Top 2019 Stock Picker Spotted Under-the-Radar Tech
Semiconductor companies and clean energy, not the Big 5, made returns soar at the best-performing U.S. mutual fund.
Secret sauce.
Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/BloombergTechnology ruled the best stock market in six years as investors focused on five giant companies that also dominated the decade in equity. Apple Inc., Microsoft Inc., Facebook Inc., Alphabet Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. accounted for more than a fifth of the 31.49% total 2019 return for the S&P 500, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
An investor who placed big bets on that Big Five last year would have done very nicely. But the best stock picker of 2019 took a more nuanced approach. He is Paul H. Wick, manager of the Columbia Seligman Communications and Information Fund since 1990, and his success owed the most to investments in less-heralded semiconductor makers and more than a handful of firms committed to energy without fossil fuel. His choices and timely trading enabled the 56-year-old Menlo Park, California money manager to produce a 54% total return (income plus appreciation), according to data compiled by Bloomberg.