Safe Yields screen breaks its losing streak

Truth be told, there is survivorship bias in the Investors’ Chronicle stock screens. In that sense, they are like many fund best-buy lists: those that went south are today simply cut, gone or forgotten.

One aspect of survivorship bias that draws less scrutiny is the way that seemingly excellent long-term track records are merely the product of a good start. Providing an “all-time” track record is used, a whirlwind post-debut trading period can flatter below-par returns for years to come.

It’s an accusation that could be levelled at our Safe Yields screen, which we launched in July 2011.