Discipline Through Cycles. Results Over Time.
A long-term record reveals not just outcomes, but behavior across market cycles.
Over 36 years of managing the Polen Focus Growth Composite Portfolio (the "Portfolio"), markets have at times rewarded speculation, cyclicality, and liquidity-driven risk-taking over durable fundamentals. In those environments, our quality growth approach often lagged.
Notable Examples
Late-Stage Dot-Com Rally | 10/1998 - 03/2000
Markets rewarded rapid revenue growth over profitability and balance sheet strength. We avoided speculative, non-profitable technology companies, prioritizing strategy discipline over market participation.
Post-Recession Expansion | 03/2003 - 06/2006
As the economy recovered, industrials, real estate, and financials led the market. The Portfolio’s lower exposure to these sectors resulted in relative underperformance during this period.
Liquidity-Driven Risk Regime | 09/2012 - 06/2014
Amid aggressive central bank stimulus, investor risk appetite rose, favoring faster-growing and more speculative companies. The Portfolio’s focus on financially durable businesses created a temporary headwind.
What happened after?
In each case, peak differentiation coincided with relative troughs - and preceded subsequent excess returns.
Read the full take:
Source: Bloomberg. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Performance figures are presented gross and net of fees and have been calculated after the deduction of all transaction costs and commissions and include the reinvestment of all income. Net of fee performance was calculated using either actual management fees or highest fees for fund structures. The performance shown does not necessarily reflect returns that would be achieved under current or future market conditions. Certain periods presented include times of rapid equity appreciation, economic expansion, and accommodative monetary policy. Market dynamics during such periods may differ materially from current or future environments. Investors should evaluate performance over a full market cycle and consider whether past results are an appropriate comparison to current market conditions.
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Any statements made by Polen Capital regarding future events or expectations are forward-looking statements and are based on current assumptions and expectations. Such statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties and are not a reliable indicator of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied. There is no assurance that any securities discussed herein are currently held in a Polen Capital portfolio nor that they are representative of the entire portfolio in which they are or were held. It should not be assumed that any transactions related to the securities discussed herein were (or will prove to be) profitable or that any future transactions will equal the investment performance of the securities discussed herein..
References to specific securities, asset classes and financial markets are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to be, and should not be interpreted as, recommendations. All performance is calculated in US Dollars. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
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Performance is calculated from the Portfolio’s lowest month-end value (‘trough”) during each macroeconomic event. Excess return is the Portfolio’s annualized return minus the respective benchmark’s annualized return over the respective periods. Average excess return is the arithmetic average of the annual excess returns over the respective periods. Forward return is the annualized return over the subsequent 1-, 3-, 5-, or 10-year period, measured from the stated date to the end of the respective period. The Russell 1000® Growth Index is a market capitalization weighted index that measures the performance of the large-cap growth segment of the U.S. equity universe. The S&P 500® Index is a market capitalization weighted index that measures 500 common equities that are generally representative of the U.S. stock market. It is impossible to invest directly in an index. The performance of an index does not reflect any transaction costs, management fees, or taxes.
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