By Brian Nelson, CFA
I was taken aback by a recent report from UBS that outlined “the top contributors to the S&P 500 from about two years ago to today.” In a simulated securities portfolio, the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio, of 18 ideas that also includes several ETFs, we’ve managed to hit the board 7 out of the 20, and 9 including Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX), the latter two we removed in March following their big runs last year.
Here were the top 20 contributors, with simulated Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio holdings highlighted in red (XOM and CVX are highlighted in green): Nvidia (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL), Eli Lilly (LLY), Broadcom (AVGO), Exxon Mobil, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B), Merck (MRK), Visa (V), General Electric (GE), Mastercard (MA), UnitedHealth Group (UNH), Linde (LIN), ConocoPhillips (COP), Chevron, Adobe (ADBE), Marathon Petroleum (MPC), Vertex Pharma (VRTX), Progressive (PGR), and Booking Holdings (BKNG).
The key takeaway here is that we’ve managed to hit the board in a big way on some of the strongest contributors of the S&P 500 the past two years with a simulated Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio of just 18 ideas (not 100, 200, for example), and several of the holdings in the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio are ETFs. Though there is a bias to these names being strong contributors due to their size, the hit rate is nonetheless remarkable, and something I wanted to share with you. Though the past two years have had their share of ups and downs, we’ve been in the right spots for quite some time, and it’s really starting to show.
Has anyone really done better than this? We hope you have benefited greatly!
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Brian Nelson owns shares in SPY, SCHG, QQQ, DIA, VOT, BITO, RSP, and IWM. Valuentum owns SPY, SCHG, QQQ, VOO, and DIA. Brian Nelson’s household owns shares in HON, DIS, HAS, NKE, DIA, QQQ, SCHG, and RSP. Some of the other securities written about in this article may be included in Valuentum’s simulated newsletter portfolios. Contact Valuentum for more information about its editorial policies.
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