Gavekal Capital: Information Contained In The Relative Performance of Utilities

Friday, May 30, 2014

Information Contained In The Relative Performance of Utilities

We came across an interesting essay today highlighting the informational usefulness of moves in the utility sector. The link to the entire report is here.

The authors argue that movements in the utility sector contain important information with respect to the broader stock market. In the chart below, we have tried to capture the essence of the theme by comparing the relative performance of the S&P 500 Utility sector to the S&P 500 itself. Over the last five years, there has been 89% correlation between the relative performance of the Utility sector and the S&P 500.

This relationship takes on added significance when we consider that the Utility sector has been the best performing sector in the MSCI World index year-to-date.

About Gavekal Capital

Gavekal Capital is a US registered investment advisory firm that manages the Gavekal Knowledge Leaders Strategy. Knowledge Leaders are a group of the world’s leading innovators with deep reservoirs of intangible capital. These companies often possess competitive advantages such as strong brand, proprietary knowledge or a unique distribution mechanism. Knowledge Leaders are largely service-based and advanced manufacturing businesses, often operating globally. Gavekal Capital seeks to identify the world’s leading knowledge companies through a proprietary process that analyzes corporate knowledge investments.
We offer the Gavekal Knowledge Leaders Strategy in multiple products for global investors. For more information about our product offerings please visit http://www.gavekalcapital.com.
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Disclosure

The information presented here is for informational purposes only, and this document is not to be construed as an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, securities. Some investments are not suitable for all investors, and there can be no assurance that any investment strategy will be successful. An investor cannot invest directly in an index. Hyperlinks may be included in this message that provide direct access to other internet resources, including web sites. While we believe these links are to reliable sources, Gavekal has no control over the accuracy or content of information contained on these sites. Although we make every effort to ensure such links are accurate, up to date and relevant, we have no control over pages maintained by external providers. The views expressed by these external providers on their own web pages or on external sites they link to are not necessarily those of Gavekal.
The information listed on this blog is for example purposes only and should not be construed as the investment Advisor's opinion or investment outlook. As of the most recent quarter end, the named companies may have been held by the investment Advisor. Please review the most recent disclosures. For full information including additional policies and full disclosures on the Advisor, please visit our website gavekalcapital.com.