It's been a tough year for equity investors, as evidenced by the bear market. The widely-followed benchmark indexes, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite, are down 22% and 31%, respectively, from their recent highs.

Investors are concerned about inflationary pressures and the Federal Reserve's aggressive response using multiple interest rate hikes. However, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated the central bank's strict policy, saying, "we have got to get inflation behind us."

The Fed's interest rate increases could continue to wreak havoc on the stock market and keep it in bear market territory for a while longer. If that's the case, you'll want to own stocks in high-quality companies that can do well in any environment and generate strong cash flows. Three quality companies on my radar are Visa (NYSE: V), Kinsale Capital Group (NYSE: KNSL), and Progressive (NYSE: PGR).

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Source Fool.com