"Tracking Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management Portfolio – Q2 2016 Update"
"Fisher’s US long portfolio value increased from $52.63B to $53.89B in Q2 2016.Amazon.com, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer Inc., Home Depot, and Visa Inc. are the largest five individual stock positions.Fisher has substantial stakes in several ETFs/ETNs and hundreds of very small positions. They together account for more than one-third of the 13F portfolio.This article is part of a series that provides an ongoing analysis of the changes made to Kenneth Fisher’s US stock portfolio on a quarterly basis. It is based on Fisher Asset Management’s regulatory  filed on 07/12/2016. Please visit our  article for an idea on his investment style and philosophy and  highlighting the fund’s moves in Q1 2016.This quarter, Fisher’s US long portfolio increased marginally from $52.63B to $53.89B. The number of holdings increased from 744 to 745. Significantly large positions increased from 61 to 62. The largest holding is Amazon.com at 2.78% of the US long portfolio. The five largest individual stock positions are Amazon.com, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer Inc., Home Depot, and Visa Inc. They together account for ~13% of the overall US long portfolio.To know more about Ken Fisher, check-out his  (most notably in Behavioral Finance),  (several of them were NY Times best sellers) and his father Philip Fisher’s scuttlebutt investment philosophy explained in the book “”.Note: Fisher manages ~24,000 private client accounts & over 100 institutional accounts. Each such portfolio is personalized to client requirements and beating the S&P is not the focus for many of them. "13F Portfolio performance" which would be the performance of the sum total of all such monies in 13F securities is an unknown. We do know that Ken Fisher is very talented and can consistently generate alpha - his Forbes picks are his most visible performance cues and those have outperformed the S&P 500 in the vast majority of years - last three years however has underperformed.Stake Increases:Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) and Dr. Reddy’s (RDY):  WMT & RDY are small (less than ~1% of the portfolio each) positions that saw significant increases this quarter. The 0.53% RDY stake was increased by ~10% at prices between $41.90 and $51.23 while the 0.68% stake in WMT was mostly purchased this quarter at prices between $63.15 and $73.02. RDY and WMT currently trades at $53.63 and $73.67 respectively. The previous significant activity in RDY was in Q1 2015 when there was a ~25% increase at prices between $50 and $57.Anheuser Busch Inbev SA ADR (BUD): BUD was a minutely small stake as of Q2 2015. In Q3 2015, the stake was increased to a ~1% of the portfolio position at prices between $104 and $129. The stock currently trades at $125. Last quarter saw a ~9% increase at prices between $111 and $127 while this quarter saw a marginal further increase.Note: AB Inbev is merging with SABMiller (SBMRY): EU approved the merger in May and US antitrust approval is expected shortly.Bank of America (BAC): BAC is a 1.06% of the US long portfolio stake. The original position was established in Q2 2013 and the following quarter at prices between $11.50 and $15 and had since been kept relatively steady. The stock currently trades at $13.66.Bayer AG ADR (BAYRY): BAYRY is a 0.93% of the US long portfolio position. The bulk of the current position was purchased in Q2 2014 at prices between $128 and $145. Q2 2015 saw a huge 84% increase at prices between $139 and $155. The stock currently trades well below their purchase price ranges at $104. For investors attempting to follow Fisher, BAYRY is a very good option to consider for further research. Last several quarters have seen only marginal activity.Note: In May, Bayer AG announced a merger proposal with Monsanto (MON) for $122 per share. The offer was raised last week to $125 per share but Monsanto’s stock price is at $103 reflecting skepticism about the deal going through.Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B): BRK.B is a 1.50% of the US long portfolio position. The last time a substantial stake build-up happened was in Q3 2013 at prices between $112 and $119 when the position was increased by ~55%. The stock currently trades at $146. It is a very long-term position. The last six quarters have seen minor increases.Chevron Inc. (CVX), HSBC plc (HSBC) and Siemens AG (SIEGY): These are significant positions (more than 0.5% of the US long portfolio) that were increased substantially last quarter. All three positions saw marginal increases this quarter as well. The 0.72% CVX stake was increased by ~30% last quarter at prices between $79 and $98 and the stock currently trades outside that range at $107. The 0.79% HSBC position was increased by ~13% at prices between $30.71 and $39.47 and the stock is now at $31.86. SIEGY is a 0.77% portfolio stake increased by ~45% last quarter at prices between $88 and $106 and stock currently trades at $105.Cisco Systems (CSCO): CSCO is another long-term holding that was first purchased in 2009. By 2012, the stake was at over 33M shares but was since reduced. Q2 2014 saw an about-turn as the position was increased by 6.7% at prices between $22.41 and $25. The activity has been marginal since. The stock currently trades at $29.82. The stake now stands at 15.5M shares (0.82% of the US long portfolio).Comcast Corporation (CMCSA): CMCSA is a 1.56% of the US long portfolio position. The original stake was established in 2012 at prices between $24 and $37. There has only been minor activity since. The stock currently trades at $66.88.CTrip.com International ADR (CTRP): CTRP is a 0.76% of the US long portfolio stake. The original position was increased by ~25% in Q3 2015 at prices between $30 and $40. Q4 2015 saw a huge ~120% increase at prices between $31 and $56. The stock currently trades at $43.08. Last two quarters have seen minor further increases.Note: The prices quoted above are adjusted for the 2-for-1 stock-split in December 2015.Walt Disney (DIS): DIS was a very small position in the portfolio till 2012 when over 8M shares were purchased at prices between $39 and $53. There has only been marginal activity since. The stock currently trades at $99.80. The position stands at 8.67M shares and the stake is at 1.61% of the US long portfolio.Alphabet Inc. previously Google Inc. (GOOG) (GOOGL): GOOG was a very small position that was built-up to a substantial 2% position in 2011 at prices between $242 and $301. The stock has more than doubled and currently trades at $720. The position stands at 1.95% of the US long portfolio.L Oreal Co. ADR (LRLCY): LRLCY was a very small position first purchased in 2008. It was built up to a significant ~1% stake in 2012 at prices between $20 and $28. The eight quarters from Q3 2013 to Q2 2015 saw a combined ~20% reduction at prices between $30 and $39. The stock currently trades at $38.44 and the remaining stake is at 0.70% of the US long portfolio. Last two quarters saw marginal increases.Oracle Corporation (ORCL): ORCL is a 0.87% of the US long portfolio position that has been in the portfolio since before the financial crisis. The original stake was reduced by around 50% in Q4 2013 at prices between $32 and $38. Q2 2014 saw a 6.7% increase at prices between $39 and $43 and since then the activity has been minor. The stock currently trades at $41.77. Last quarter saw marginal selling while this quarter saw a minor increase.Procter & Gamble (PG): PG is another long-term 1.29% of the US long portfolio position that has been in the portfolio since before the financial crisis. The original position was increased by just over 75% in 2012 at prices between $60 and $70 and has since been kept relatively steady. Last eight quarters have seen marginal buying. The stock currently trades at ~$86.Roche Holding Limited ADR (RHHBY): RHHBY was a minutely small 0.19% of the portfolio position as of Q1 2015. The following quarter saw a whopping ~400% increase at prices between $34.38 and $38.46. The stock currently trades below that range at $32.50 and the stake is now at 0.91% of the portfolio. Last four quarters have seen marginal increases.SAP AG ADR (SAP): SAP is a 0.91% of the US long portfolio position that was built-up over several quarters in 2012 at prices between $54 and $80. The stake has wavered since. Q4 2014 saw a ~6% reduction at prices between $64.14 and $72.16 while Q1 2015 saw a 4.5% increase at prices between $63.56 and $73.53. There were very minor increases in the last five quarters. The stock currently trades at $78.97.Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM): TSM is a very long-term 1.48% of the US long portfolio position. A large block was purchased in 2012 at prices between $12.50 and $16.50. The stake was reduced by ~50% in Q2 2013 at prices between $17 and $20. Last nine quarters have seen a combined ~70% increase at prices between $19 and $26. The stock currently trades at ~$27.UBS AG GRS (UBS): UBS is a 0.73 % of the US long portfolio position established in Q3 2013 at prices between $16.92 and $21.45. The original stake was reduced by around one-third in Q4 2013 at prices between $19.30 and $21.60. Q1 2014 saw an about-turn as the position was increased by ~37% at prices between $18.62 and $21.50 and the following quarter saw an additional 47% stake increase at prices between $18.32 and $21.15. In Q4 2014, the pattern reversed as the position was reduced by ~39%. Last six quarters have seen a combined ~26% increase at prices between $13 and $23. The stock currently trades near the low end of that range at $13.17.Citigroup Inc. (C), Coca Cola (KO), GlaxoSmithKline plc ADR (GSK), HDFC Bank (HDB), Infosys Ltd. (INFY), Intel Corporation (INTC), Microsoft Corporation (MSFT), Novartis A G ADR (NVS), PepsiCo Inc. (PEP), Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM), Sanofi ADR (SNY), Tata Motors (TTM), Daimler AG ADR (DDAIF), General Electric (GE), Merck Inc. (MRK), and Visa Inc. (V): These are significant positions (more than 0.5% of the US long portfolio) that were increased marginally (less than ~10% change in position size) this quarter. As the activities were very minor, they do not indicate a change in bias.Stake Decreases:Amazon.com (AMZN): AMZN is the largest individual stock position at 2.78% of the portfolio. The position is from 2011 and has tripled: the cost-basis is ~$200 compared to the current price of $735. This quarter saw a ~21% selling at prices between $586 and $728. Fisher is starting to harvest huge long term gains.American Express (AXP): AXP has been in the portfolio since 2012. The original stake was around 9M shares and the current stake is 11.73M shares. This quarter saw a marginal decrease and the position is at 1.35% of the US long portfolio.Apple Inc. (AAPL): AAPL is a fairly large 2.04% individual stock position that was built-up in 2012 at prices between $60 and $72. The original stake was increased by ~60% in Q2 2013 at prices between $59 and $65. Last six quarters saw marginal increases while this quarter saw a very minor reduction. The stock currently trades at $98.78.Exxon Mobil (XOM): XOM is a very long-term position. In 2008, just over 5M shares were purchased at prices between $62 and $95. Most of that position was eliminated in 2009 at prices between $66 and $82. The stake was built back up in 2011 at prices between $69 and $87. Q3 2015 saw a ~22% increase at prices between $68.71 and $83.14. Last quarter saw an about turn: ~16% reduction at prices between $73.18 and $84.53. The current position stands at 4.53M shares (0.79% of the US long portfolio) and the stock is at $95.12. There was marginal further selling this quarter.Home Depot (HD): HD is a top-five 2.12% of the US long portfolio position first purchased in 2012 at prices between $42 and $65. The stock has more than doubled and currently trades at $135. Last two quarters have seen marginal reductions.JP Morgan Chase (JPM): JPM is a 1.62% of the US long portfolio position. The bulk of the current stake was established in 2012 when almost 12M shares were purchased at prices between $32 and $46. The stock currently trades at $64.18 and the position is at 14M shares. The stake saw marginal buying in the last five quarters while this quarter saw a marginal reduction.Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): JNJ is a large top-three 2.47% of the portfolio position. Around two-thirds of the stake was purchased in 2008 at prices between $55 and $72 and most of the rest in 2011 at prices between $58 and $68. The last significant buying was in Q2 2014 when a 4.7% stake increase happened at prices between $96 and $106. Last few quarters had seen minor additional buying while this quarter saw a marginal reduction. The stock currently trades at $123.LVMH Moet Hennssy ADR (LVMUY): LVMUY was a 1.26% of the US long portfolio position as of Q3 2014. It was reduced by 22% in Q4 2014 at prices between $31.59 and $35.84. The following quarter saw a further ~43% reduction at prices between $34.59 and $38.18. Last quarter saw the pattern reverse: ~19% increase at prices between $29.26 and $35.31. The stock currently trades at $30.85. The original position is from 2008 with the bulk purchased in 2012 at prices between $27.62 and $37.24. This quarter saw marginal selling.Lloyds Banking Group plc ADR (LYG): LYG is a 0.45% of the US long portfolio position first purchased in Q4 2013 at prices between $4.67 and $5.36. The stake was increased by ~10% in Q1 2014 at prices between $5 and $5.76 and another two-thirds the following quarter at prices between $4.83 and $5.53. Q4 2014 saw a one-third reduction at prices between $4.64 and $5.04. The activity has been very minor since. The stock currently trades well below those ranges at $3.02. Last two quarters have seen marginal reductions.Novo-Nordisk A S ADR (NVO): NVO was first purchased in 2011 with the bulk purchased in 2012 at prices between $23 and $34. Last eight quarters have seen a combined ~20% reduction. The stock currently trades at $55.13 and the position is at 1.13% of the US long portfolio.Pfizer Inc. (PFE), Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB), United Technologies (UTX), and Wells Fargo (WFC): These are significant positions (more than 0.5% of the US long portfolio) that were decreased marginally (less than ~10% change in position size) this quarter. As the activities were very minor, they do not indicate a change in bias.The portfolio also has several large positions in different ETNs and ETFs (FEEU) (FIGY) (FBGX) (FLGE) (LQD) (MBB) (SCPB) - those together accounts for around 13% of the US long portfolio. Fisher also had large stakes in the following businesses per the latest 13G filings: Atlas Air (AAWW) - 4.9%, Heartland Payment Systems (HPY) - 3.3%, Wright Medical (WMGI) - 4.6%, and Veeco Instruments (VECO) - 4.5%.The spreadsheet below highlights changes to Fisher’s US stock holdings (only positions that are over 0.5% of the US long portfolio each are individually listed) in Q2 2016:13G’s during Q3 & Q4 2015: None.13G’s during Q1 2015: PMCS (1/30/2015 - 11.84M shares, 5.95%), RYL (1/30/2015 - 2.3M shares, 4.96%), VECO (1/30/2015 - 2.12M shares - 5.26%), WMGI (1/30/2015 - 2.35M shares - 4.6%), HPY (1/30/2015 - 1.84M shares - 5.05%), AAWW (1/30/2015 - 1.7M shares - 6.8%), OVTI (2/25/2015 - 0 - 0%)."