larger buybacks over the past quarter and year, indicating confidence in the industry. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, along with co-host Michael Casper, US small-cap and sector strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence, spoke with Christopher Buchbinder, a portfolio manager at Capital Group, including the Capital Group Dividend Value ETF (CGDV), about the Capital system of multiple portfolio managers and how it provides a level of inherent diversification. They also discussed why companies must generate a yield that’s 30% above the S&P 500 to be considered for the fund, why intrinsic value is key in assessing potential investments and why he thinks the health-care sector is particularly interesting right now. The podcast was recorded on March 4.

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Adding the profitability factor to the value factor can filter out value traps and help value stocks outperform the market, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. In this episode of the Inside Active podcast, host David Cohne, BI mutual fund and active management analyst, along with co-host Christopher Cain, BI’s US quantitative strategist, spoke with John Davi, founder, CEO and chief investment officer of Astoria Portfolio Advisors about the company’s systematically active ETFs, including the Astoria US Equal Weight Quality Kings ETF (ROE), and the long-term value of quality stocks. They also discussed why equally weighting stocks can mitigate concentration risk, combining multiple factors can improve risk-adjusted returns and why adjusting factor weights based on valuation is crucial. This podcast was recorded on Feb. 24.

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On this episode of Stock Movers:
- Canada Goose shares fall 4.7% in premarket trading on Monday as Barclays cuts the upscale parka retailer’s rating to underweight from equal-weight, citing challenging macro pressures.
- Celsius Holdings shares gain 1% in premarket trading after Truist Securities raised its recommendation to buy from hold, saying the company’s Alani Nu acquisition gives it an “extremely strong position” in the women’s segment of the US energy drink category.
- United States Steel Corp. shares are down 1.2% in premarket trading, after BMO Capital Markets downgraded the company to market perform from outperform.

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The Bloomberg Intelligence small-cap BMVP multi-factor portfolio outperformed the Russell 2000 equal-weight index last year, with value, momentum, low volatility and profitability all working well in small caps. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual-fund and active-management analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, along with co-host Christopher Cain, BI’s US quantitative strategist, spoke with Joel Schneider, deputy head of portfolio management at Dimensional Fund Advisors about the firm's systematic, daily and flexible investment process. They also discussed the difference between passive and indexed investing, the hidden costs of indexing and why combining multiple factors can provide better risk control in portfolios.

This podcast was recorded on Jan. 28.

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With the number of mergers and acquisitions being positively linked to small-cap performance, this year will be one to watch after a particularly weak 2024. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, along with co-host Michael Casper, US small cap and sector strategist at BI, spoke with Bryan Wong, vice president at Osterweis and a portfolio manager for the Osterweis Opportunity Fund (OSTGX), about innovation and growth driving full-cycle returns and why his team focuses on companies with 100% upside. They also discussed why evaluating innovation in small companies requires looking at forward quality metrics and long-term intrinsic value and earnings power. This episode was recorded on Jan. 21.

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2025 will be a critical year for China, which needs to continue stimulating demand to stave off prolonged deflationary pressure. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, along with co-host Marvin Chen, senior Asia equity strategist for Bloomberg Intelligence, spoke with Jorry Nøddekær, lead portfolio manager for the Polar Capital Emerging Market Stars Fund (POLEX) about finding economic value added that is mispriced by the market. They also discussed why identifying growth opportunities requires understanding demand and supply imbalances, why currency risk is a significant factor in emerging market investments and why investors should be cautious about relying too heavily on China.

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The Russell 2000 ended the year on a sour note over unease about where interest rates could go. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active-management analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, along with co-host Michael Casper, US small-cap and sector strategist at BI, spoke with John Barr, managing director at Needham Funds and portfolio manager for the Needham Aggressive Growth Fund (NEAGX) about hidden quality compounders and why investing with a margin of safety is crucial for long-term success. They also discussed why owning established businesses helps with downside protection, why founders are a shortcut to finding great management and how meeting with private companies can help with long-term success.

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In the latter half of 2024, the healthcare sector underperformed the rest of the European market due to uncertainty related to potential policies of the new Trump administration and mixed news on pharmaceutical companies.  In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, along with co-host Laurent Douillet, senior equity strategist for Bloomberg Intelligence, spoke with Colin McQueen, vice president of T. Rowe Price Group and a portfolio manager of the International Value Equity Fund (TRIGX) about the significance of free cash flow generation. They also discussed the need to look at downside valuations and downside risk, why restructuring provides opportunities and why the headwinds facing value companies could be abating.

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The low volatility, momentum and quality factors are all up this year, with low volatility and momentum performing the best. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, Bloomberg Intelligence mutual fund and active management analyst, along with co-host and BI US quantitative strategist Christopher Cain, spoke with Andrew Slimmon, a managing director at Morgan Stanley Investment Management. They discussed factor exposures and why the investment process starts with a quantitative approach to determine what exposures each stock gives them. They also examined the importance of active share and tracking error, and why Slimmon is agnostic toward regional allocation and styles. He’s the lead senior portfolio manager on all long equity strategies for Applied Equity Advisors, including the Morgan Stanley Institutional Global Concentrated Portfolio (MLNIX). 

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The Bloomberg Intelligence Fair Value Model is currently showing a 19.1x multiple on the S&P 500, which is lower than where we currently are, due to the Mag 7 driving a lot of the valuation premium in the index. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence and co-host Michael Casper, US small cap and sector strategist at BI, spoke with Christopher Davis, chairman and portfolio manager at Davis Advisors about the significance of the earnings yield and the selective nature of the Davis investment discipline. They also discuss why management culture is crucial for long-term success and why understanding management’s capital allocation decisions is vital.

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