Fiduciary Management Inc., an investment management firm, published its “International Equity” first quarter 2021 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. A return of 7.2% (currency hedged) was reported by the FMI International portfolios for the Q1 of 2021, compared to its MSCI EAFE benchmark that delivered a 7.59% return in local currency (LOC) and 3.48% in U.S. Dollars (USD) over the same period. You can view the fund’s top 5 holdings to have a peek at their top bets for 2021.
Fiduciary Management, in their Q1 2021 investor letter, mentioned Accenture plc (NYSE: ACN) and shared their insights on the company. Accenture plc is a Dublin, Ireland-based consulting and processing services provider that currently has a $181.4 billion market capitalization. Since the beginning of the year, ACN delivered a 9.26% return, extending its 12-month gains to 69.93%. As of April 14, 2021, the stock closed at $284.44 per share.
Here is what Fiduciary Management has to say about Accenture plc in their Q1 2021 investor letter:
“Even great companies can get too expensive. In early January, we sold our long-standing position in Accenture PLC after the company’s valuation exceeded 30 times next 12 months (NTM) earnings per share (EPS). We originally invested in Accenture at the launch of the FMI International strategy at a valuation below 15 times NTM EPS and held the stock for over ten years. We added to the holding numerous times in the early years, growing the position size to as high as 5.5% in late 2014, before dialing it back in recent years as the valuation became less compelling. It is one of the world’s largest information technology services firms, specializing in helping complex, global businesses navigate disruption, and focusing on next-generation services like digital, cloud, and security. For years, the investment allowed FMI to capture the inherently higher growth of technology-related industries (GDP+) without investing directly in pure “invention-oriented” technology companies. Through Accenture we were able to avoid some of the shortfalls of tech investing: technology obsolescence, short product cycles, and subpar return on invested capital (ROIC). It grew steadily, was solidly profitable, capital-light, and generated high returns, all while maintaining a rock-solid balance sheet. It compounded its business value for many years, outperforming the MSCI EAFE indices by over 450% during our holding period. Unfortunately, the market increasingly recognized the company’s positive attributes, and the stock’s discount to intrinsic value slowly evaporated. Despite our admiration for the business, it exceeded our valuation threshold. We will continue to follow the company closely for future opportunities.”
Our calculations show that Accenture plc (NYSE: ACN) does not belong in our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As of the end of the fourth quarter of 2020, Accenture plc was in 50 hedge fund portfolios, compared to 46 funds in the third quarter. ACN delivered an 11.92% return in the past 3 months.
The top 10 stocks among hedge funds returned 231.2% between 2015 and 2020, and outperformed the S&P 500 Index ETFs by more than 126 percentage points. We know it sounds unbelievable. You have been dismissing our articles about top hedge fund stocks mostly because you were fed biased information by other media outlets about hedge funds’ poor performance. You could have doubled the size of your nest egg by investing in the top hedge fund stocks instead of dumb S&P 500 ETFs. Here you can watch our video about the top 5 hedge fund stocks right now. All of these stocks had positive returns in 2020.
At Insider Monkey, we scour multiple sources to uncover the next great investment idea. For example, Federal Reserve has been creating trillions of dollars electronically to keep the interest rates near zero. We believe this will lead to inflation and boost real estate prices. So, we recommended this real estate stock to our monthly premium newsletter subscribers. We go through lists like the 15 best innovative stocks to buy to pick the next Tesla that will deliver a 10x return. Even though we recommend positions in only a tiny fraction of the companies we analyze, we check out as many stocks as we can. We read hedge fund investor letters and listen to stock pitches at hedge fund conferences. You can subscribe to our free daily newsletter on our website:
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
