Rising Debt and its Potential Consequences: Canada’s New Normal?

We need to understand where we are in the debt super cycle to inform our investment decision making.

Artificial Intelligence: The Return of The Centaurs

Recent AI breakthroughs are underscoring the power of the centaur model—humans + machines—creating something more potent than either model operating independently.

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?

Inflation’s One-Two Punch

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

‘Twas the week before Christmas

'Twas the week before Christmas, thus time to review—the economic story of 2022.

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.

The quality conundrum

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

Be aware, but don’t despair!

History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.

~Mark Twain

'Twas the week before Christmas

‘Twas the week before Christmas, so let's have some fun. Mawer recaps the main themes of 2021.

Prepare don't predict

How an engineering principle can improve investment risk management.

On modern monetary theory

We explore the evolution of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) and the notable economic ideas on which it is based. We highlight some notable criticisms and discuss implications of MMT for economic policy and financial markets. Our purpose is less focused on opining whether MMT is fundamentally sound, but rather aimed at understanding its development and how the ground may shift if indeed MMT-based policies are more widely embraced.

Where I’m seeing value in emerging markets

I’ve been revisiting Philip Fisher’s Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits recently. Scanning the opportunity set in emerging markets, I’ve been trying to imagine what Fisher would have made of the current investment landscape.

'Twas the week before Christmas

‘Twas the week before Christmas, (and you know it’s true), COVID looms large in our annual review.

Playing the plan: Mawer’s international equity portfolio | EP19

David Ragan, co-manager of Mawer’s international equity strategies, discusses the current economic environment, what changes have been made to the portfolio as a result, and highlights holdings in the exciting worlds of nanotechnology, door locks, and pharmacies.

Quarterly update | 3Q 2018 | EP18

This episode features insights from the third quarter by Greg Peterson, portfolio manager of Mawer’s balanced and global balanced strategies.

Playing the plan: Mawer’s global balanced portfolio | EP17

CIO and co-manager, Paul Moroz, discusses how to build the most resilient global portfolio possible and reveals Mawer’s four building blocks to risk management.

Language matters in investing | EP16

Institutional portfolio manager, Rob Campbell, explains the concept of suitcase words: words into which people attribute—or pack—multiple meanings. He discusses how honing our language skills can contribute to better investing outcomes.

Playing the plan: Mawer’s emerging markets equity portfolio | EP15

Peter Lampert, lead portfolio manager of Mawer’s Emerging Markets Equity Fund, discusses the current investing environment for emerging markets, the importance of resilience, and reviews portfolio holdings in beer, security systems, and bakery ingredient distribution.

Playing the plan: Mawer’s U.S. equity portfolio | EP14

Co-manager of Mawer’s U.S. equity portfolio, Grayson Witcher, discusses the impact of rising corporate debt levels, the importance of relationship building with management teams, and how fighting bias is key to Mawer’s investment process.

Playing the plan: Mawer’s Canadian equity portfolio | Vijay Viswanathan | EP13

Director of Research and Canadian equity co-manager, Vijay Viswanathan, discusses potential trade war impacts to the portfolio, Canada’s opportunity set, and dives deeper into holdings in the energy, e-commerce and insurance industries.

Investing with your eyes: CIO insights from South America | Paul Moroz | Ep12

CIO Paul Moroz continues to travel the world doing fundamental research for the global equity and the global small cap strategies. This episode reveals specific observations from his recent research trip to South America and New York City.

Quarterly update | 2Q 2018 | EP11

This episode features insights from the past quarter by Greg Peterson, portfolio manager of Mawer’s balanced and global balanced strategies.

Scuttlebutt and its dramatic effect on long-term investing | John Wilson | EP10

John Wilson, analyst on Mawer’s global small cap equity strategy, defines scuttlebutt and its competitive advantage for long-term investors.

Underweight: Our take on Japan | David Ragan | EP09

David Ragan, portfolio manager of Mawer’s international equity strategies, reveals why the portfolio is—and has always been—underweight in Japan.

Getting in alignment: Why investors need to pay attention to executive compensation | Jeff Mo | EP08

Jeff Mo, portfolio manager of Mawer’s Canadian small cap strategies, discusses the importance of executive compensation to long-term investment performance.