U.S. Mid Cap Equities: Tech, Regional Banks, and Valuation | EP140
A look at the strategy a year on and why we think valuation should be more top of mind for investors.
The Art of Boring™ was created for curious and passionate investors. We share strategies, frameworks, and insights to help readers and listeners make better investment decisions. Our aim? To provide some bottom-up, long-term investing signal to cut through the short-term noise.
A look at the strategy a year on and why we think valuation should be more top of mind for investors.
How we approach finding new ideas in the widest investment universe.
Unpacking one of our key mental models around investing and managing risk.
Market drivers that stood out this quarter, where inflation is at, and an asset mix update.
Top highlights from the team’s recent research trips and a few business models we’re excited about.
A deep dive into key themes we’ve been focusing on, recent additions to the portfolio, and a few changes.
We need to understand where we are in the debt super cycle to inform our investment decision making.
Why management teams matter, energy companies rarely meet our investment criteria, and JPMorgan and State Street differ from many regional banks.
Recent AI breakthroughs are underscoring the power of the centaur model—humans + machines—creating something more potent than either model operating independently.
Why genuine knowledge building and the ability to learn effectively in investing is difficult, and how we try to work around those challenges.
The major themes of the quarter, where we are in the interest rate hike cycle, and our thoughts on the recent banking crisis.
This episode, we discuss our seven-point management assessment framework (with examples), our risk management approach, and overall thoughts on energy.
In our view, market participants systematically underestimate the importance of vulnerabilities while correspondingly overestimating the importance of triggers. Why?
A look at the strategy a year on and why we think valuation should be more top of mind for investors.
How we approach finding new ideas in the widest investment universe.
Unpacking one of our key mental models around investing and managing risk.
Market drivers that stood out this quarter, where inflation is at, and an asset mix update.
Top highlights from the team’s recent research trips and a few business models we’re excited about.
A deep dive into key themes we’ve been focusing on, recent additions to the portfolio, and a few changes.
We need to understand where we are in the debt super cycle to inform our investment decision making.
Why management teams matter, energy companies rarely meet our investment criteria, and JPMorgan and State Street differ from many regional banks.
Recent AI breakthroughs are underscoring the power of the centaur model—humans + machines—creating something more potent than either model operating independently.
Why genuine knowledge building and the ability to learn effectively in investing is difficult, and how we try to work around those challenges.
The major themes of the quarter, where we are in the interest rate hike cycle, and our thoughts on the recent banking crisis.
This episode, we discuss our seven-point management assessment framework (with examples), our risk management approach, and overall thoughts on energy.
In our view, market participants systematically underestimate the importance of vulnerabilities while correspondingly overestimating the importance of triggers. Why?
To be sure, there are many reasons a company may prefer to turn to private investors over more traditional public markets, but as more companies choose private funding when they need to raise capital, what are the implications for investors in public markets?
Last week, Morningstar interviewed international equity portfolio manager David Ragan about finding resilient stocks in international markets during turbulent times.
How can a business continue to grow while still retaining the internal characteristics that helped contribute to its past success?
Canadian insurance companies are no longer just in the business of selling insurance to Canadians. They function more like financial conglomerates, and that, for investors, is potentially a good thing.
Given how often “defensive” enters into the investing lexicon and that it can mean different things to different people, aiming for a greater degree of precision in its definition may help to reduce misunderstanding or generalized historical bias.
In theory, investors should improve at least linearly over time as they make and learn from errors. But in practice, there seems to be little evidence of this (only few active managers beat the market over longer time periods).
Italy has been the source of drama in recent weeks, and it hasn’t all been about men racing bicycles in spandex.
These 15 questions are by no means exhaustive—they are not intended to be—but they serve as a helpful checklist for the main structural factors to consider when assessing a country’s macroeconomic backdrop.
Humans and machines have different strengths and weaknesses, and on our team, we tend to see the foreseeable future as a world in which the two work side-by-side. As with any tool, for machine learning to be useful, it is what it is being used for and how that matters.
It is possible for smaller companies to punch above their weight in a foreign market. In our Canadian small cap portfolio, there have been many wealth-creating companies that were able to successfully expand and compete in the United States.
While investor apprehension in this environment is understandable, volatility in markets is both normal and expected. Looking back through our Art of Boring archive, we were struck by the enduring relevance of not letting fear guide investor decision-making during jittery times.
There is arguably another, more robust means of competitive advantage: that of barriers to capacity expansion. And this factors into one of the two main reasons behind limiting our exposure to the utility space.
To be sure, there are many reasons a company may prefer to turn to private investors over more traditional public markets, but as more companies choose private funding when they need to raise capital, what are the implications for investors in public markets?
Last week, Morningstar interviewed international equity portfolio manager David Ragan about finding resilient stocks in international markets during turbulent times.
How can a business continue to grow while still retaining the internal characteristics that helped contribute to its past success?
Canadian insurance companies are no longer just in the business of selling insurance to Canadians. They function more like financial conglomerates, and that, for investors, is potentially a good thing.
Given how often “defensive” enters into the investing lexicon and that it can mean different things to different people, aiming for a greater degree of precision in its definition may help to reduce misunderstanding or generalized historical bias.
In theory, investors should improve at least linearly over time as they make and learn from errors. But in practice, there seems to be little evidence of this (only few active managers beat the market over longer time periods).
Italy has been the source of drama in recent weeks, and it hasn’t all been about men racing bicycles in spandex.
These 15 questions are by no means exhaustive—they are not intended to be—but they serve as a helpful checklist for the main structural factors to consider when assessing a country’s macroeconomic backdrop.
Humans and machines have different strengths and weaknesses, and on our team, we tend to see the foreseeable future as a world in which the two work side-by-side. As with any tool, for machine learning to be useful, it is what it is being used for and how that matters.
It is possible for smaller companies to punch above their weight in a foreign market. In our Canadian small cap portfolio, there have been many wealth-creating companies that were able to successfully expand and compete in the United States.
While investor apprehension in this environment is understandable, volatility in markets is both normal and expected. Looking back through our Art of Boring archive, we were struck by the enduring relevance of not letting fear guide investor decision-making during jittery times.
There is arguably another, more robust means of competitive advantage: that of barriers to capacity expansion. And this factors into one of the two main reasons behind limiting our exposure to the utility space.
The impacts of inflation, interest rates, and sharp currency movements on the portfolio, and the importance of leaning in to process and keeping a long-term perspective.
The team debates the thesis that renewables are becoming “cheaper” than traditional energy sources, unpacks why the ultimate cost to the end consumer shouldn’t be missing from the conversation, and delves into the investment implications.
Inflation, interest rates, the valuation correction, bias creep, and “sticking to our knitting.” A full dive into Q2.
CIO Paul Moroz unpacks the foundational components to better decision making for investing, business, and life.
Lead Portfolio Manager, Crista Caughlin, on what’s happening in bond markets, a look at inflation and interest rates, and the key scenarios we’re monitoring.
Opportunities and risks we’re seeing in energy, rail, and financials; why we exited Shopify; and a few team learnings.
What DevOps is and why it’s a theme with investment potential.
On building a “global investment franchise” and balancing the trade-offs between creativity, efficiency, and process to build a consistent environment for better investment decisions.
Russia, the potential parallels to Taiwan and China, and macro to micro portfolio considerations in an inflationary environment.
CIO Paul Moroz shares his take on what’s happening in the markets, some of the underlying factors behind recent performance, and a reminder that the wheels of capitalism will continue to turn.
Portfolio Managers Grayson Witcher and Colin Wong share market observations, industries where fundamentals are shifting, and a few recent additions to the portfolio.
Jim Hall (chair, head of our risk management process, and portfolio manager) shares his overall observations on prevailing macroeconomic risks—and the effects on our process and the EAFE large cap portfolio.
The impacts of inflation, interest rates, and sharp currency movements on the portfolio, and the importance of leaning in to process and keeping a long-term perspective.
The team debates the thesis that renewables are becoming “cheaper” than traditional energy sources, unpacks why the ultimate cost to the end consumer shouldn’t be missing from the conversation, and delves into the investment implications.
Inflation, interest rates, the valuation correction, bias creep, and “sticking to our knitting.” A full dive into Q2.
CIO Paul Moroz unpacks the foundational components to better decision making for investing, business, and life.
Lead Portfolio Manager, Crista Caughlin, on what’s happening in bond markets, a look at inflation and interest rates, and the key scenarios we’re monitoring.
Opportunities and risks we’re seeing in energy, rail, and financials; why we exited Shopify; and a few team learnings.
What DevOps is and why it’s a theme with investment potential.
On building a “global investment franchise” and balancing the trade-offs between creativity, efficiency, and process to build a consistent environment for better investment decisions.
Russia, the potential parallels to Taiwan and China, and macro to micro portfolio considerations in an inflationary environment.
CIO Paul Moroz shares his take on what’s happening in the markets, some of the underlying factors behind recent performance, and a reminder that the wheels of capitalism will continue to turn.
Portfolio Managers Grayson Witcher and Colin Wong share market observations, industries where fundamentals are shifting, and a few recent additions to the portfolio.
Jim Hall (chair, head of our risk management process, and portfolio manager) shares his overall observations on prevailing macroeconomic risks—and the effects on our process and the EAFE large cap portfolio.