Last year was something of a tepid year on the share buyback front. S&P 500 member firms repurchased $115.6 billion of their
own shares in the third quarter, a 28 percent year-over-year decrease and good for the second consecutive quarterly decline,
according to FactSet.
PKW And Buybacks
That figure was also the smallest buyback total since the first quarter of 2013. Still, the PowerShares BuyBack Achievers
Fund (ETF)(NASDAQ: PKW), the largest exchange-traded fund
dedicated to a share buyback methodology, returned 12.9 percent last year, beating the 12 percent gained by the S&P 500. PKW
has outpaced the S&P 500 in five of the past eight years.
The $1.38 billion PKW, which turned 10 years old last month, follows the NASDAQ US BuyBack Achievers Index. That benchmark is
“is comprised of US securities issued by corporations that have effected a net reduction in shares outstanding of 5% or more in the
trailing 12 months,” according to PowerShares.
Methodology
PKW's index methodology can and does lead to sector weights that are often not comparable to those found in broader benchmarks
such as the Russell 1000 or S&P 500. For example, industrial and consumer discretionary names combine for about 48 percent of
the ETF's weight, but those sectors combine for just 22.6 percent of the S&P 500.
“At times the fund can make large sector bets. It currently has greater exposure to the consumer cyclical and industrials
sectors than the Russell 1000 Index and less exposure to consumer defensive, healthcare, and telecom. This tilt toward cyclical
sectors could hurt performance during a market downturn. However, so far the fund's downside performance and volatility have been
similar to the Russell 1000 Index,” said Morningstar in
a recent note.
The Strategy In Practice
In the third quarter, technology and financial services companies were the two biggest spenders on share buybacks with energy
and materials notching the largest year-over-year decreases, according to FactSet data. Technology and financials combine for about
a third of PKW's roster while energy and materials stocks represent less than 5 percent.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) remains the largest
S&P 500 member in terms of buying back its own shares, but because
the iPad maker currently is not reducing its shares outstanding total to meet the requirements for inclusion in PKW's index, the
stock is not one of the 234 found in the ETF's lineup. Boeing Co (NYSE: BA) is PKW's largest holding at a weight of just over 5 percent.
“Repurchasing activity can be lumpy because firms often use share-repurchase programs to distribute residual cash and are not
obligated to fully execute these programs. This can create high turnover, which reached 68 percent in the most recent fiscal year.
Mirroring its index, the fund weights its holdings by market capitalization but imposes a 5 percent cap to improve
diversification,” added Morningstar.
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