Morgan Stanley Overhauls Flagship Portfolio with Alphabet and Coca-Cola
Morgan Stanley's flagship buy-and-hold equity portfolio is getting an overhaul for 2027, and some big names are joining the list. Alphabet (GOOGL) and Coca-Cola (KO) have been added after a year in which the strategy crushed the broader market. The bank's 'Vintage Values' model portfolio returned 32.12% between Sept. 9, 2025, and Sept. 11, 2026, outperforming the S&P 500 by 1,316 basis points.
The refresh of the portfolio is designed to tilt heavily toward large-cap quality and growth, with roughly 60% of the selections landing in the top two quality tiers versus 56% for the benchmark index. To build the 2027 roster, Morgan Stanley's equity strategists asked North American analysts to submit their single highest-conviction pick for a one-year holding period.
Only three names, Amazon (AMZN), McKesson (MCK), and Visa (V), carried over from the 2026 portfolio, meaning 12 of the 15 slots went to fresh picks. Beyond Alphabet and Coca-Cola, the new additions include Apple (AAPL), software provider Dynatrace (DT), pharmaceutical leader Eli Lilly (LLY), real estate investment trust Equinix (EQIX), and energy infrastructure operator Williams Companies (WMB).
Michelle Weaver, Morgan Stanley's equity strategist, said that the 'Vintage Values 2027' has an 'anti-momentum' tilt, the stocks on the list are not simply stocks that have worked recently but rather ones our analysts have identified for their strong bottom-up drivers.'