We are excited to share a new publication that aims to shed light on one of the core investment themes at Brown Advisory: investing in high-quality equities. Investing in quality is a frequently-mentioned theme and (High-Quality) Stocks for the Long Run by Sidney Ahl, Eric Gordon and Brandon Parrish aims to unpack what we mean by quality stocks and why we believe they are an appropriate core allocation for long-term investors. (The title of the publication is a twist to Jeremy Siegel's noted book Stocks for the Long Run).
Executive Summary
Investing in quality is a guiding principle at Brown Advisory. The goal of this paper was to examine what we mean by quality, why we believe investing in quality (this paper looks at equities) is the appropriate strategy for long-term investors, how your approach based on Thoughtful Investing is differentiated, and the historical performance of the quality factor over various market cycles. An empirical examination of these elements should help provide clients with a long-term focus and understanding of when and why quality stocks may underperform the market as well. We also discuss qualitative examples of high-quality businesses, as well as how the criteria for evaluating quality stocks may be evolving post-pandemic.