Credit Suisse released a superb piece of research earlier this year on the great brands of tomorrow. CS found that a strong brand is a vastly underappreciated investment thesis. Most interesting, however, is that the strategy approach pays. According to their research the “brand company” index has outperformed the S&P 500 by 64 points since 1997:
“An underappreciated investment thesis. There are few true competitive advantages in modern industry: scale, proprietary technology, monopolies, and network externalities come to mind. We believe brand is an equally powerful and even more sustainable advantage, but one often ignored by financial markets owing to its intangible nature. Our research indicates that companies focused on brand building consistently generate outsized long-term growth, profitability, and returns. An equal-weighted stock index of companies that spend at least 2 percent of sales on marketing outperformed the S&P 500 by more than 400 basis points annually since 1997; the top quintile of these companies outperformed the market by an amazing 17 percent per year.”
This is an interesting study for several reasons, not the least of which is the global strength it pinpoints. This is a truly globally diversified portfolio. So what are the companies they currently consider “strong brands”? The list of 27 follows:
1. Alibaba
2. Amazon (AMZN)
3. Almarai
4. Apple (AAPL)
5. BIM
6. Capitec
7. China Merchants Bank
8. Comac
9. Enfamil (MJN)
10. Facebook
11. Hyundai
12. Indian Hotels
13. Julius Baer
14. Li Ning
15. Mahindra & Mahindra
16. MercadoLibre (MELI)
17. Mercedes-Benz
18. Polo Ralph Lauren (RL)
19. Sonova Holding
20. Swatch
21. Tiffany & Co. (TIF)
22. Tingyi
23. Trader Joes
24. Tsingtao Brewery
25. Under Armor (UA)
26. Uniqlo
27. Yakult Honsha
Source: Credit Suisse
Mr. Roche is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Discipline Funds.Discipline Funds is a low fee financial advisory firm with a focus on helping people be more disciplined with their finances.
He is also the author of Pragmatic Capitalism: What Every Investor Needs to Understand About Money and Finance, Understanding the Modern Monetary System and Understanding Modern Portfolio Construction.
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