Skip to main content
Log In
Alger
  • About Alger
    • Our History
      Our Investment Approach
      Investment Team
      Careers
      Commitment to Sustainability
      Commitment to Culture & Employees
      Charitable Giving
      We Remember
  • Strategies
    • Strategies Overview
      Asset Classes
      Vehicles
      Strategy Finder
      Large Cap
      Mid Cap
      Small/SMid Cap
      International
      Alternatives
      Specialty
      Focus
      Mutual Funds
      ETFs
      SMAs
      Institutional Separate Accounts
      UCITS
      Collective Investment Trusts
  • Insights
    • Insights
      Blogs
      Alger On the Money
      Alger On the Record
      Manager Commentary
      Capital Markets Outlook
      Retirement Solutions
      Viewpoints
      The Power of Focus
  • Newsroom
    Press ReleasesIn the News
  • Contact Us
AlgerOn theRecord
Explore InsightsExplore Insights Subscribe to EmailsSubscribe to Emails Share on Social Media

​Video: A History of Investing in Innovation

Brad Neuman's Photo

Brad Neuman, CFA;

Senior Vice President
Director of Market Strategy

​
​
​​
​
​​
Our philosophy of investing in Positive Dynamic Change has led us to become shareholders in some of history’s most dynamic companies. Marking the firm's 60th anniversary, Director of Market Strategy Brad Neuman discusses Alger's longstanding commitment to investing at the forefront of innovation.

BRAD NEUMAN: Investors familiar with Alger likely know of our deep focus on innovation and disruption, especially regarding modern transformational themes like artificial intelligence. What some may not know is that – as a Growth Investing Pioneer – Alger’s focus on innovation has been part of our process for 60 years. In fact, since 1964, our philosophy of investing in Positive Dynamic Change has led us to become shareholders in some of history’s most dynamic companies.

For example, in 1977, with our position in Intel, Alger became an investor in some of the earliest integrated circuits. Back then, Intel’s newest chip, the 8086, had 29,000 transistors. Today, Intel chips comprise about 10 billion transistors or over 340,000 times more than they did in 1977, and they are 99.8% smaller! This amazing progress is a reflection of Moore’s Law and a key driver in the global economy’s growth over the past half century — a massive wealth creation in which we have been fortunate to play a role.

Alger was also an early investor in Apple, owning the stock in 1984, the year in which it introduced the Macintosh computer and its famous 1984 Super Bowl ad. At that time, the stock traded for less than 15 cents on a split adjusted basis.

In addition to PC-related hardware stocks, Alger owned software stocks such as Microsoft as early as 1990 when the company’s net income was equivalent to what it makes in under 36 hours today, based on consensus estimates.

We also invested in early wireless networks, owning stock in McCaw cellular in 1989, the precursor to today’s AT&T Wireless. Back then, there were only 2 million U.S. wireless subscriptions versus over 370 million today.

In the 1990s, we owned some of the key Internet infrastructure companies such as America Online in 1996. In the 2000s, we owned some of the leading e-commerce and search providers, including eBay in 2000, Google in 2004 and Amazon.com in 2009. And in the 2010s, we owned social media companies such as Facebook in 2012 and payments companies such as Visa in 2013.

Of course, technology evolves, and innovation has also caused once great companies to become disrupted. 

For example, in 1969, we owned Memorex, which was producing disk drives and introducing its first consumer product line, magnetic tape cassettes. Memorex grew rapidly in the 1970s but began to falter in the 1990s as CDs, DVDs, and digital storage gained market share, ultimately disrupting the company. Similarly, we owned Polaroid in 1987 but its revenue stopped growing after 1990 and it filed for bankruptcy in 2001.

In our view, the lesson that history teaches is that technology is constantly evolving, and to be at the forefront of investing in innovation takes dedication, expertise, and hard work. 
Today, we are witnessing yet another massive innovation cycle built around artificial intelligence, which we believe will impact many different aspects of society. 

Having invested in decades of prior innovation, we believe Alger is well-positioned to identify and respond to whatever innovations lie ahead.​



Marking the firm's 60th anniversary, Director of Market Strategy Brad Neuman discusses Alger's longstanding commitment to investing at the forefront of innovation.

Recommended Insights for You:


​
The views expressed are the views of Fred Alger Management, LLC (FAM) and its affiliates as of October, 2024. These views are subject to change at any time and may not represent the views of all portfolio management teams. These views should not be interpreted as a guarantee of the future performance of the markets, any security or any funds managed by FAM. These views are not meant to provide investment advice and should not be considered a recommendation to purchase or sell securities. Holdings and sector allocations are subject to change. 

Risk Disclosures:  Investing in the stock market involves risks, including the potential loss of principal. Growth stocks may be more volatile than other stocks as their prices tend to be higher in relation to their companies’ earnings and may be more sensitive to market, political, and economic developments. Local, regional or global events such as environmental or natural disasters, war, terrorism, pandemics, outbreaks of infectious diseases and similar public health threats, recessions, or other events could have a significant impact on investments. Investing in companies of medium capitalizations involves the risk that such issuers may have limited product lines or financial resources, lack management depth, or have limited liquidity. A significant portion of assets may be invested in securities of companies in related sectors or industries, and may be similarly affected by economic, political, or market events and conditions and may be more vulnerable to unfavorable sector or industry developments. Investing in innovation is not without risk and there is no guarantee that investments in research and development will result in a company gaining market share or achieving enhanced revenue. Also, developing technologies to displace older technologies or create new markets may not in fact do so, and there may be sector specific risks as well. As is the case with any industry, there will be winners and losers that emerge and investors therefore need to conduct a significant amount of due diligence on individual companies to assess these risks and opportunities.  Companies involved in, or exposed to, AI-related businesses may have limited product lines, markets, financial resources, or personnel as they face intense competition and potentially rapid product obsolescence. These companies may be substantially exposed to the market and business risks of other industries or sectors and may be adversely affected by negative developments impacting those companies, industries, or sectors, as well as by loss or impairment of intellectual property rights or misappropriation of their technology. Companies that utilize AI could face reputational harm, competitive harm, and legal liability, and/or an adverse effect on business operations as content, analyses, or recommendations that AI applications produce may be deficient, inaccurate, biased, misleading or incomplete, may lead to errors, and may be used in negligent or criminal ways. Companies exploring new technologies may face regulatory, political or legal challenges that may adversely impact their competitive positioning and financial prospects. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.

Important Information for US Investors: This material must be accompanied by the most recent fund fact sheet(s) if used in connection with the sale of mutual fund and ETF shares. Fred Alger & Company, LLC serves as distributor of the Alger mutual funds.

Important Information for UK and EU Investors: This material is directed at investment professionals and qualified investors (as defined by MiFID/FCA regulations). It is for information purposes only and has been prepared and is made available for the benefit investors. This material does not constitute an offer or solicitation to any person in any jurisdiction in which it is not authorised or permitted, or to anyone who would be an unlawful recipient, and is only intended for use by original recipients and addressees. The original recipient is solely responsible for any actions in further distributing this material and should be satisfied in doing so that there is no breach of local legislation or regulation.

Certain products may be subject to restrictions with regard to certain persons or in certain countries under national regulations applicable to such persons or countries.
Alger Management, Ltd. (company house number 8634056, domiciled at 78 Brook Street, London W1K 5EF, UK) is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, for the distribution of regulated financial products and services. FAM, Weatherbie Capital, LLC, and/or Redwood Investments, LLC, U.S. registered investment advisors, serve as sub-portfolio manager to financial products distributed by Alger Management, Ltd.
Alger Group Holdings, LLC (parent company of FAM and Alger Management, Ltd.), FAM, and Fred Alger & Company, LLC are not an authorized persons for the purposes of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 of the United Kingdom (“FSMA”) and this material has not been approved by an authorized person for the purposes of Section 21(2)(b) of the FSMA.

Important information for Investors in Israel: Fred Alger Management, LLC is neither licensed nor insured under the Israeli Regulation of Investment Advice, of Investment Marketing, and of Portfolio Management Law, 1995 (the "Investment Advice Law"). This document is for information purposes only and should not be construed as an offering of Investment Advisory, Investment Marketing or Portfolio Management services (As defined in the Investment Advice Law). Services regulated under the Investment Advice Law are only available to investors that fall within the First Schedule of Investment Advice Law ("Qualified Clients"). It is hereby noted that with respect to Qualified Clients, Fred Alger Management, LLC is not obliged to comply with the following requirements of the Investment Advice Law: (1) ensuring the compatibility of service to the needs of client; (2) engaging in a written agreement with the client, the content of which is as described in section 13 of the Investment Advice Law; (3) providing the client with appropriate disclosure regarding all matters that are material to a proposed transaction or to the advice given; (4) a prohibition on preferring certain Securities or other Financial Assets; (5) providing disclosure about "extraordinary risks" entailed in a transaction (and obtaining the client's approval of such transactions, if applicable); (6) a prohibition on making Portfolio Management fees conditional upon profits or number of transactions; (7) maintaining records of advisory/discretionary actions. This document is directed at and intended for Qualified Clients only.

Alger pays compensation to third party marketers to sell various strategies to prospective investors. 

The following represents the noted percentages of firmwide assets under management as of July 31, 2024: Apple, Inc., 5.33%; Microsoft Corp, 9.87%; Meta Platforms, Inc., 4.28%; Visa, Inc., 1.41%; Amazon.com, Inc., 6.07%; Alphabet, Inc., 2.41%; Intel Corp, 0.0%; AT&T, Inc., 0.0%; AOL, 0.0%; Memorex Corp, 0.0%; Polaroid Corp, 0.0%; eBay, Inc., 0.0%.
 ​
Fred Alger & Company, LLC 100 Pearl Street, New York, NY 10004 / 800.223.3810  / www.alger.com
​



RecommendedContent Title

ABOUT ALGER

  • Our History
  • Our Investment Approach
  • Investment Team
  • Careers
  • Charitable Giving
  • We Remember
  • Documents & Forms
  • Fund Literature
  • FAQs

ESG

  • Commitment to Sustainability
  • Alger's Approach to ESG Investing and Oversight
  • Weatherbie’s Approach to ESG Investing and Oversight
  • Redwood's Approach to Responsible Investing
  • Commitment to Culture & Employees

ASSET CLASSES

  • Large Cap
  • Mid Cap
  • Small/SMid Cap
  • International
  • Alternatives
  • Specialty
  • Focus

VEHICLES

  • Mutual Funds
  • ETFs
  • SMAs
  • Institutional Separate Accounts
  • UCITS
  • Collective Investment Trusts

TOOLS

  • Strategy Finder
  • 10 Year Estimator
  • Quarterly Expense Estimator

INSIGHTS

  • Featured Insights
  • Capital Markets Outlook
  • Alger On the Money
  • Alger On the Record
  • The Alger Podcast
  • Search All Insights

NEWSROOM

  • Press Releases
  • In the News

LITERATURE

  • Mutual Funds
  • SMAs
  • Institutional Separate Accounts
  • UCITS

CONTACT US

  • All Inquiries

LEGAL NOTICES

  • Proxy Information
  • 2025 Dividends & Distribution Information
  • Sales Charges
  • Customer Relationship Summaries
  • UK Investor Report
  • Form ADVs
View Mobile Site

Copyright Alger All Rights Reserved Privacy Policy Business Continuity Terms and Conditions
youtube channel LinkedIn Instagram