In this volatile and uncertain environment, proper asset allocation is the first step to ensure safety for a long term retirement investment (such as a 401K, 403B or variable annuity) portfolio. The second step is to decide what to invest in each asset identified in the first step. It has been well recognized that high quality, multi-national large cap growth companies are the place to invest in equity portion of a portfolio.
The following table shows how U.S. stock styles stack up currently.
| Assets Class | Symbols | 12/06 Trend Score |
11/29 Trend Score |
Direction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Russell Largecap Growth | IWF | 3.25% | -1.19% | ^ |
| Russell Largecap Index | IWB | 2.85% | -2.09% | ^ |
| Russell Largecap Value | IWD | 2.67% | -2.83% | ^ |
| Russell Smallcap Growth | IWO | 2.51% | -4.92% | ^ |
| Russell Smallcap Index | IWM | 2.01% | -5.33% | ^ |
| Russell Midcap Value | IWS | 1.68% | -3.36% | ^ |
| Russell Midcap Indedx | IWR | 1.56% | -3.5% | ^ |
| Russell Smallcap Value | IWN | 1.53% | -5.94% | ^ |
| Russell Midcap Growth | IWP | 1.49% | -3.47% | ^ |
The trend score is defined as the average of 1,4,13,26 and 52 week total returns (including dividend reinvested).
Large cap growth stocks are usually those high quality (stable cash flow, higher earnings growth) companies. Russell Large Cap Growth ETF (IWF) has the following top 10 holdings:
| Company | Symbol | % Assets |
|---|---|---|
| Apple Inc. | AAPL | 5.44 |
| Exxon Mobil Corporation Common | XOM | 4.50 |
| International Business Machines | IBM | 3.51 |
| Microsoft Corporation | MSFT | 2.92 |
| Google Inc. | GOOG | 2.32 |
| Coca-Cola Company (The) Common | KO | 2.04 |
| Philip Morris International Inc | PM | 1.89 |
| Oracle Corporation | ORCL | 1.85 |
| Schlumberger N.V. Common Stock | SLB | 1.57 |
| Pepsico, Inc. Common Stock | PEP | 1.56 |
Most of them are multi-national companies that derive revenues worldwide.
See also