Although growth companies typically outperform when interest rates are falling, they haven't done too bad this year. The S&P 500 Growth index is up 17.5% year to date. In fact, the S&P 500 Quality Index is also up year to date, gaining 16% amid the Quality – Growth Investor Conference in London on Sept. 21.
At the conference, Michael Baron of Baron Capital noted that no one says they're targeting low-quality stocks. However, that term "quality" is subjective among investors, each potentially with their own specific list of characteristics that define a stock as a quality name.