The Art of Boring

The boy who cried Greece

Greece has been struggling with some manner of financial crisis for almost five years. The situation has become worse of late due to the fallout from the January 2015 election when the leftist party Syriza rose to power under an...

April 28, 2015 4 Mins

(Not) boring finds for April 2015

Our team occasionally uncovers signal in the daily parsing of noise. Since such information can be easily passed over, we thought we’d make it a habit to share some links that we’ve liked recently.

April 23, 2015 4 Mins

Rockin’ and rollin’ in China

The Chinese stock market has been very hot as of late. Many Chinese indices are up dramatically over the last twelve months.

April 21, 2015 4 Mins

Unlocking India’s potential

This was my first lesson in India. When you arrive in the country, you don’t just land at the airport, India lands on you.

April 7, 2015 8 Mins

A tribute to Lee Kuan Yew

If a person's legacy is to be measured by his contributions to society, then Lee Kuan Yew ranks among the great heroes.

March 27, 2015 3 Mins

The Dave Semenko principle: Focusing on your area of genius*

The Oilers allowed Gretzky to play to his strengths. In the language of our firm, they allowed him to focus on his “Area of Genius.”

March 25, 2015 3 Mins

Frogs in the pot

A few weeks ago I attended a lunch with Jean-Claude Trichet. As one might expect from the former head of the European Central Bank, Trichet spoke at length on the economy, quantitative easing and monetary policy.

October 10, 2014 6 Mins

What we know from marshmallows: The relationship between self-discipline and success

In 1968, researchers from Stanford University stuck a marshmallow in front of a four year old girl and gave her a choice: eat the marshmallow now or wait 15 minutes and receive TWO marshmallows.

September 11, 2014 9 Mins

Worrying signals for Russia’s economy

Two important events involving Russia occurred in the last week. First, Russia amassed a highly suspicious buildup of 20,000 troops on the Ukrainian border. Second, Russia’s yield curve inverted.

August 8, 2014 7 Mins

Skating over the line

Narrow rules have a cost. Although there is value in the clarity of rule, process and position, a system must also be flexible.

July 29, 2014 3 Mins

Language matters

Just how important is a common language to investing? While some investors view it as the sort of soft, fluffy stuff best left to liberal arts majors, empirically—and in our experience— it is an essential feature of high performing investment...

July 24, 2014 21 Mins

The toothbrush test

A few weeks ago, I was introduced to Google’s Toothbrush Test. Contrary to the images that the name inspires, this test does not involve sticking a web-enabled toothbrush into your mouth to collect data on your molars.

July 11, 2014 1 Mins

Playing the plan Mawer Canadian equity portfolio EP49

Playing the plan: Mawer’s Canadian equity portfolio | EP49

Director of Research and Canadian equity lead manager, Vijay Viswanathan, discusses risks and opportunities in Canada, the cannabis industry’s value chain, and potential transformations to the food retailer business model.

December 4, 2019 27 Mins

Technical debt | EP48

This episode, we interview our Head of Information Security and Infrastructure, Dwight Pratt, and Equity Analyst, Karan Phadke, on the ramifications of technical debt to businesses and investors.

November 20, 2019 33 Mins

Playing the plan mawer emerging markets equity portfolio EP48

Playing the plan: Mawer’s emerging markets equity portfolio | EP47

Lead portfolio manager, Peter Lampert, discusses the current environment for emerging markets and what opportunities and challenges we’re seeing for the portfolio.

November 6, 2019 24 Mins

Sustainable Development Goals: What they are and how Canada measures up | EP46

Vice President of the Community Foundations of Canada, JP Bervoets, explains the UN’s sustainable development goals—and how individuals and corporations can get on board to make a difference.

October 16, 2019 21 Mins

Quarterly update | 3Q 2019 | EP45

Featuring insights from the second quarter from Balanced and Global Balanced Fund co-manager and Asset Mix Chair, Greg Peterson.

October 13, 2019 15 Mins

Playing the plan: Mawer’s global small cap portfolio | EP44

Equity analyst, John Wilson, shares how the team approaches separating signal from noise, why defensive business models make for a resilient portfolio, and the advantages of a "cookie-cutter" growth runway.

October 2, 2019 22 Mins

Playing the plan: Mawer’s U.S. equity portfolio | EP43

U.S. equity co-manager, Colin Wong, discusses the big picture backdrop (interest rates, U.S.-China trade war) and then dives deep into the investment thesis behind Microsoft, and A.O. Smith.