The Art of Boring™ was created for curious and passionate investors. We share strategies, frameworks, and insights to help readers and listeners make better investment decisions. Our aim? To provide some bottom-up, long-term investing signal to cut through the short-term noise.

  • Elections: Noise or Signal?

    While speculators fuss over the cacophony of political campaigns and election forecasts, savvy investors recognize that the true impact of elections on financial markets is mostly short-term noise irrelevant to long-term financial strategies.

    October 31, 2024

  • China in Focus: Traversing the Emerging Markets Landscape | EP170

    Peter Lampert, lead portfolio manager of the International Equity Strategy, discusses the recent Chinese stimulus and its effects on emerging markets. He highlights key long-term risks in China, including weak sentiment, regulatory challenges, and geopolitical tensions, while emphasizing the potential of companies like Tencent and Tencent Music. The conversation also covers Turkey's Bim, a discount retailer thriving amid economic uncertainty. Peter explains how the portfolio's success stems from stock selection, especially with stealth performers like Vietnam’s FPT and Taiwan’s IGS, and the importance of balancing macro risks with company-specific growth potential.

    October 23, 2024

  • Looking Past the Pitfalls: Focusing on Managing Risk in the Balanced Portfolio | EP169

    In this episode, Steven Visscher, lead manager of the balanced strategies, discusses the impact of rising interest rates and inflation on the balanced portfolio in recent years, Mawer’s disciplined and collaborative approach to portfolio construction, and the importance of having a long-term perspective. He spoke about recent changes and additions to the balanced portfolio and provided an update on the performance of the balanced portfolio thus far in 2024.  

    October 17, 2024

  • Quarterly Update | Q3 2024 | EP168

    Portfolio Manager Crista Caughlin discusses the economy and factors that drove markets in the third quarter of 2024.

    October 15, 2024

  • Semiconductors, GLP-1s, and Defense Companies: Powering the International Equity Strategy | EP167

    Peter Lampert, lead portfolio manager of the International Equity Strategy, provides insights on the team’s investment process, the state of the portfolio, and the main drivers that are currently having an outsized impact on performance, namely, semiconductors, obesity medicines, and defense companies. He details his team’s rigorous approach to evaluating management teams from both a quantitative and qualitative standpoint, providing an in-depth example of Hitachi. The conversation concludes with a brief discussion of the current macro environment. 

    October 3, 2024

  • The U.S. Equity Landscape: Inflation, Artificial Intelligence, and Elections | EP166

    Grayson Witcher, the lead manager of the U.S. Equity Strategy, discusses the key drivers currently impacting the U.S. economy, including inflation, interest rates, artificial intelligence, and the upcoming presidential election. He emphasizes the importance of diversification and avoiding sharp edges—particularly during an election year.

    September 26, 2024

  • Skyscrapers and Storefronts: Insights on the Commercial Real Estate Market in 2024 | EP165

    Mawer credit analyst Curtis Elkington provides a comprehensive overview of the $50 trillion global commercial real estate market. He covers the current headwinds facing various property sectors, such as pandemic-induced challenges in the office sector and touches on the surprising resilience of the retail segment. Elkington sheds light on the complexities of the commercial mortgage-backed securities market and details the credit analysis process his team uses to evaluate potential investments with examples.

    August 28, 2024


  • Navigating the Canadian Equity Landscape: Dispersion, Energy Transition, and Opportunities | EP163

    In this episode of the podcast, Mark Rutherford, Co-Manager of the Canadian large-cap equity strategy, discusses the current investment landscape in Canada, highlighting the wide dispersion in sector performance, the impact of central bank policies, and the long-term theme of the global energy transition. He also provides insights into insurance and banking sector performance and shares examples of specific portfolio holdings within the Canadian equity strategy.

    July 31, 2024

  • Marbles and Billiards: Navigating the Highs and Lows in Global Equity | EP162

    Portfolio Manager Manar Hassan-Agha discusses how the Global Equity Team navigates an exuberant market environment while staying true to Mawer’s disciplined investment approach. He delves into the potential impacts of emerging trends, namely artificial intelligence (AI), and provides examples of the team’s measured approach to evaluating the hype and sustainability of these trends. 

    July 24, 2024


  • Navigating the U.S. Mid-Cap Landscape: Resilience Amid Uncertainty | EP160

    In this episode, Portfolio Manager Jeff Mo makes the case for investing in U.S. mid-cap equities, highlighting the country’s strong business environment, large domestic market, and GDP growth. He discusses current market trends, including artificial intelligence, and his team’s risk management evaluation, especially with a pivotal U.S. election looming on the horizon.  

    July 11, 2024

  • Elections: Noise or Signal?

    While speculators fuss over the cacophony of political campaigns and election forecasts, savvy investors recognize that the true impact of elections on financial markets is mostly short-term noise irrelevant to long-term financial strategies.

    October 31, 2024

  • Public and Private Credit: Where investors should focus

    Private credit assets have surged to $2-3 trillion USD over the past decade, but investors might benefit from shifting some focus back to public credit, which offers attractive returns, transparency, and liquidity. While both credit types share common features, the current strong tilt towards private credit may overlook the strategic advantages of a well-diversified public credit allocation.

    June 20, 2024

  • The Power of Latent Earnings

    Current profit levels for fast-growing companies might not necessarily be representative of their true earnings power or “latent earnings power.” When it comes to large businesses, we believe this concept may be underappreciated because they are generally assumed to be operating closer to a mature, steady state.   

    March 27, 2024

  • A Case for Investing in U.S. Mid Caps

    The U.S. equity market is the largest and deepest in the world. As such, it has been analyzed in many ways to determine the optimal means of gaining exposure.

    February 14, 2024

  • Pricing Strategies: Upside Capture Versus Downside Protection

    A company’s pricing strategy can help reveal insights into how a company's business model works, its sensitivity to elevated inflation, and why certain pricing strategies work better than others in different operating and economic environments. 

    January 18, 2024




  • The Case for Non-Predictive Decision Making

    In our view, market participants systematically underestimate the importance of vulnerabilities while correspondingly overestimating the importance of triggers. Why?

    April 5, 2023

  • Inflation’s One-Two Punch

    It’s inflation’s second punch that can deliver a blow that investors may not be expecting.

    January 4, 2023


  • Beware the linearity bias

    We tend to think of our world in linear terms, where the output of a system is proportional and directly correlated to its inputs.

    November 2, 2022

  • The quality conundrum

    The conundrum for investors these days is the trade-off between the value of quality and price to pay for it. 

    March 29, 2022
  • China in Focus: Traversing the Emerging Markets Landscape | EP170

    Peter Lampert, lead portfolio manager of the International Equity Strategy, discusses the recent Chinese stimulus and its effects on emerging markets. He highlights key long-term risks in China, including weak sentiment, regulatory challenges, and geopolitical tensions, while emphasizing the potential of companies like Tencent and Tencent Music. The conversation also covers Turkey's Bim, a discount retailer thriving amid economic uncertainty. Peter explains how the portfolio's success stems from stock selection, especially with stealth performers like Vietnam’s FPT and Taiwan’s IGS, and the importance of balancing macro risks with company-specific growth potential.

    October 23, 2024

  • Looking Past the Pitfalls: Focusing on Managing Risk in the Balanced Portfolio | EP169

    In this episode, Steven Visscher, lead manager of the balanced strategies, discusses the impact of rising interest rates and inflation on the balanced portfolio in recent years, Mawer’s disciplined and collaborative approach to portfolio construction, and the importance of having a long-term perspective. He spoke about recent changes and additions to the balanced portfolio and provided an update on the performance of the balanced portfolio thus far in 2024.  

    October 17, 2024

  • Quarterly Update | Q3 2024 | EP168

    Portfolio Manager Crista Caughlin discusses the economy and factors that drove markets in the third quarter of 2024.

    October 15, 2024

  • Semiconductors, GLP-1s, and Defense Companies: Powering the International Equity Strategy | EP167

    Peter Lampert, lead portfolio manager of the International Equity Strategy, provides insights on the team’s investment process, the state of the portfolio, and the main drivers that are currently having an outsized impact on performance, namely, semiconductors, obesity medicines, and defense companies. He details his team’s rigorous approach to evaluating management teams from both a quantitative and qualitative standpoint, providing an in-depth example of Hitachi. The conversation concludes with a brief discussion of the current macro environment. 

    October 3, 2024

  • The U.S. Equity Landscape: Inflation, Artificial Intelligence, and Elections | EP166

    Grayson Witcher, the lead manager of the U.S. Equity Strategy, discusses the key drivers currently impacting the U.S. economy, including inflation, interest rates, artificial intelligence, and the upcoming presidential election. He emphasizes the importance of diversification and avoiding sharp edges—particularly during an election year.

    September 26, 2024

  • Skyscrapers and Storefronts: Insights on the Commercial Real Estate Market in 2024 | EP165

    Mawer credit analyst Curtis Elkington provides a comprehensive overview of the $50 trillion global commercial real estate market. He covers the current headwinds facing various property sectors, such as pandemic-induced challenges in the office sector and touches on the surprising resilience of the retail segment. Elkington sheds light on the complexities of the commercial mortgage-backed securities market and details the credit analysis process his team uses to evaluate potential investments with examples.

    August 28, 2024


  • Navigating the Canadian Equity Landscape: Dispersion, Energy Transition, and Opportunities | EP163

    In this episode of the podcast, Mark Rutherford, Co-Manager of the Canadian large-cap equity strategy, discusses the current investment landscape in Canada, highlighting the wide dispersion in sector performance, the impact of central bank policies, and the long-term theme of the global energy transition. He also provides insights into insurance and banking sector performance and shares examples of specific portfolio holdings within the Canadian equity strategy.

    July 31, 2024

  • Marbles and Billiards: Navigating the Highs and Lows in Global Equity | EP162

    Portfolio Manager Manar Hassan-Agha discusses how the Global Equity Team navigates an exuberant market environment while staying true to Mawer’s disciplined investment approach. He delves into the potential impacts of emerging trends, namely artificial intelligence (AI), and provides examples of the team’s measured approach to evaluating the hype and sustainability of these trends. 

    July 24, 2024


  • Navigating the U.S. Mid-Cap Landscape: Resilience Amid Uncertainty | EP160

    In this episode, Portfolio Manager Jeff Mo makes the case for investing in U.S. mid-cap equities, highlighting the country’s strong business environment, large domestic market, and GDP growth. He discusses current market trends, including artificial intelligence, and his team’s risk management evaluation, especially with a pivotal U.S. election looming on the horizon.  

    July 11, 2024


  • Watts Up? The Challenges and Opportunities of Powering AI | EP158

    We explore the growing electricity demands of data centers driven by artificial intelligence (AI) with Chris Silvestre, Analyst on the U.S. Equity Team. He shares insights from a recent research trip to data centers in Northern Virginia, discussing challenges related to land availability, energy generation and transmission, and the substantial power needs for developing large language models.

    June 19, 2024