Balanced

Profile

• Discretionary Balanced/Diversified management for all types of mandates
• Pension Funds, Not-For-Profit & Foundations, Individuals
• Taxable and Non-Taxable
• Provides investment diversification across all major asset classes
• Asset Mix Strategist with Team approach
• Strategic Asset Allocation strategies

Objective

Better than average returns with lower than average levels of risk over economic cycles. The Mercer Passive Portfolio is generally used as an internal benchmark for both returns and standard deviation.

Investment Process

Stock and Bond prices can deviate from their proper relative values due to errors in assessing the secular environment, errors in assessing the cyclical environment, and over or under emphasis on either the secular or cyclical environments.

We systematically examine the secular and cyclical environments for stocks and bonds to determine the most advantageous asset allocations for our investors.

The secular environment determines the broad outline or major forces facing the investor. Our analysis includes areas such as productivity, inflation, and government finances. Input is gathered from our internal asset class specialists, including Canadian, U.S. and International equities, Bonds and Money Markets. Based on this outlook, we determine the commitment ranges and broad characteristics for balanced mandates.

The cyclical environment is assessed by reviewing a broad range of economic data and market statistics on an ongoing basis, and in depth during quarterly outlook meetings involving all asset class managers within the firm. Our goal is to determine that this data is consistent with our secular view. We employ a probability-based scenario analysis to create a range of economic outcomes, the likelihood of occurrence, and the likely impact on asset class returns.

Mawer employs Strategic Asset Allocation strategies. We do not believe that Tactical Asset Allocation strategies add value over time. Thus, asset mix shifts are small, incremental moves that rebalance the portfolios to the model while avoiding asset mix drift and market-timing.

Portfolio Manager

Greg Peterson, CFA, Director, Portfolio Manager

Need More Information?

If you wish to receive detailed information about our investment services for discretionary balanced portfolios, please e-mail us at Mawer Information .