Page 82 - Accelerating out of the Great Recession

THE NEW REALITIES

position—even if it requires lowering EPS guidance over
the next few quarters. As one investor put it, “This is a
unique time in history to gain share and keep it.”
View the downturn as an opportunity. Investors worry that
well-positioned companies are not being aggressive
enough in pursuing the opportunities available to them.
Eighty-four percent of respondents to our survey agreed
with the statement that the Great Recession represented
a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” for some companies.
And nearly 40 percent wish that those companies would
be more active in seizing the moment. “Not enough com-
panies are recognizing that this environment is an oppor-
tunity to align your forces and use strategic positioning
and assets to better your position in the market,” said one
investor.
Adopt a value mind-set. Another shift in perspective concerns
the nature of investors’ priorities. Typically, different
investors have distinctive investment styles with different
priorities and preferences for growth, risk, the best uses
of cash, and the like. During the boom, for instance, it
mattered whether a company’s investor base consisted
mainly of growth investors, growth-at-reasonable-price
(GARP) investors, or value investors—because each
group had its own criteria for valuing a company, and
each was attracted to different types of companies and
different sectors of the economy.

If our survey is any indication, however, more and more
investors are shifting to a value mind-set. Thirty-six percent of
respondents said that they have become “more value-oriented”
(in contrast to just 4 percent who said they have become “more

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