If you invest in stocks for the long term, you must own small caps.
There, I said it. But come to think of it, that's not personal investment advice. That's Wall Street's worst-kept secret: Over the long haul, small-company stocks outperform, so smart investors own them. Period.
Only what you need
I'll back that up with some hard data, but first, let's talk about you. You are serious about this; otherwise, you wouldn't still be reading. You also want an edge -- a secret -- that will help you do better over the long haul. We all do.
So why make this harder than it needs to be? Investors who make the most over the long term hold common stocks. At least they have since Ibbotson Associates started keeping tabs back in 1926. Investors who make even more hold small caps -- at least they have so far, also according to Ibbotson.
Sticking with our "simple" theme, here's how I see it. You can buy a proven small-cap fund that keeps its costs in check (though the good ones are as hard to get into as a decent preschool). Or you can ...
- Buy one of a growing number of small-cap exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
- Take your chances on a small-cap mutual fund that's open for business.
- Seek out -- with or without the help of a trusted advisor -- the very best small companies and build a small-cap portfolio of your own.
You're a Fool ...
... and so am I. So you'd think we'd favor the do-it-yourself approach. Well, sort of. I own my fair share of small caps. But I also have the occasional cup of joe with Motley Fool co-founder Tom Gardner, who digs up small caps for subscribers to his Motley Fool Hidden Gems small-cap advisory service -- and he never shuts up about it.
And you know what? For better or for worse, Tom's more disciplined, more strict value approach has built a portfolio of small caps I wouldn't have found on my own. One that -- gun to my head -- I would swap straight up for mine. There, I said it again.
For all that, Tom and I look for many of the same things in a great small company. It's what the all-time great value investors have always looked for. For more on this, check out my mild rant, "How to Beat a Choppy Market." But here's the short list for now:
- Solid management with significant stakes.
- Great, sustainable businesses.
- Dominant positions in niche markets.
- Sterling balance sheets.
- Strong free cash flow.
Good work if you can get it
I know what you're thinking: Who wouldn't want a portfolio filled with stocks like that? And you're right. That's precisely the problem with trying to beat the pros with well-known, large-cap stocks -- if they're really all that, they're going to cost you. How much? An efficient market theorist would say "just enough." I'd argue, too much.
So what are you going to do? Take a chance on some fly-by-night outfit? Good point. But notice in the previous paragraph I said well-known stocks -- not companies. There's a difference. I heard the ticker for eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) barked over the squawk box long before I auctioned off my Fool golf bag (oops). Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), by contrast, was a verb before you could by a single share.
Or how about consumer dynamos such as Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) and Blockbuster (NYSE:BBI)? Everybody owns them, eventually. But in many cases, you shop there for years before you even think to buy their stocks. So do the Wall Street "pros." That's why there is always a new crop of established, profitable companies with lesser-known stocks.
Some of these you will have heard of; some you may not have -- yet. Some even dominate their markets. Peter Lynch was a master at finding these stealth bombers, which is how he earned his Fidelity Magellan fundholders nearly 30% year after year. With a little work, you can do it, too.
Yes, you can -- here's how I know
I stumbled upon Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HDI) the stock after having seen (and heard!) the bikes for years. Analysts are endlessly banging the table on the teen retailers, it seems, but former small-cap rockets like American Eagle (NASDAQ:AEOS) were right there at the mall for all of us to see, just as Gap (NYSE:GPS) was there to make a fortune for Lynch a decade before.
There are exceptions, but usually it takes years for a stock to cross the big boys' radar. And when it does, it usually hogs the radar screen long after it should have blipped off. That gives us a great advantage as small investors. We can find these Wall Street darlings and buy them before the big money drives them to the stratosphere.
Fortunately, you can take your time
Back in September 2003, I suggested you get the ball rolling with a hard look at a pair of small-cap ETFs. I'd bought the iShares S&P 600 Growth Index (IJT) myself at about $65 earlier in the year and was thrilled with my returns. I pledged to buy the sister fund, iShares S&P 600 Value Index (IJS), next -- a promise I thankfully kept.
A little over two years later, the growth fund is up another 50%. The value fund has fared even better. I don't bring this up to brag but to make two points: First, all who said that the small-cap rally was over back in September 2003 were flat-out wrong. (My hunch is there are even more saying it now -- and that they're still wrong.)
More importantly, these funds offer you instant small-cap exposure without the risk of taking the plunge on a few individual companies. The strategy of holding these funds and then shifting into Tom Gardner's Hidden Gems at your leisure strikes me as sound -- as does keeping the funds as a means of diversifying your small-cap exposure. (I'll probably never sell mine.)
Buy the numbers
Earlier, I promised you numbers. According to Ibbotson, since 1926, small-cap stocks have delivered annual returns of 12.4%. That's compared with 10.7% for large caps. Put another way, $5,000 invested in small-cap stocks would grow into about $52,000 over the course of 20 years. Imagine if you'd been adding to your position along the way.
In periods when small caps do outperform, they seriously outperform, and they tend to do so for periods lasting -- depending on whom you ask -- from five to seven to 10 years or more. Frankly, I don't think this small-cap run is over. Either way, it's axiomatic: Today's giants sprouted from well-run small companies, taking smart investors along for a swell ride. So will tomorrow's.
What to do now
In my previous column, I promised to keep you posted on Hidden Gems' performance. As of Dec. 2, 2005, the recommendations were up, on average, 32.7%. That's compared with 12.6% if you'd invested in the S&P 500 for the same period. For context, that's more than 50 picks over two years -- and, I confess, it's better than I have done myself.
Need convincing? You can learn all about Tom Gardner's approach to beating the market with small-cap value the easy way. Tom is offering a special free trial to his Motley Fool Hidden Gems advisory service. You can take it up directly with him online and even sneak a peek at all of his back issues and picks. Simply click here to check it out.
This article was originally published on Jan. 7, 2005. It has been updated.
Fool writer Paul Elliott owns none of the stocks mentioned. Gap, eBay, and Best Buy are Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendations. You can check out all of Tom's picks with your free trial -- right on the Hidden Gemsscorecard. The Motley Fool has a fulldisclosure policy.
