The screens followed by this column attempt to emulate a wide range of investment approaches. Sometimes clear themes emerge. This year, a case in point has been the preeminence of investment approaches focused on hunting quality stocks. Indeed, over the past six months it has been felt that few other approaches offer any serious merit. At least that’s been the message from: my stock screen review; my screen for all seasons; and my strategy screen.
This week I am updating my 'Big Reliables' screen, which focuses on finding large quality plays with no regard for the price being paid. While the sample size is small (based on five stocks passing the screen last year) the results from the past 12 months lend further weight to the view that markets are currently mad for quality stocks. The five Big Reliables selected a year ago delivered an 18.2 per cent total return, which is vastly superior to the 1.5 per cent from the FTSE 350 (the index stocks are selected from).
2018 performance