By most measures, it was a rough year for value investing. Long-only indexes tracking the buy-cheap credo suffered their second-worst performance on record versus their counterparts geared to growth.
The story of how a few sophisticated fund shops bucked the trend underscores the subtle dynamics beneath a blockbuster year for tech mega caps. Armed with the ability to go short, the firms won out thanks to sector and factor weightings that exposed them to a historic rebound in chips and internet shares. Also helping were gains in key markets outside the US.
