Growth investing is a
style
Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to:
* Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable
* Design, the process of creating something
* Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...
of
investment strategy In finance, an investment strategy is a set of rules, behaviors or procedures, designed to guide an investor's selection of an investment portfolio. Individuals have different profit objectives, and their individual skills make different tactics a ...
focused on
capital appreciation
Capital appreciation is an increase in the price or value of assets. It may refer to appreciation of company stocks or bonds held by an investor, an increase in land valuation, or other upward revaluation of fixed assets.
Capital appreciation m ...
. Those who follow this style, known as ''growth investors'', invest in companies that exhibit signs of above-average growth, even if the
share price appears expensive in terms of metrics such as
price-to-earnings or
price-to-book ratios. In typical usage, the term "growth investing" contrasts with the strategy known as
value investing
Value investing is an investment paradigm that involves buying securities that appear underpriced by some form of fundamental analysis. The various forms of value investing derive from the investment philosophy first taught by Benjamin Graham ...
.
However, some notable investors such as
Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net w ...
have stated that there is no theoretical difference between the concepts of value and growth ("''Growth and Value Investing are joined at the hip''"), as growth is always a component in the calculation of value, constituting a variable whose importance can range from negligible to enormous and whose impact can be negative as well as positive.
Buffett has recognized the influence of his business partner
Charlie Munger
Charles Thomas Munger (born January 1, 1924) is an American billionaire investor, businessman, and former real estate attorney. He is vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate controlled by Warren Buffett; Buffett has described Mung ...
on this view, which is best expressed by the famous Buffett saying ''"It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price"''.
Thomas Rowe Price, Jr. has been called "the father of growth investing" because of his work defining and promoting growth investing through his company
T. Rowe Price
T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. is an American publicly owned global investment management firm that offers funds, subadvisory services, separate account management, and retirement plans and services for individuals, institutions, and financial inter ...
, which he founded in 1937 and is now a publicly traded multinational investment firm.
Also influential in shaping this investment style was
Phil Fisher, whose 1958 book ''"Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits"'' is still today a reference for identifying growth companies.
What makes it growth investing
In contrast to value investing, growth investing is when the investor chooses a company that has yet to reach its full potential to invest in. This type of investing requires the investor to do a lot of research to find companies that have the potential to grow rapidly and compete with other, often larger companies within its given field. Instead of investing in an already established company, the investor takes a higher risk in hopes that the company grows and makes them money.
Growth companies
In finance, a growth stock is a stock of a company that generates substantial and sustainable positive cash flow and whose revenues and earnings are expected to increase at a faster rate than the average company within the same industry. A growth c ...
are companies that have the potential to grow at a rate that is higher than the market average. Larger companies typically pay dividends to their stockholders, but growth companies will often reinvest their earnings in effort to grow the company. These companies are becoming more popular to invest in because they show great potential. This potential typically roots from the company offering a unique or advanced product that is ahead of their competitor’s products.
Growth at reasonable price
"Growth at a reasonable price" is a strategy that blends aspects of growth and value investing. Investors seeking growth at a reasonable price look for stocks that they believe will deliver above-average growth, but that are not too expensive.
After the bursting of the
dotcom bubble
The dot-com bubble (dot-com boom, tech bubble, or the Internet bubble) was a stock market bubble in the late 1990s, a period of massive growth in the use and adoption of the Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system ...
, "growth at any price" has fallen from favor. Attaching a high price to a security in the hope of high growth may be risky, since if the growth rate fails to live up to expectations, the price of the security can plummet. It is often more fashionable now to seek out stocks with high growth rates that are trading at reasonable valuations.
Growth investment vehicles
There are many ways to execute a growth investment strategy.
Some of these include:
*
Emerging market
An emerging market (or an emerging country or an emerging economy) is a market that has some characteristics of a developed market, but does not fully meet its standards. This includes markets that may become developed markets in the future or were ...
s
* Recovery shares
*
Blue chips
''Blue Chips'' is a 1994 American sports drama film, directed by William Friedkin, written by Ron Shelton and starring Nick Nolte as a college coach trying to recruit a winning team. His players were portrayed by actors as well as real-life baske ...
* Internet and technology stock
* Smaller companies
* Special situations
See also
*
Value investing
Value investing is an investment paradigm that involves buying securities that appear underpriced by some form of fundamental analysis. The various forms of value investing derive from the investment philosophy first taught by Benjamin Graham ...
*
Quality investing
*
Philip Arthur Fisher
__NOTOC__
Philip Arthur Fisher (September 8, 1907 – March 11, 2004) was an American stock investor best known as the author of ''Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits'', a guide to investing that has remained in print since it was first published i ...
and
Kenneth L. Fisher
*
David Dodd
David LeFevre Dodd (August 23, 1895 – September 18, 1988) was an American educator, financial analyst, author, economist, and investor. In his student years, Dodd was a ' and colleague of Benjamin Graham at Columbia Business School.
The Wall ...
*
Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net w ...
*
Growth stock
In finance, a growth stock is a stock of a company that generates substantial and sustainable positive cash flow and whose revenues and earnings are expected to increase at a faster rate than the average company within the same industry. A growth c ...
*
Magic formula investing
References
External links
Growth Investwebsite
{{Investment-management
Stock market
Investment