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September 01, 2004 at 08:00 PM
Aug. 31, 2004 — Subjective judgments don’t always result in the best investments, according to the managers of Enterprise Equity Income Fund/A (ENGIX). A quantitative approach to stock valuation and momentum “helps minimize the subjectivity that we bring to the table,” says Michael Vogelzang, the fund’s lead manager.
With an investment process that is about 75% to 80% quantitative, Vogelzang and co-managers Tim Woolston and Doug Riley start by looking for stocks with dividend yields greater than that of the S&P 500-stock index.
The managers recognize that screening for stocks with low valuations as well as momentum can seem at odds, since value stocks are not typically regarded as having the momentum characteristics associated with growth stocks. As a result, their screens can be at odds, but “that is intentional,” says Woolston.
Since the fund considers stocks with market caps of $1 billion and up, the managers are glad that their criteria help narrow down their potential universe. As value stocks are often cheaply priced for a reason, screening for momentum can uncover stocks with upside potential. The momentum characteristics the $133-million fund looks for include a catalyst or a turnaround in business fundamentals. The end result is a portfolio of about 85 stock holdings.
Since taking over from the fund’s previous manager, John Rock, Vogelzang says the biggest change in the portfolio was a cut in its health-care weighting to under 3% from over 20%, as well as the sale of all of its Baby Bell holdings.
The fund’s largest sectors are currently financials, energy, and consumer discretionary. Although large, the fund’s financial stake is underweight its benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value index. In financials, the fund favors life insurance companies because of their stable earnings. Lincoln National Corp. (LNC) was a key insurance holding at the end of May.
