Inside Active by Bloomberg Intelligence

Profitable companies tend to perform well among small caps, as evidenced by the Bloomberg MVP small-cap portfolio, which returned 11.9% annualized in a backtest run from 1999 to September 2024. On this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, along with co-host Michael Casper, sector and small-cap strategist, spoke with Mitch Zacks, CEO and principal portfolio manager of Zacks Investment Management about the significance of upwards earnings-estimate revisions and why they could be crucial for predicting stock performance. They also discussed the evolving landscape of small-cap stocks and why valuation metrics are more relevant for larger companies.

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Buffer ETFs, which use options to limit losses and offer upside potential, have taken in around $10 billion in new flows this year as their popularity grows. On this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active-management analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, along with co-host James Seyffart, a BI ETF analyst, spoke with Burke Ashenden, director of capital markets at Innovator ETFs, about the rise of defined-outcome ETFs. They examine the unique features that set them apart from traditional investment funds, and how they provide risk-managed exposure. They also discussed how the underlying management of these products works.

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Financial stocks could see better earnings growth this quarter than analysts’ consensus, according to Bloomberg Intelligence’s macro model. In this episode of the Inside Active podcast, host David Cohne, BI mutual fund and active management analyst, along with co-host Gina Martin Adams, BI’s chief equity strategist, speak with Bill Nygren, chief investment officer, US equity, at Harris Associates and portfolio manager at the firm’s Oakmark Funds. They discuss Nygren’s views on bringing a private equity perspective to public equity investing, the need for a long-term view, why financials make up a large allocation in the Oakmark Fund (OAKMX) and the significance of management quality in investment decisions.

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The quality factor is ranked second on the BI Factor Scorecard as higher-quality companies are beating lower-quality ones against a backdrop of a more defensive market. On this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active-management analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, along with co-host and BI US quantitative strategist Christopher Cain, spoke with Tom Hancock, head of Focused Equity at GMO and portfolio manager for the GMO US Quality ETF (QLTY), about how the fund combines GMO’s history of integrating the quality factor in its research with the firm’s roots in value investing. They also discussed why profitability is such an important element of their quality-factor research, and how QLTY differs from its mutual fund counterpart.

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Since the US market can be profitable for European companies, any slowdown in the US economy could harm earnings in Europe, but also alleviate high valuations. On 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 Sarah Ketterer, Chief Executive Officer and Fundamental Portfolio Manager at Causeway Capital Management, including the Causeway International Value Fund (CIVVX). They discussed Causeway’s value investment philosophy, including its risk-adjusted return ranking model, as well as the criteria she looks for in potential holdings. They also spoke about how AI tools are being integrated into the investment process and where she sees investment opportunities in artificial intelligence. 

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Countries in Asia make up the top echelon of the BI Emerging Markets Scorecard, based on factors such as price performance, breadth and fundamentals. In this episode of Bloomberg Intelligence’s Inside Active podcast, host David Cohne, BI mutual fund and active management analyst, and co-host Marvin Chen, BI senior Asia equity strategist, speak with Sean Taylor, chief investment officer of Matthews Asia and portfolio manager for the Matthews Emerging Markets Equity Active ETF (MEM). They discuss the firm’s four-stage process of evaluating countries and Matthews’ portfolio-construction system that looks at marginal contribution of active risk. They also talk about the impact of AI in Asia and the implications of US Federal Reserve policies on emerging markets.

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Capital deployment has been increasing as companies flush with cash ratchet up share buybacks and dividend payments. On this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active-management analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, along with co-host and BI sector and small-cap strategist Michael Casper, spoke with Integrity Viking Funds CEO Shannon Radke and Chief Investment Officer Michael Morey about the investment process behind the Integrity Dividend Harvest Fund (IDIVX). They discuss Integrity’s three-tiered-goal system of evaluating companies, and the metrics they use for screening. They also examine dividend sustainability and why classic value investing still has a place in investors’ portfolios.

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With equities in a fundamental rotation and being shaken by economic surprises, the market may be searching for new sector leadership. On this episode of the Inside Active podcast, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, along with co-host Gina Martin Adams, BI’s chief equity strategist, spoke with JPMorgan Asset Management’s portfolio manager Felise Agranoff, co-portfolio manager for JPMorgan Active Growth ETF (JGRO) about investing in quality companies with strong and sustainable competitive advantages and best-in-class management teams. They also discussed JPMorgan’s approach to assessing underappreciated growth opportunities, as well as the differences in researching mid-cap and large-cap funds.

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Wellington’s Andrew J. Shilling and Clark R. Shields, sub-advisers to the Vanguard U.S. Growth Fund, talk about investing in companies with secular growth and competitive advantages in this episode of Bloomberg Intelligence’s Inside Active podcast. Host David Cohne, BI mutual fund analyst, and co-host Gina Martin Adams, BI chief equity strategist, spoke with Shilling and Shields about how they approach valuations through time-frame arbitrage and what they look for in management teams.

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Since its inception, Vanguard has maintained that active investing — if delivered in a low-cost way — can play a meaningful role in a client’s portfolio, for investors who have the tolerance to take that on, says Dan Reyes, global head of investment product at Vanguard. On this episode of the Inside Active podcast, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, along with co-host Eric Balchunas, BI senior ETF analyst, speak with Reyes about the process of launching new active products, the trend toward active ETFs and the selection of external managers. They also discuss the evaluation of enduring investment merit of products and how Vanguard’s active lineup has evolved over time.

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