Latest News

02.10.2022

The Lead - "Hidden in Plain Sight"

• We believe one of our investment advantages is taking a longer-term perspective with our investments than investors who are focused on the next quarter.
• Rather than hoping value will be recognized, the ‘stacking’ of value creation is core to our quest for both growth and value.
• We highlight three actual Sterling Capital Equity Income holdings and take the dividend they pay today and divide it by the share price this month and by the share price when it was initially purchased in the strategy to illustrate the power of 'stacking' growing dividends. 
• We also provide a Strategas chart that shows since the 1930s, dividends provided the majority of the total return provided to shareholders. 

01.05.2022

The Lead - "Profitable Can Be Profitable"

• Despite record levels of Federal stimulus and corporate profitability, there has been a steady rise in the number companies that are not making a profit in the market. 
• The rise in the number of negative earning companies intensified because of Wall Street, which rapidly introduced the number of unprofitable companies into the public markets.
• Rather than owning non-earners with a history of excitement but underperformance, we prefer to invest in companies that generate and grow earnings.

12.14.2021

Sterling Capital Launches Diverse Multi-Manager Active ETF

Press Release: Sterling Capital Launches Diverse Multi-Manager Active ETF (NYSE: DEIF)

12.06.2021

The Lead - "Time Tested"

• As an investment team, we believe in the importance of employing time tested methods to build a franchise that lasts. 
• One consistent aspect of our process within the Equity Income strategy is its double-digit dividend growth over time.
• We look back over recent history and then over decades to observe and access the consistency of the Equity Income investment process.

11.05.2021

The Lead - "Sustainable Dividends"

• One of the most attractive features of finding companies with a stated goal of paying increased dividends over time is a long-term mindset aligned with that of investors seeking sustainable returns. 
• This month, we demonstrate how stocks with five-year dividend growth rates of 9-15% have attractive S&P Global ESG rankings. This growth rate range is essentially in-line with the range of dividend growth that demonstrated relative outperformance within the Russell 1000® Value Index over the past ten years.
• We also note that an investor may expect to receive a lower dividend yield to “pay up” for more sustainable companies, however this does not appear to be the case at present.

10.05.2021

The Lead - "Dividends: Active Vigilance"

• In a dividend growth strategy, the key is protecting the overall dividend growth rate by reducing exposure to companies that cut or eliminate their dividend.
• Ned Davis Research notes that, from January 1973-August 2021, S&P 500® stocks that cut or eliminated their dividends both underperformed dividend growers by over 11% per year and actually generated a negative absolute return.
• A high number of dividend cuts in the market tend to be rare but severe, and the challenge for long-term investors is that threats to ongoing dividend payment capacity can change.
• As active managers within our dividend growth strategy, we would note that seven stocks we sold in our dividend growth strategy over the past seven years subsequently cut or eliminated their dividends, leading to underperformance versus the benchmark and, similar to the Ned Davis research, they are currently trading below our exit price.

09.07.2021

The Lead - "Dividend Growth Rate or Consistency? Why Not Both?"

• If a company demonstrated the ability to increase their dividend consistently over decades, is that more important than the rate of annual increase?
• We assess the apparent trade-off between owning companies that raise their dividends at faster rates and those with a long track record of dividend increases.
• We found the biggest detractor to performance for Dividend Aristocrats was a large overweight to consumer staples over the past ten years. 
• Within Equity Income, we believe that owning strong dividend growers with proven track records while also providing proper diversification is an attractive combination to generate above-average returns with below-average risk for our clients over the long term.

08.04.2021

The Lead - “Maximizing Dividend Growth”

• While the benefits of dividend growth appear straightforward, one less-frequently asked question is whether the rate of dividend growth can be a determinant of performance.
• Using Bloomberg data over the past ten years, we looked for differences in performance characteristics among stocks in the Russell 1000^® Value Index with disparate dividend growth rates.
• Over a ten-year timeframe, owning stocks growing at a 10-15% annual growth rate appear to provide an attractive combination of performance and risk-adjusted returns within dividend growers themselves.
• We believe the results of this research reinforce the core tenets of our Equity Income strategy, which has employed a dividend growth investment philosophy for 20 years and as of last quarter, its holdings maintained an average annualized five-year dividend growth rate within this range.

07.30.2021

Sterling Capital Announces Equity Portfolio Management Updates

Sterling Capital announces several equity portfolio management promotions planned for fall 2021.

07.12.2021

Sterling Capital Senior Portfolio Manager George Shipp, CFA® to Retire in January 2022

Sterling Capital announces the retirement of Managing Director George F. Shipp, CFA®, who heads the Virginia Beach-based Equity Opportunities Group.

07.06.2021

The Lead - “Quality on the Move”

• As the second quarter comes to a close, we have witnessed a gradual improvement in the relative performance of quality stocks, but how does one define quality?
• We seek to define quality through a quantitative lens, but also by employing our assessment of fundamental characteristics of quality. 
• With BofA stating this month that quality stocks represent the “best entry point in over a decade,”  and relative valuations attractive, fundamental investing in quality equities appears timely.

06.07.2021

The Lead - "Benefits of Staying Invested"

• The performance of equity markets over the past twelve months is impressive – for investors who remained invested.
• Strategas Research's work shows that if an investor engages in “marketing timing” and misses out on just a few of the best-performing days in “the market,” it can have a pronounced impact on their long-term return profile.
• Is there further upside in equity markets in 2021? We prefer not to make market predictions, however, Strategas Research provides ample examples of bull markets with greater duration than the one that began in 2020.