Philosophy
“Our belief is that investing in high quality companies with solid fundamentals and good growth prospects at favourable prices delivers superior long-term risk adjusted rates of return for investors”
Process
“Our focus on quality and value is definitive”
Quality
Fundamental to our approach is a rigorous and disciplined process that sets about identifying those stocks that are quality grade investments. We do this by applying a set of quality filters to the broad investment universe from which we define our “Investible Universe”. It is from this universe that we derive our conviction list from where we assess the fundamental value of individual stocks and the suitability of their inclusion in our portfolio.
Our quality filters include both a quantitative and qualitative assessment of companies. Detailed analysis of a company’s financial statements is undertaken as well as external communication with company management and industry participants such as suppliers, customers, consultants and government bodies. We assess a company’s earnings ability, financial strength, the suitability and sustainability of their business models, the effectiveness of management as well as environmental, social and governance factors.
Value
Valuing companies is an important part of the investment management process, requiring understanding of the nature and type of business that is being valued, the industry it operates in, its business cycle and maturity of earnings. Flexibility in terms of valuation methodology as well as genuine understanding of keys drivers of a company’s earnings is crucial to understanding whether a company is properly priced by the market. A good quality stock becomes a good investment for portfolio inclusion, when it is priced at a discount to its intrinsic value.
Portfolio Construction
The portfolio is constructed from a conviction list with the best ideas that have been continuously and rigorously assessed in terms of quality and value. The structure of the portfolio is determined in consideration of the investment guidelines, the market environment and the appropriate level of risk that is required to deliver the desired outcome. The portfolio is continually monitored for discrepancy in terms of quality and value and funds are redeployed accordingly when valuations become excessive or quality becomes challenged by changes in circumstance or strategy.