Monthly Commentaries

Listening to the “experts” on the TV or, heaven help us, reading their opinions in the newspaper, one might believe that the current uptrend in the markets is overdone. Or perhaps there might be an economic reversal to the April low. Or, even better yet, that there is a possible retrenchment of market prices to […]

True, there are those who don’t really try to answer that question. For example, some momentum strategies have a valuation overlay, though most do not. And there are times when the relative performance derby causes fundamentally-oriented investors to toss their valuation discipline out the window. “As long as the music is playing,” as one infamous […]

As many of you know, our key message to clients and allocators is that investing begins, and ends, with people – whether our team, our clients, or the management we engage with on a regular basis that run the companies we invest in. As we move through the COVID-19 pandemic, each of these key groups […]

The devastating blow of the pandemic lockdown continues to unfold on the global economy, causing a near-stop to travel, migration, and gatherings. For those of us who continue to work while our physical workplaces are closed, to say we’re “working from home” is not quite accurate: we are confined to our homes due to a […]

Our February comment was released following a difficult final ten days of the month – not that it relates to the current events. The events are, as it’s said, what they are. The market already understands that virtually everything in China is shut down. Autos sales have plummeted, 99% of nightclubs closed, 70% of restaurants […]

This month our CIO, Linda Lebrun, outlines why we believe management ownership of corporate stock best aligns them with shareholders. Simply put – we human beings are self-centered and respond well to incentives that appeal to our self-interest. One is simply more inclined to be more attentive if the incentive structure appeals. Linda’s note speaks […]

This month we speak to the narratives that pervade the investment ecosystem. Skimming through Damodaran’s “tribes” (storytellers and number crunchers) humorously reminds one of Twain’s “lies, damned lies, and statistics”. Yet the narrative plays an important part in a manager’s communication with clients and potential clients; after all, written commentary with supporting statistics can be […]

In a stunning announcement November 1st, Pengrowth Energy Corp. announced its sale to Cona Resources Ltd. for five cents a share and assumption of company debt. Once a $7.2 billion oil and gas exploration company, Pengrowth Energy has lost almost 99.6% of their equity value in the past six years. Over the past twelve months […]

The four most dangerous words in investing are “this time it’s different” according to John Templeton. At stock market tops, investors invariably use this rationale to justify their emotion-driven decisions. Howard Marks recent memo This Time Its Different is another must-read for the current environment. Particularly his reference on “perpetual prosperity from quantitative easing”.  While […]

The CFA standard notes “Members and Candidates have a duty of loyalty to their clients and must act with reasonable care and exercise prudent judgment.” How does that fit with investing client monies in cannabis stocks or bitcoin. Or some of the high flyer tech names like Shopify or Lightspeed which, at this writing, have […]

Over the past few years the Canadian investment industry has hollowed out, with far too many independent investment firms being acquired. These firms have either concentrated too heavily on a declining global asset class (Canada), or failed to build a successful succession/exit strategy for the original builders of the business. Or perhaps its simply the […]

In an interview last week, the great Charlie Munger said “more damage to the world comes from the cognitive glitches than does from malevolence.” Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes noted “If you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” And of course, Ockham’s Razor suggests that, all other things being equal, […]