It is another day at the office for Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL). Shares of the iPhone maker are up nearly 1% after earlier touching another all-time high.
That is good news for a plethora of ETFs that have exposure to Apple, exposure that has been growing alongside Apple’s market value. Some ETFs, including the Validea Market Legends ETF (NasdaqGM: VALX), are buying into Apple’s strength.
Validea Market Legends ETF, which debuted in December, is sponsored by Validea Capital Management, which manages nearly $670 million in assets. The actively managed ETF selects stocks “using Validea Capital’s proprietary investment system, which is based on our interpretation of the published investment strategies of Wall Street legends. In total, Validea Capital runs 17 different models and the Validea Market Legends ETF is comprised of 100 stocks using 10 distinct ‘guru’-based models that utilize a wide variety of investment styles, including value, growth, momentum and income,” according to the firm.
VALX’s managers recently sold holdings while adding 13, including Apple.
“Validea Capital runs models based on legendary investors. In total, we 17 fundamentally based models based on the approaches outlined by Buffett, Graham, Neff, Lynch and many others. These investors, who have proven track records of outperformance or have long term back tests behind their strategies,” said Validea partner Justin Carbonneau in an interview with ETF Trends when VALX debuted. [New ETF Tracks Legendary Investors, Strategies]
Although he is not an Apple shareholder, famed value investor Warren Buffett is the legend Validea links Apple to and the firm’s case for doing so is compelling.
“Validea’s Patient Investor strategy based on our interpretation of the published criteria of Warren Buffett with a score of 93%. The strategy looks for stocks with consistent long-term track records of earnings growth that also trade at reasonable valuations based on their future growth prospects,” said Validea in a note.
As Validea notes, Buffett embraces companies with wide competitive moats and predictable earnings, two labels that apply to Apple. Buffett also has a penchant for investing in cash-rich firms with strong balance sheets. With nearly $180 billion in cash, more than the market values of all but a small amount of S&P 500 member firms, Apple fits that bill as well. [Apple’s Ascent and Its ETF Impact]
Apple could pay of its debt with just two years worth of earnings, which is considered exceptional, according to Validea. On the basis of higher-than-average return on return on equity and return on total capital, Apple also would also pass the Buffett smell test, according to Validea.
“VALX is not beholden to any one strategy type; its 17 identifiable strategies are a mixture of value, growth and momentum strategies. VALX is also not hemmed in by market-cap restrictions; its holdings span the small-, mid-, and large-cap universes,” notes Charles Sizemore.
Validea Market Legends ETF
ETF Trends editorial team contributed to this post. Tom Lydon’s clients own shares of Apple.