FYI:
Regards,
Ted
October 10, 2019
Dear WEALTHTRACK Subscriber,
The economy and markets are facing multiple headwinds. According to Strategas Research Partners we are now in the longest and slowest U.S. expansion ever, more than 120 months duration, and still going from the economy’s 2009 trough. But the cumulative real growth of the economy, that’s excluding inflation, is far below other post World War II recoveries.
That growth is now being challenged on several fronts: trade tensions with China, political uncertainty here with the impeachment inquiry and next year’s election, Brexit, slowdown in Europe and China, Hong Kong’s unrest, Iran’s alleged attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities, missile firings by North Korea and now Turkey’s attack on Kurdish fighters in Northern Syria. Are these enough to derail the U.S. economy and the record breaking bull market in large cap stocks?
In a slow growth world growth commands a premium. As we have covered extensively on past WEALTHTRACKs, large cap growth stocks, particularly the largest U.S. ones known as mega caps have dominated market performance, revenues and earnings over the last decade with a few short-lived challenges from value stocks. Will they continue to do so?
This week’s guest is a newcomer to WEALTHTRACK, but not to the investment business. She is Margaret Vitrano, Co-Portfolio Manager of the high performing ClearBridge Large Cap Growth Fund since 2012. The $14.7 billion fund has earned a Bronze Medalist analyst rating from Morningstar for its “well- balanced growth portfolio” which has beaten the vast majority of its large cap peers over the years. The fund was also one of Investor’s Business Daily’s Best Mutual Funds Awards winners in 2018 for topping the S&P 500 over the prior 3, 5 and 10 year periods.
Vitrano and her Co-Portfolio Manager Peter Bourbeau also oversee ClearBridge’s All Cap Growth Strategies along with Large Cap Growth which add up to nearly $50 billion under management.
Of particular interest is the teams “three bucket” approach strategy to large cap growth which Vitrano believes has protected their portfolios in down markets. She will also discuss their treatment of the FAANGs in their portfolios and why they are currently overweighting Facebook.
As always, if you miss the show on public television, you can watch it on our website. If you would prefer to take WEALTHTRACK with you on your commute or travels, you can find the WEALTHTRACK podcast on TuneIn, Stitcher and SoundCloud, as well as iTunes and Spotify. In this week’s web EXTRA feature Vitrano discusses her mentoring program at ClearBridge to recruit more women into the investment business.
Thank you for spending your precious time with us. Have a super Columbus Day holiday and make the week ahead a profitable and a productive one.
Best regards,
Consuelo
Video Clip:
M* Snapshot: SBLGX:
https://www.morningstar.com/funds/xnas/sblgx/quoteLipper Snapshot SBLGX:
https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/fund/sblgxSBLGX Is Ranked #61 In The (LCG) Fund Category By U.S. News & World Report:
https://money.usnews.com/funds/mutual-funds/large-growth/clearbridge-large-cap-growth-fund/sblgx 
