“Quality investing aims to target companies that demonstrate strong and persistent profitability, stability or growth in earnings, and a strong financial foundation. In times of market volatility spikes, quality factor strategies have historically behaved defensively, which may provide opportunities for strong outperformance,” Fiona Bassett, Global Co-Head of Passive Asset Management, said in a note. “Factor strategies have historically allowed investors to generate alpha and diversify their portfolios, while managing for downside risk. QARP is designed to provide investors exposure to quality companies at a reasonable price.”
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QARP sector weights include information technology 25.8%, industrials 17.0%, healthcare 16.0%, consumer discretionary 15.6%, consumer staples 9.3%, financials 4.4%, telecom services 3.7%, energy 2.6%, materials 2.5% and real estate 2.3%.
Top component holdings include Apple 5.0%, Boeing 3.7%, Johnson & Johnson 3.7%, Intel Corp 2.5% and Wal-Mart 2.3.%.
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