Choosing investments for our clients’ portfolio is neither art nor science . . . it’s a combination of both. We follow a detailed, comprehensive process, asking specific questions of all our portfolio managers in order to identify investments in which we have a high degree of confidence.

We seek identifiable portfolio managers who take personal ownership and responsibility for the portfolios entrusted to their management. The manager must have considerable years of experience and be supported by a team of analysts and research people.

We determine the portfolio manager’s investment philosophy and management style. They must have a clearly defined philosophy in line with our emphasis on conservative management, protection of our client’s capital, and value appreciation over time.

We examine long-term investment returns, looking for a portfolio manager with a demonstrated ability to provide above average returns over 5 and 10 year holding periods.

We examine calendar year returns, looking for consistency and predictability. We do not want to see short periods of stellar returns followed by long periods of underperformance.

We search for portfolio managers who have demonstrated the ability to protect our client’s capital during difficult markets. Given that a certain amount of variability is expected when holding equity portfolios, we look for managers who have shown the ability to “err on the side of caution,” when appropriate.

A study found…

For the 12 months ended March 31, 2001, the first year of a bear market, funds led by managers with fewer than four years experience lost, on average, more than 20% for their unit holders. Managers who brought 20 or more years to the job lost an average of just 5.4%
Source: Fortune, May 28, 2001

We examine the fund’s assets relative to its respective market. The fund must be of sufficient size to have the management company’s top people devoted to it, while not too large for the market in which it invests.

We examine the investment fees and expenses being charged to our clients, looking for operating expenses that are at or below industry averages. The lower the fees and expenses, the greater the return available to our clients.

We consider whether the portfolio manager’s personal financial assets are invested in the fund(s) they are managing. It provides increased confidence when the manager’s personal financial assets are invested along side our client’s money.

We believe that conservative, value oriented portfolio managers with years of experience are best able to preserve and appreciate our client’s investment capital over the course of their lifetime.