Longtime portfolio managers making up a roundtable assembled by Ariel Investments LLC expressed disappointment that the stock market downturn following Donald J. Trump’s victory was short-lived before a rebound the day after the presidential election, leaving little time for the bargain buying opportunities they had expected.
“This morning, I was somewhat disappointed the market didn’t collapse … when I got in,” said Robert S. Bacarella, chairman and president of Monetta Financial Services Inc., Wheaton, Ill., at the panel discussion Nov. 9 in Chicago. “By the end of the day, the (Dow Jones industrial average) was up 200 points.”
John W. Carey, executive vice president of Pioneer Investment Management USA Inc., the Boston-based unit of UniCredit SpA, Milan, said: “That was one of the most fleeting opportunities to buy stocks at a bargain I’ve ever seen.”
John W. Rogers Jr., Chicago-based Ariel chairman, CEO and chief investment officer, said, “We had this opinion that there could be a significant downturn. … So we prepared for it. Our thinking was we’d be coming in today (to work) having a chance to buy bargains and buy wonderful companies that would be on sale because of the temporary downturn in the marketplace.”
The discussion by four panelists, brought together because they have been portfolio managers of their flagship mutual funds for 30 years, drew an audience of some 250, including asset owners, investment consultants and other investment managers.