Analyzing Evermay Wealth Management's Q3 vs. Q4 2022 Holdings: Which Stocks Changed and Why?

Evermay Wealth Management LLC recently released their Q3 and Q4 2022 13F Holdings Comparison. For those unfamiliar, 13F filings are voluntary disclosures required from institutional asset managers with at least $100 million in assets under management. The fund is required to show its long positions (calls, puts options, and stocks) in US markets at the end of each quarter.

The latest comparison shows that the total value of their holdings increased from $1.32 billion in Q3 to $1.34 billion in Q4, representing a 1.5% increase. In this blog post, we'll take a closer look at which stocks the fund bought, sold, and held throughout both quarters and try to understand why.

JP Morgan Exchange Traded Fund (JPST) was the most significant change, dropping 21.6% from Q3 to Q4. The company decreased its holdings from 1,239,479 shares in Q3 to 969,602 shares in Q4. Could this be because JPST's yield has dropped significantly as interest rates continue to drop?

Other significant changes in holdings include a 62.2% increase in SPDR Series Trust (SPSM) and an 85.1% increase in Ishares Trust (IBTD). Was the management expecting the market to be bullish in the short term?

Despite the dip in performance of Apple Inc (AAPL), a drop of 9.8% from Q3 to Q4, Evermay Wealth Management chose to hold the stock, with holdings remaining unchanged at 75,462 shares. Was the management expecting Apple to perform better long-term?

This blog post has just highlighted a few significant changes, among the 49 positions listed in the 13F filings, and, of course, there could be many reasons for these changes in holdings. Still, it gives us an idea of how institutional asset managers make decisions based on the information they have and the outcome they expect.