国泰海通｜金工：解码企业生命周期：股票投资的新范式探索

Core Viewpoint - The article systematically categorizes A-share listed companies into four lifecycle stages: startup, growth, maturity, and consolidation, based on cash flow, and constructs corresponding optimal portfolios for each stage, achieving annualized excess returns of 14.0%, 15.0%, and 19.5% relative to benchmark indices since 2016 [1][3]. Group 1: Lifecycle Stages Characteristics - Startup companies typically have smaller market capitalizations, unstable profitability, and low dividend yields, but invest heavily in R&D [1]. - Growth companies show improved profitability with a balanced exposure across various factors [1]. - Mature companies are characterized by large market capitalizations, stable profitability, high dividend payout ratios, and healthier capital structures with lower debt ratios [1]. - Consolidation companies experience reduced scale, poorer profitability, lower dividend yields, and higher leverage with significant debt repayment pressures [1]. Group 2: Performance and Risk Characteristics - The buy-and-hold combinations across different lifecycle stages exhibit varying risk-return profiles, with mature companies showing the most stability and highest cumulative returns over time [2]. - Growth stock portfolios perform closely to market indices, while startup and consolidation stock portfolios exhibit higher volatility and lower returns [2]. - Factor performance varies across lifecycle stages, with low volatility and low turnover rates performing best in the riskier startup and consolidation phases [2]. Group 3: Optimal Portfolio Construction - The company constructs optimal portfolios for each lifecycle stage considering investment logic, factor effectiveness, and correlations, with the mature portfolio demonstrating the highest stability and an annualized return of 16.9% since 2016 [2]. - The mature portfolio has shown positive excess returns relative to common broad indices like the CSI All Share Index, CSI 300, and CSI 800 in most years, except for a 12% decline in 2018 [2].