American Capital Management is dedicated to helping our clients achieve their goals through investing in a disciplined growth strategy.
Learn MoreAmerican Capital Management, Inc. (ACM) is a boutique investment management firm, founded in 1980, with over $3.4 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2020. We believe our firm and investment approach are unique relative to most investment management organizations. We invest for growth, focusing on active management of innovative quality small and medium-sized companies — the most rapidly growing sector of the economy. The firm is a registered investment advisor with the SEC.
Subject Matter Experts in growth investing.
We invest in businesses with an understanding that market fluctuations are a normal part of asset management.
Management can influence revenues whereas market cap is a product of market opinion. This aligns with ACM’s long-term perspective.
Dedicating time and attention where it is most valuable.
An investment process that yields results.
Carefully researched, strong businesses are their own best tools to manage risk within a portfolio.
We consider ourselves owners of businesses and make decisions with a long-term investment horizon.
Focusing on innovative small and medium-sized growth companies enables us to hold our positions for an extended period of time. This has resulted in higher returns, lower turnover, and greater tax efficiency for taxable investors.
The strategy emphasizes revenue instead of market capitalization to evaluate size.
All members of the investment team are generalists, as we believe this produces the best framework for informed opinions and productive dialogue.
The “art of investing” is one’s ability to distinguish between potential returns, the chatter of concern and potential danger. There is always something to worry about and some worries are realized for unforeseen reasons. In retrospect, last winter’s fear was “the age of the expansion” and a potential recession as the pandemic fear was not yet prevalent. Ironically, the longest U.S. economic expansion since 1854 ended in April followed by the deepest and shortest recession in modern times. We did experience the feared recession, but for unforeseen reasons. Surprisingly, the stock market’s performance during this pandemic and recession has been an unexpected positive. This outcome reinforces a key principle of equity investing: “Time in the market is more important than timing the market.” It is most difficult to accurately forecast stock prices. The future trend rewards those with patience and confounds those in doubt.
What can we expect in 2021 given the strong advance in stock prices? We are likely to experience a favorable environment for equity investors, but with higher than usual volatility. The market’s strength will be supported by above-average growth in GDP, corporate sales and earnings. However, a portion of the economic rebound will be related to deferred demand caused by the pandemic. Low inflation and interest rates combined with above-average earnings growth are fundamentally underpinning the investment environment. But the recent rise in market momentum and higher valuations create more risk. A summary of index returns for the year ending December 31, 2020 is as follows:
Dow Jones Industrials – 9.0% Russell 2500 20.0%
MSCI EAFE +8.5% S&P 500 +17.6%
NASDAQ Composite +44.7% Wilshire 5000 +22.2%
American Capital Management, Inc.
575 Lexington Avenue
30th Floor
New York, NY 10022
TEL: 212-344-3300
FAX: 212-658-9693
info@amcapmgt.com