But there are plenty of arguments that we’re in the midst of a bear-market rally and that more volatility lies ahead, especially for the rapidly growing, but not necessarily profitable, technology stocks that performed so well during the previous bull market through late 2021.
The fund has a low-turnover approach, currently holds 26 stocks and has a four-star rating, the second-highest, from Morningstar. The Nasdaq has rallied 23% from its 2022 closing low on June 16 and it is now down 17% for the year. The Nasdaq-100 Index NDX, -1.95% — which includes the 100 largest nonfinancial stocks in the full Nasdaq — is also down 17% this year. But even after its own 22% rally since June 16, 23 of the Nasdaq-100 are still down between 30% and 59% for 2022.
“When we were in a zero-interest-rate environment, the acceptance of risk was much higher. Capital was cheap and companies that were not expected to become profitable for a while were acceptable,” Stimpson said. Here’s a comparison of the fund’s total return to those of the Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ, -1.95% and the SPDR S&P 500 Trust SPY, -1.34% over the past five years: