ClearBridge Investments, an investment management firm, published its “Sustainability Leaders Strategy” first quarter 2021 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. The ClearBridge Sustainability Leaders Strategy underperformed its Russell 3000 Index benchmark during the first quarter. On an absolute basis, the Strategy had gains in five of 10 sectors in which it was invested (out of 11 sectors total). You can view the fund’s top 5 holdings to have a peek at their top bets for 2021.
ClearBridge Investments, in its Q1 2021 investor letter, mentioned Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC), and shared their insights on the company. Bank of America Corporation is a Charlotte, North Carolina-based financial services company that currently has a $367.7billion market capitalization. Since the beginning of the year, BAC delivered a 41.78% return, while its 12-month gains are up by 52.88%. As of June 03, 2021, the stock closed at $43.25 per share.
Here is what ClearBridge Investments has to say about Bank of America Corporation in its Q1 2021 investor letter:
“Higher long-term interest rates supported financials such as Bank of America, which has shown both defensive and offensive characteristics in the past year. We believe it continues to be the least risky large bank from a credit standpoint, with conservative underwriting and controlled risk taking, a leading consumer deposit franchise, scale and technology. It is also a leader in its commitments to sustainability, or as it terms it, responsible growth. Disclosure and reporting at all levels form a large part of this commitment, including gender diversity and equality, environmental commitments and support of communities in which it operates. In the first quarter Bank of America announced it is setting a goal of net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in its supply chain and operations, and notably also in its financing activities, before 2050.”
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Our calculations show that Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) ranks 24th in our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As of the end of the first quarter of 2021, Bank of America Corporation was in 97 hedge fund portfolios, compared to 99 funds in the fourth quarter of 2020. BAC delivered a 16.44% 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.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
