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Growth and Value

A More Efficient Outlook

After years of debate concerning whether a growth or value investment style provides the highest long-term return, many investors have concluded they can strive for the best-possible returns while managing risk by combining growth and value investing. This approach allows investors to potentially gain throughout economic cycles in which the general market situation favors either the growth or value investment style.

For example, value stocks, often stocks of cyclical industries, tend to do well early in an economic recovery. Growth stocks, on the other hand, tend to lead bull markets, which are normally fueled by falling interest rates and increased company earnings. As seen in the table below, because the two groups of stocks do not tend to move in the same direction or to the same extent, investors can enhance return potential and reduce risk by combining the two approaches.

Value Investing

  • Companies that have fallen out of favor, but still have good fundamentals
  • Currently priced below average historical levels or current levels in industry group

Growth Investing

  • Better-than-average earnings gains in recent years
  • Potential for sustainable earnings growth

The Style Cycle: An Unpredictable Pattern

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Value
38.4%
Growth
23.1%
Value
35.2%
Growth
38.7%
Growth
33.2%
Value
7.0%
Value
(5.6)%
Value
(15.5)%
Value
30.0%
Value
16.5%
Value
7.1%
Value
22.3%
Growth
11.8%
Growth
37.2%
Value
21.6%
Growth
30.5%
Value
15.6%
Value
7.4%
Growth
(22.4)%
Growth
(20.4)%
Growth
(27.9)%
Growth
29.7%
Growth
6.3%
Growth
5.3%
Growth
9.1%
Value
(0.2)%

Russell 1000® Growth Index (Large-Cap Growth) measures the performance of those Russell 1000* companies with higher price-to-book ratios and higher forecasted growth values.

Russell 1000® Value Index (Large-Cap Value) measures the performance of those Russell 1000* companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values.

*Russell 1000® Index The Russell 1000 Index contains the 1000 largest securities in the Russell 3000 Index, which represents approximately 98% of the investable U.S. equity market. The index measures the performance of the large-capitalization growth and value sectors of the U.S. equity market. Approximately 50% of the Russell 1000 Index contains growth stocks, while the other 50% is comprised of value stocks. Performance reflects the reinvestment of dividends and other earnings.

Sources: Bloomberg Financial Markets, Frank Russell Company.

The growth and value returns reflected in the chart above are based on the performance of the Russell 1000 Value Index and the Russell 1000 Growth Index. Performance of all cited indices is calculated on a total return basis and includes dividend reinvestment. Indices are not available for direct investment. Past performance is not indicative of future results. It is important to remember that there are risks inherent in any investment and there is no assurance that any asset class or index will provide positive performance over time.