Articles by Greg Swenson, CFA Director of Equities

Homefurnishing Retail, Property & Casualty, and Technology Distributors are among the month’s intriguing opportunities based on the current Group Selection (GS) Scores.

With the “Trump Trade” in question, investors have been flocking to companies delivering tangible results.

The MTI remains safely in the positive zone. Accordingly, equity exposure is currently positioned at 67%, near the high end of our bullish range of 50-70%.

Low Volatility was in favor once again during February after struggling the previous month. Starting in September, the factor has continuously reversed the previous month’s performance.

Automobile Manufacturers, Health Care Distributors, and Homebuilding appear to be solid opportunities based on the current Group Selection Scores.

Automotive Retail improved into the top five rankings; Biotechnology, despite being out of favor, has both long-term growth potential and higher profitability than Pharmaceuticals; Developed Diversified Banks is up almost 20% since the election.

The MTI was roughly flat during January and remains safely in the positive range. Accordingly, equity exposure is positioned at 65%, near the high end of our bullish range of 50-70%.

A summary table detailing the Attractive and Unattractive sectors and industry groups going into 2017.

After three consecutive years of positive performance, the Group Selection (GS) Scores struggled in 2016.

Allocation and performance details of our portfolios for January 2017.

Factor performance during 2016 is the reverse of that of 2014-2015. Quants and smart beta funds focusing solely on Value have enjoyed the year, while multi-factor approaches have struggled. Value has been the only factor that has provided positive performance this year.

We summarize the factor category strength behind Education Services, Hotels & Leisure, and IT Consulting & Other Services.

Allocation and performance details of our portfolios for December 2016.

Our AdvantHedge gross composite rose 4.7% in October, outperforming the inverse S&P 500 (+1.8%) and performing inline with the inverse Russell 2000 (+4.8%).

The MTI remained unchanged from the end of September and is still safely in the positive range.

Airlines, Asset Management & Custody Banks, and Automotive Retail all have attractive Valuations and strong VLT Momentum.

Our AdvantHedge gross composite fell 1.8% in September, underperforming the inverse S&P 500 (+0.02%) and the inverse Russell 2000 (+1.1%).

Select Industries gross composite lost 0.8% in September, underperforming the S&P 500 gain of 0.02%.