Last Friday, the consumer price index signaled a new peak for inflation figures at 8.6%. The current economic headwinds are posing a mighty risk to all asset classes, and jittery retail investors have no safe place to park their funds. All eyes are on the outcome of today’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, which may lead to a 75 basis point hike in interest rates.
Meanwhile, some guidance from the who’s who of the financial world can help investors make reasonably sound decisions.
Today, in our “Expert Spotlight”, we will look at Boykin Curry, Managing Director, Deputy CIO, and Senior Research Analyst at Eagle Capital Management, LLC.
Curry was also a portfolio manager with Kingdom Capital and Morgan Stanley Asset Management. Curry has a degree in Economics from Yale University and also holds an M.B.A from Harvard Business School.
Our Expert’s Ranking on TipRanks
According to TipRanks’ Star Ranking System, Curry is ranked #7 out of 417 hedge funds tracked.
Since June 2013, Eagle Capital’s portfolio has gained a whopping 248.4% under Curry’s stewardship, beating the returns generated by the average hedge fund portfolio but falling slightly lower than the S&P 500’s (SPX) returns of 251.1% during the same period.
A majority of Eagle Capital’s investments are focused on the Technology sector (35.2%), followed by the Financial sector (22.1%). As of date, the Eagle Capital fund has $29.61 billion in assets under management.
On an annualized basis, Curry’s investment choices have generated a 24.34% average return over three years. However, due to the tumultuous market conditions, this return has turned negative lately, with the last 12 months averaging a loss of 19.50%.
Notably, Curry boasts a Sharpe ratio of 4.27, much higher than the average hedge fund manager’s ratio, which signifies that our expert’s calls typically generate higher returns compared to the risk involved. A hedge fund manager’s performance is measured based on the Sharpe ratio of the funds as it signifies the magnitude of returns generated on a risk-adjusted basis.
Curry’s Top Picks for 2022
Eagle Capital’s investment philosophy follows a fundamental, bottom-up research approach while identifying undervalued and inexpensive companies with long-term growth potential. The fund primarily invests in U.S. large-cap value stocks.
With this background in mind, let’s look at two of Curry’s top picks for 2022.
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)
Technology bigwig Microsoft remains Eagle Management’s top holding, with 9.92% of the overall portfolio, valued at $2.94 billion (9,528,912 shares). Curry initially started accumulating stock in 2004, with intermittent Buys.
Notably, with every upward swing in the MSFT share price, Curry has drawn a handsome profit by selling it. To give you a context of the massive gains, just over the last five years, MSFT stock has rallied 249.3%. However, year to date, the stock is down nearly 27% due to the broader tech sell-off.
Recently, with a Sell call on MSFT, Curry reduced the exposure to the stock by 2.94% at an average price of $304 per piece. Yet, MSFT is still the largest holding of the fund to date, followed by Alphabet (GOOGL) at 9.72% and Amazon.com (AMZN) at 7.22%.
Meta Platforms (META)
Next up is the social media giant and the forerunner in the metaverse space, Meta Platforms, which was popularly known by its previous ticker symbol, FB.
Notably, the five-star hedge fund manager bought 436,909 shares of META in March 2022 and increased his stake by 6.25%. After the increase, META stands at the number four spot (5.58%) in the top ten holdings of Eagle Capital, with total exposure valued at $1.65 billion (7,429,947 shares).
From the time when Curry started investing in META stock in the latter half of 2018, he has executed a mix of Buy and Sell calls on the stock. In the last five years, the META stock has gained 7.1%. However, so far this year, the stock is down 51.6%.
Ending Thoughts
Over the years, Curry’s investment choices have proven to generate attractive returns for investors. His recent recommendations on companies can be used as a guiding tool to make informative investment decisions.
Notably, TipRanks accumulates the recommendations of several Top Experts, which can be considered while making investment choices to maximize returns.
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