Be Boring. Make Money.™
Be Boring. Make Money.™ means ignoring fads and taking a long-term view of investing. It means sticking to a disciplined, bottom-up investment approach no matter the market outlook. And, it means putting the investment odds in our clients' favour by focusing on the things we can control.
In other words, we are benchmark agnostic, think probabilistically, and embrace uncertainty.
We seek business models with sustainable competitive advantages, regardless of industry or economic conditions. We believe that by consistently following our investment philosophy and process we can provide investors with above average, long-term, risk-adjusted returns.
Because we adhere to a single, well-defined investment philosophy and process, our efforts are focused. This shared common language better enables the exchange of information and ideas—this has the potential to enhance decision-making, increase resilience, and reduce risk.
The following three criteria form the foundation of our equity philosophy:
Wealth-Creating Companies
We look for companies that create wealth—companies that earn a return on capital greater than their cost of capital over time by virtue of a sustainable competitive advantage. These types of companies should be worth more every day; they make more efficient use of their capital, whether pursuing reinvestment or paying out distributions to shareholders.
Excellent Management
An excellent management team is an excellent allocator of capital—reinvesting in wealth-creating opportunities while expanding the company’s competitive moat. These teams have consistency in terms of saying what they are going to do, then doing it. They mitigate risk, provide their people with effective leadership, and make appropriate strategic decisions. A great manager will also navigate effectively through challenging times and often provide surprises on the upside.
Discount to Intrinsic Value
Once we have identified a wealth-creating company with excellent management, we seek to identify its intrinsic value, or the price an objective, well-informed person would pay for the company. This can turn a great company into a great investment.
Our discounted cash flow models produce probability distributions—not price targets—via Monte Carlo simulation, where the key drivers of a company’s intrinsic value are stochastic variables. This helps us to understand the range of potential outcomes, the probabilities of these outcomes within a level of confidence, and the margin of safety.
The following four criteria form the foundation of our fixed income philosophy:
Sector Allocation
We typically overweight corporates and provincials providing attractive yields relative to Government of Canada bonds.
Security Selection
We invest in attractively priced corporate securities based on in-house, bottom-up credit analysis.
Trading
We monitor global bond markets for mispriced securities. Strong dealer relationships ensure optimal trade execution.
Yield Curve Strategy
We position along points on the yield curve offering the most attractive return potential relative to the duration and other risks of a security.
