According to Barron’s latest rankings, The World’s Most Respected Companies are companies whose shares have been strong performers. In fact, when it comes to calculating asset values, Wall Street is never at a loss. Investors pay up for respect, in part because respected companies tend to hold their value longer.

“Respected companies aren’t going to fall as far in the bad times, and they come back better,” says David Hartzell of Cornell Capital Management, a participant in the survey that helped produce Barron’s list.

In 2009’s roller coaster market, the top-ranked stocks generally experienced lower volatility and outperformed during the bear leg. And now, even after the market’s rally, the value of respect is still understood: For the most part, shares of the most respected companies are either above or not much below their bankruptcy levels, and have beaten the market since that crisis erupted. Indeed, Apple, which topped Barron’s list, is above its pre-crisis stock price.

It’s not uncommon to see a few changes at the top of the list’s annual rankings, and this year is no different. Johnson & Johnson, a perennial leader, slipped from No. 1 to No. 2, and Berkshire Hathaway dropped to fifth place from second. The ever-steady Procter & Gamble remained at No. 3, while IBM jumped 10 notches to fourth place.

Survey participants say respected companies have strong management, good governance, valuable products and services, and strong stock returns. They act ethically and treat their shareholders, customers, and employees well. And while some money managers name respect as the first cut in their investment process, others say respect is more often the result of a sound investment process.

For my part, respect answers the question ‘Is management going to be a good steward of the clients’ money?’ In my experience, I have seen that respect takes a long time to build and can quickly be destroyed.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about innovation in business