Markets

Popular 'Dogs of the Dow' investing strategy fails in 2019

Key Points
  • The so-called "Dogs of the Dow" is a classic value investing strategy that simply calls for buying the 10 stocks with the highest dividend yield in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
  • It failed to beat the market this year.
  • Only two of the 10 names — Procter & Gamble and J.P. Morgan— outdid the S&P 500's 26% gain in 2019, and the average return for the group is 13.5%.
Twenty/20

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In a year where almost every investment worked, a popular stock-picking strategy disappointed investors.

The so-called "Dogs of the Dow," a classic value investing strategy that simply calls for buying the 10 stocks with the highest dividend yield in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, failed to beat the market this year. In fact, only one of the 10 names — Procter & Gamble and J.P. Morgan— outdid the S&P 500's 26% gain in 2019, and the average return for the group is 13.5%.

"The strong market returns this year proved tough to beat," Ann Larson, managing director of global quantitative research at AB Bernstein, said in a note on Friday. "The popular Dogs of the Dow year-end trading strategy failed to work in 2019."

This year's record-setting rally in stocks has been largely led by momentum stocks, leaving stable value names relatively unloved. Exxon Mobil, Cisco, Verizon and Chevron all posted single-digit returns, while Pfizer lost more than 12% this year, the worst-performer in the 30-stock index.

2019 could just be an unfortunate year for the Dogs of the Dow strategy as it actually has a strong track record. The strategy has outperformed the markets for the past four years straight and seven out of the last 10 years, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Here are the Dogs of the Dow for 2020: