Find visibility by investing in high-quality growth

Outlook 2023Find visibility by investing in high-quality growth

Navigating the equity market during periods of economic uncertainty can feel like walking in the dark. While you may carefully plan your next step to avoid tripping, you just can’t see what’s ahead. Many investors are seeking some type of growth for their portfolios, but finding it in today’s market can be difficult.

Focusing on quality measures is one way equity investors can find some predictability and earnings consistency, when uncertainty and market volatility are high.

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Senior portfolio managers Brad Klapmeyer and Kimberly Scott discuss strategies for finding high quality companies that may stand the test of time.

Focus on quality first

We believe companies exhibiting profitability, competitive advantages, and durable pricing power are best suited in this particular environment.

Profitability

Companies with thin profit margins are playing with fire in a world with rising interest rates and expectations for slowing economic activity.

Competitive advantages

Competition erodes profitability. Wide-moat companies have competitive advantages that can help protect their potential growth – not only for today but for the future.

Durable pricing power

Only the strongest businesses can consistently raise prices faster than their costs increase, without losing customers.

High quality outperforms over the long run

High-quality, profitable companies, as measured by return on assets (ROA), have proven to stand the test of time, through good periods and difficult ones, to provide competitive total returns with lower downside volatility.

Growth chart

Source: FactSet. Data as of September 30, 2022.

Turning insights into action

Investment solutions to consider

Delaware Ivy Large Cap Growth Fund (IYGIX)

Overall Morningstar ratingTM

Morningstar rating Morningstar rating Morningstar rating Morningstar rating Morningstar rating

Long-term focus of owning enduring business models over multi-year periods

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Delaware Ivy Mid Cap Growth Fund (IYMIX)

Overall Morningstar ratingTM

Morningstar rating Morningstar rating Morningstar rating Morningstar rating

Building a progressive portfolio of leading mid-cap growth companies while following a prudent approach

Learn more

Source: Morningstar. Data as of 9/30/2022 unless otherwise noted. Morningstar ranking is based on Morningstar risk-adjusted return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product's monthly excess performance. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Download Outlook paper Back to Outlook 2023

The views expressed represent the investment team’s assessment as of December 2022 and should not be considered a recommendation to buy, hold, or sell any security, and should not be relied on as research or investment advice.

Investing involves risk including the possible loss of principal.

Past performance does not guarantee future results.

All charts are for illustrative purposes only. Charts have been prepared by Macquarie Asset Management unless otherwise noted.

The “Growth of a $10,000 investment” graph assumes $10,000 invested in Institutional Class shares of the Fund on 9/30/2022. Performance assumes reinvestment of all distributions and does not account for taxes. Expense limitations were in effect for some or all of the periods shown. Performance would have been lower had expense limitations not been in effect.

© 2022 Morningstar. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

The Morningstar RatingTM for funds, or "star rating", is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life subaccounts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product's monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of products in each product category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The weights are: 100% three-year rating for 36-59 months of total returns, 60% five-year rating/40% three-year rating for 60-119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% five-year rating/20% three-year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the 10-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent three-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods.

All third-party marks cited are the property of their respective owners.

For financial professional use only. Not for use with the general public.

© 2023 Macquarie Management Holdings, Inc.

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