Value Equity Insights
Striving for a Consistent Risk Profile: Quality and Value (October 2026)
Insights from the Value Equities Investment Committee | PDF “In the short run, the market is a voting machine, but in the long run, it is a weighing machine.” –Benjamin Graham Advances in AI have captured investors’ imaginations and opened a wide gap between the beneficiaries and the rest of the market. The resulting concentration… Read More »
A Moving Yardstick: Dynamic Risk Profiles of the Indexes (October 2026)
Insights from the Value Equities Investment Committee | PDF Benchmark index construction rules generally do not account for fundamentals, underlying quality, or risk management We’ve written at length about the rules that determine the composition of the style indexes against which many active managers are benchmarked. An index’s composition is a function of mechanical rules,… Read More »
A Narrow Market (July 2026)
Insights from the Value Equities Investment Committee | PDF “The four most dangerous words in investing are: this time it’s different.” — Sir John Templeton SETTING THE STAGE In two earlier publications, we examined the construction and evolution of the Russell 1000 Value Index. In “Shining a Light on Indexes,” we explored the inherent limitations of… Read More »
Deja vu for Dividends? (June 2026)
Insights from the Value Equities Investment Committee | PDF Dividends have historically been an integral component of equity returns, contributing roughly 40% of the S&P 500 total return since 1926, and companies that consistently grow their dividends have led the market. Despite their solid history, dividend payers have at times been overlooked in favor of… Read More »
Understanding the Benchmark: The Russell 1000 Value Index (January 2026)
Insights from the Value Equities Investment Committee | PDF Benchmarks are often treated as passive reference points and neutral yardsticks against which investment performance is measured. Yet beneath the surface lies a dynamic system that continuously adapts to changes in market prices, investor behavior, and prevailing risk appetites. Understanding how these benchmarks evolve is particularly… Read More »
Investing Where the Puck Is Going: The Renewed Case for Active and Value (June 2025)
Insights from the Value Equities Investment Committee | PDF “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.” – Wayne Gretzky With the Stanley Cup finals beginning last week in Edmonton — home to The Great One’s four championships — we’re reminded that Gretzky’s approach to hockey can offer… Read More »
Magnificent…Small Caps? Why Now and Why Confluence (April 2024)
A Report from the Value Equities Investment Committee | PDF Why Small Caps? Small capitalization stocks have spent the better part of 10 years in the shadows of their larger cap brethren but now currently provide an attractive opportunity, in our estimation. The divergence has been driven primarily by the narrow focus on a select… Read More »
Back to the Future: The Advantages of Dividend Income Over Interest Income (February 2024)
Insights from the Value Equities Investment Committee | PDF Over the past 15 years, dividend income has often exceeded what could be earned in a money market account. But as seen in the chart below, with the fed funds rate now at 5.5%, the relationship between dividend income and interest income has gone back to… Read More »
A Good IDEA for the Long Run: The Benefits of Increasing Dividends (December 2023)
A Report from the Value Equities Investment Committee | PDF In this report, we examine the long-term outperformance of stocks with growing dividends; why certain dividend growers outperform and their attributes; how those attributes correspond to our approach when selecting businesses for the IDEA portfolio; and the impact of inflation on dividend stocks. Why Dividends?… Read More »