Consumer ETFs offer stability in downturns

Article Excerpt

Value investing has long been considered the investment style that provides superior returns over the long run. However, for much of the past 15 years “growth investing” produced much better results. That may be changing, as “value investing” staged a comeback over the past three years, supported by moderate profit growth and considerable valuation discounts. Defining ‘value investing’ There is no universal definition of value investing. However, most value investors will focus on the price that they pay for a stock relative to its earnings or assets; value investors prefer to pay prices that reflect low price-to-earnings or price-to-book ratios. Value investors often believe that investors overpay for fast-growing “glamour stocks” while neglecting those with less exciting short-term prospects. Growth investors, on the other hand, are more interested in the growth prospects of a company and will tend to pay above-market earnings multiples for companies that have strong growth prospects. To illustrate the difference between value and growth, below we compare the valuations and…