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PRWCX Annual Report


PRWCX 2020 Annual Report is out ...

https://www.troweprice.com/literature/public/country/us/language/en/literature-type/annual-report/sub-type/mf?productCode=CAF&currency=USD

As always, as a long time PRWCX shareholder, I appreciate Giroux's perspectives and find his analyses to be well-reasoned.

(It seems long utilities and leveraged bank loans are one of the TRP house recommendations for 2021, as that's what Sebastien Page also was saying on Wealthtrack this month, too.)

Comments

  • edited February 2021
    Thanks @rforno

    At the end of of 2020 cash was at 12%. I’m thinking he’s raised that over the past 1-2 months just looking at the lagging performance. However, Lipper still puts it at that modest 12% figure. Reads like an encyclopedia of investing. Perhaps a bit too much horn blowing. One has to be pleased with the amount of information and analysis contained.

    And he’s unloaded Wells Fargo! :)

    One interesting blurb: “Our biggest miss in 2019 was Apple and it was once again in 2020, as the stock rose 82% during the year ... The outperformance of Apple for the last two years has been a big detractor from our relative performance and a big disappointment for me personally. We continue to spend considerable time on Apple and have had multiple team members look at the stock, and yet we all come to the same conclusion: There is no reason a company with a long-term 6% EPS growth rate should trade for 30x earnings with two of its fastest-growing and most profitable revenue streams facing increasing regulatory scrutiny.”

    Geez - Have a new Mac Air on order. Love Apple’s ecosystem, product support, etc. More important to me than the hardware. FWIW
  • hank said:

    Thanks @rforno

    Geez - Have a new Mac Air on order. Love Apple’s ecosystem. More important to me than the hardware. FWIW

    My new M1 Air is awesome, btw. Kudos to those who enjoy the ecosystem lock-in.

    I use their hardware but am only tangentally in the whole ecosystem b/c I enjoy flexibility and am routinely reminded that Apple can't run a stable cloud service to save their lives. But for many reasons I refuse to go back to Windows.

  • edited February 2021
    Same here - really enjoy reading his report. His stock picking in utility sector way exceeded utility funds and ETFs. My Vanguard utility fund was flat for 2020 even though it provided a healthy yield. Ventured out to floating rate and short term high yield funds this year for higher yields. Also rotated more into value and small value funds earlier this year. Yacktman fund, YACKX, has recovered quickly after March last year and managed to out-performed the value index. The fund now holds 30% oversea stocks.

    We also got a new iPads this year since our 7 years old iPad can no longer updated. They are lighter, run faster and with a larger capacity. We will upgrade our 6 years old iMac in fall while the Window 10 PC is use for work.
  • edited February 2021
    Re: Apple: "...I use their hardware but am only tangentally in the whole ecosystem b/c I enjoy flexibility and am routinely reminded that Apple can't run a stable cloud service to save their lives. But for many reasons I refuse to go back to Windows.
    Same here: stated another way, I dislike the way Apple wants to own even your SOUL. And I resist the way they re-define the whole universe. Yes, they have indeed created their own ecosystem. With its own re-defined words, places and functions. I want to add or download A or B or C. Great. Just go ahead, on Microsoft. But my MacBook Air? I'm expected to SIGN-INTO my "Apple ID" account and get the item directly from there. Buncha crap. ...Yes, I can still download whatever I want. But the interface with Apple might be screwed up. Still, it's nice not to have to worry so very much anymore about viruses and digital feces. I'm a privacy nut. I've got tools running that give me a clean page to look at, without all the ads and click-bait. Another thing: I can't even get Firefox to play Youtube for me, after the latest fabulous update. Is it because of the interface with Apple's universe? Who knows? There's no fix for it that I can locate anywhere on the web. Guess I'll stop installing the "new and improved" updates from Firefox. Or is the problem actually with FIREFOX? A true mystery, like the Bermuda triangle.

    PRWCX is still my biggest holding, by the way. Though I just shifted a small amount from there into PRIDX (Int'l) and PRDSX (small caps.) ... 12% cash???? That might very well account for the lagging performance. Ugh!
    Re: APPLE:

  • edited February 2021
    Crash said:

    12% cash???? That might very well account for the lagging performance.

    Doubt it. He typically carries a lot of cash. Was up around 30% cash just before the mini-crash last February. And paid off handsomly. But I suspect he’s way over that 12% at this time. If so, that would explain the performance.

    FWIW - D&C has overweighted financials for years. Paid a big price too in subpar performance, But this year DODBX is stomping PRWCX. I don’t think this proves anything except that investment trends come and go. With rising rates financials are doing better.

    Disclosure: I own both funds, but have more in DODBX.

  • ...Oh, now I see what you meant.:)
    At the end of of 2020 cash was at 12%. I’m thinking he’s raised that over the past 1-2 months just looking at the lagging performance.
  • @hank - a worthy YTD. Nicely done DODBX ! Interesting to compare to FBALX.
  • I constantly see the comparison between DODBX and PRWCX, since the Dodge fund is in a portfolio I'm babysitting for a colleague. Yes, it's just the opposite of LAST year.
  • Really clear and concise statement of his views on the market. A great read. I was particularly intrigued by his discussion on FISERV which I now want to consider as an investment. Does anyone know how many times a year PRWCX releases its full portfolio holdings? I see they do their top 10. holdings monthly.
  • edited February 2021
    I believe the full portfolio holding is disclosed on their semi-annual and annual reports. Mutual fund companies try to share just enough information as required by laws but not enough so to reduce the risk of being "front run" by their competitors. Live interviews, on the other hand, often reveal how they go about in stock picking.

    Giroux gave an interview last summer where he talked about the frantic buying and the great fortune that several panned out nicely. They are truly great tactical investors.
  • The letter from Giroux makes a lotta sense. Let's hope the big bet on utilities is not a loser...
  • edited February 2021
    Having a large cash allows him to be tactical when opportunities present themselves. He talked about the stressful time in March when the team vetted through new companies in shorter timeframe and to build positions quickly. When one can buy companies with solid balance sheets at depressed prices, downside risk is greatly reduced. Utility stocks and GE are such examples. His mindfulness on risk management is under appreciated. Kinda like what Buffet did with BOA in 2008 and paid out nicely years later. In a 10 years period the fund was able to out-performed S&P500 while having lower drawdown. What more can you ask for?
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