Who We Are

We are an independent, employee-owned, alternative fund manager based in Toronto, Canada. We seek to generate long term capital gains by investing in equities of mid-sized North American firms. We have a history of outperforming North American equity markets at broadly similar levels of volatility. We invest only where we have an advantage – be it a skills-based advantage, an information or knowledge advantage, or one that comes from the fact that we take a longer-term view.

The firm has been in business since 2002, and the original investment team has remained in place since inception. This has given us continuity and stability, as well as a shared investment philosophy and culture.

We too are investors in our Strategy. Our interests are aligned with those of all our other investors. We are incentivized to maximize returns, while limiting the risk of capital loss.

WHY WE ARE DIFFERENT

We are focused on our areas of expertise
We do not try to be all things to all people. We are stock-pickers, and focus on sectors and stocks that we understand.

We embrace complexity
It is difficult to beat the market when you are investing with the crowd. In fact, the best investment returns are typically generated by stocks that have been ignored. These often include companies and stocks that are complex, difficult to understand, and difficult to value or analyze. The analysis and the research involved in such cases are often time-consuming, complex, and cumbersome, which is to the advantage of investors such as ourselves who have the necessary expertise, and are able to devote the time required.

Superior long term risk/reward profile vis-à-vis index-tracking ETFs
Since inception in October 2002, our portfolio volatility has been broadly similar to that of major North American equity market indices, while returns have been higher. A majority of stocks in our portfolio are typically not part of any major index, which implies a portfolio with a very high “active share”.

We are compact and nimble
Fund size is often the enemy of investment performance. We are committed to ensuring that our future growth does not come at the expense of superior investment returns.