How do you protect yourself in a tough market?
Investors looking for safe havens have experienced seismic shifts as former investment favorites morph into money losers. At home, the previously hot energy and mining sectors have suffered huge corrections. Around the world, markets have staggered, with the Russian stock market declining so precipitously that it had to close for a couple of days last week. Even money market mutual funds, the safest investment after cash and short-term Treasury securities, had their bubble burst when the Reserve Primary Fund (RFIXX) broke the buck.
With the foundations of many investments teetering, investors can’t be blamed for seeking safety. Sectors that are traditionally identified as safe havens in uncertain times, such as health care and consumer staples, are worth looking at. Although the returns of these sectors have fared better than the overall market, there are clearly some significant differences between them.
Consumer staples
ETFs like the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) and the Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (VDC) hold stocks of companies within the consumer staples sector. The indexes the funds track include consumer products companies that fare well in difficult economic times, such as food and drug retailing, beverages, food products, tobacco, household products, and personal products.
The Vanguard and SPDR funds are the two largest consumer staples ETFs and have similar expense ratios between 0.2% and 0.25%. Furthermore, these funds hold similar portfolios of large-cap U.S. stocks, with Wal-Mart
Health care
Within the health-care sector, the PowerShares Dynamic Pharmaceuticals Portfolio (PJP) and the SPDR S&P Pharmaceutical ETF (XPH) both track indexes of pharmaceutical companies, such as Johnson & Johnson
Fund facts
|
Fund |
Return YTD |
Expense Ratio |
Assets |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Consumer Staples SPDR |
(1.2%) |
0.23% |
$2.4 billion |
|
Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF |
(1.6%) |
0.22% |
$536 million |
|
PowerShares Dynamic Pharmaceuticals |
(1.6%) |
0.63% |
$150 million |
|
SPDR S&P Pharmaceutical ETF |
(1.8%) |
0.35% |
$19 million |
Source: Morningstar.
Fund prospects and risks
The argument for these sectors is pretty straightforward. Even though consumers can cut back on some consumer goods, the products made by companies within the consumer staples sector include basic necessities that most people don't cut back on even during economic downturns.
Similarly, the need for medical care doesn't go away when money is tight, and the industry makes products that are necessary for many consumers. Although some treatment and medications can be delayed, many are not optional. Demographics are often cited as creating a strong headwind for pharma, with baby boomers clearly at an age when they are heavy health-care consumers. The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most profitable businesses and is distinguished by high profit margins and patent protection, which can protect a company’s earnings for years. However, the industry is subject to a thicket of laws and regulations that can impede new drugs from coming on line and reduce earnings.
Portfolio fit?
With Wall Street giants falling like leaves in a drought and stock markets around the world turning in depressing performance numbers, there are solid reasons for seeking safe harbors. However, the sectors highlighted are no panacea for the fears roiling the markets. The funds which track these sectors are highly concentrated, so they should be sprinkled only lightly in most portfolios. The sectors do not all perform equally well, and it would be foolish for investors to blindly plunge into these areas without comparing available options.
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