Inside Active by Bloomberg Intelligence

After a turbulent couple of months with significant spread widening and subsequent tightening, corporate bonds may remain under threat through year-end. In this episode of Inside Active, Bloomberg Intelligence’s mutual fund and active management analyst David Cohne and corporate credit strategist Sam Geier talk with Vishal Khanduja, head of Morgan Stanley’s broad markets fixed income team and portfolio manager for Eaton Vance’s Total Return Bond Fund (EIBAX) and the Total Return Bond ETF (EVTR). They discuss the team’s three pillars for bond selection, their focus on maximizing return for benchmark-level risk, how inefficiencies of fallen angels and rising stars can boost performance and how bottom-up relative value analysis drives portfolio positioning. The podcast was recorded on May 7.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lower revenue growth for small-cap companies appears to be in store due to tariff turmoil, based on Bloomberg Intelligence’s fair value model on the Russell 2000. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active-management analyst with BI, along with co-host Michael Casper, BI’s US small cap and sector strategist, spoke with Sam Chamovitz and Morgen Peck, co-lead managers of the Fidelity Low-Priced Stock Fund (FLPSX) about their investment process, which focuses on the intersection of value and quality, and how co-management fosters mutual respect and trust in investment decisions. They also discussed why they target underappreciated businesses and how small caps can provide an attractive setup for active managers given the disparity in the quality of businesses. The podcast recorded on April 30.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Earnings expectations have shifted from the start of the year when analysts were forecasting 13% growth for large-cap stocks and are now predicting 9%. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, Bloomberg Intelligence mutual fund and active-management analyst, along with co-host Gina Martin Adams, BI’s chief equity strategist, spoke with Head of Mid-Cap & Large-Cap Equity at Madison Funds, Haruki Toyama, who’s also a portfolio manager for the firm’s Large Cap Fund (MNVAX) and Mid Cap Fund (MERAX). They discussed viewing investments as ownership stakes and why the quality of business and its moat are crucial for long-term investments. They also spoke about the critical role of management teams in driving company success and why market downturns can create opportunities for resilient companies.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the financial sector, the six largest banks have been returning capital to shareholders in the form of larger buybacks over the past quarter and year, indicating confidence in the industry. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, along with co-host Michael Casper, US small-cap and sector strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence, spoke with Christopher Buchbinder, a portfolio manager at Capital Group, including the Capital Group Dividend Value ETF (CGDV), about the Capital system of multiple portfolio managers and how it provides a level of inherent diversification. They also discussed why companies must generate a yield that’s 30% above the S&P 500 to be considered for the fund, why intrinsic value is key in assessing potential investments and why he thinks the health-care sector is particularly interesting right now. The podcast was recorded on March 4.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Adding the profitability factor to the value factor can filter out value traps and help value stocks outperform the market, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. In this episode of the Inside Active podcast, host David Cohne, BI mutual fund and active management analyst, along with co-host Christopher Cain, BI’s US quantitative strategist, spoke with John Davi, founder, CEO and chief investment officer of Astoria Portfolio Advisors about the company’s systematically active ETFs, including the Astoria US Equal Weight Quality Kings ETF (ROE), and the long-term value of quality stocks. They also discussed why equally weighting stocks can mitigate concentration risk, combining multiple factors can improve risk-adjusted returns and why adjusting factor weights based on valuation is crucial. This podcast was recorded on Feb. 24.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Bloomberg Intelligence small-cap BMVP multi-factor portfolio outperformed the Russell 2000 equal-weight index last year, with value, momentum, low volatility and profitability all working well in small caps. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual-fund and active-management analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, along with co-host Christopher Cain, BI’s US quantitative strategist, spoke with Joel Schneider, deputy head of portfolio management at Dimensional Fund Advisors about the firm's systematic, daily and flexible investment process. They also discussed the difference between passive and indexed investing, the hidden costs of indexing and why combining multiple factors can provide better risk control in portfolios. This podcast was recorded on Jan. 28.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the number of mergers and acquisitions being positively linked to small-cap performance, this year will be one to watch after a particularly weak 2024. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, along with co-host Michael Casper, US small cap and sector strategist at BI, spoke with Bryan Wong, vice president at Osterweis and a portfolio manager for the Osterweis Opportunity Fund (OSTGX), about innovation and growth driving full-cycle returns and why his team focuses on companies with 100% upside. They also discussed why evaluating innovation in small companies requires looking at forward quality metrics and long-term intrinsic value and earnings power. This episode was recorded on Jan. 21.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2025 will be a critical year for China, which needs to continue stimulating demand to stave off prolonged deflationary pressure. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, along with co-host Marvin Chen, senior Asia equity strategist for Bloomberg Intelligence, spoke with Jorry Nøddekær, lead portfolio manager for the Polar Capital Emerging Market Stars Fund (POLEX) about finding economic value added that is mispriced by the market. They also discussed why identifying growth opportunities requires understanding demand and supply imbalances, why currency risk is a significant factor in emerging market investments and why investors should be cautious about relying too heavily on China.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Russell 2000 ended the year on a sour note over unease about where interest rates could go. In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active-management analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, along with co-host Michael Casper, US small-cap and sector strategist at BI, spoke with John Barr, managing director at Needham Funds and portfolio manager for the Needham Aggressive Growth Fund (NEAGX) about hidden quality compounders and why investing with a margin of safety is crucial for long-term success. They also discussed why owning established businesses helps with downside protection, why founders are a shortcut to finding great management and how meeting with private companies can help with long-term success.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the latter half of 2024, the healthcare sector underperformed the rest of the European market due to uncertainty related to potential policies of the new Trump administration and mixed news on pharmaceutical companies.  In this episode of Inside Active, host David Cohne, mutual fund and active management analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, along with co-host Laurent Douillet, senior equity strategist for Bloomberg Intelligence, spoke with Colin McQueen, vice president of T. Rowe Price Group and a portfolio manager of the International Value Equity Fund (TRIGX) about the significance of free cash flow generation. They also discussed the need to look at downside valuations and downside risk, why restructuring provides opportunities and why the headwinds facing value companies could be abating.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.