Commentary: Long/Short Equity Fund
We are confident that a different environment for U.S. stocks at some point in the future will better highlight the diversification advantages of the Thornburg Long/Short Equity Fund.
We are confident that a different environment for U.S. stocks at some point in the future will better highlight the diversification advantages of the Thornburg Long/Short Equity Fund.
We consider each company’s fundamental business drivers in our risk management framework. We believe this leads to a more balanced portfolio than the simple data may suggest.
With credit and duration risk remaining expensive in the municipal market, we continue to position the portfolios to favor shorter durations and higher quality credit.
The stocks in this portfolio are well positioned for durable growth, and we remain excited by their prospects.
In the fourth quarter the fund put cash to work, mostly in Basic Value companies, reflecting an improved market and economic outlook and a number of attractive opportunities.
We continue to move portfolios up in quality—by rating certainly, but also largely by the defensive nature of a security’s underlying cash flows.
Last year was very good across the spectrum; 2020 is unlikely to be so indiscriminate and such high returns will likely be harder to obtain.
International equities performed well in 2019 as a number of macro headwinds, which affected markets in 2018 (trade, monetary policy, Brexit), abated.
We believe our balanced approach will allow us to navigate this recovery period while allowing stock selection to drive the performance of our concentrated portfolio.
We choose to focus on high-quality businesses that are oftentimes exposed to secular themes that can transcend erratic markets over the long run.
We are primarily focused on the key operational issues of the businesses we hold in the portfolio, and we are generally optimistic about the potential for these businesses to grow revenue, earnings and cash flow.
We are optimistic that the types of income-producing investments owned by the Thornburg Investment Income Builder Fund will continue to experience sustainable popularity.