1/Ntelligence™: Our take on portfolio construction | EP88
CIO Paul Moroz walks us through his “best practices” portfolio construction checklist.
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.
CIO Paul Moroz walks us through his “best practices” portfolio construction checklist.
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.
Opening the Pandora’s box of Bitcoin, societal trust, and why investors might not, but need to, fully understand the technology.
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.
“Making the macro micro” around demand trends, inflation concerns, valuations, and earnings. We discuss Comcast, Visa, Dollar General, Alphabet, and more.
A close look at our research methods to understand trends, opportunities, and challenges in the pharmaceutical industry.
How thinking like a deer in the forest (situational awareness) and other risk management process tinkering has helped the team. In addition, thoughts on the potential CP Rail and Kansas City Southern deal and TELUS International IPO.
One year since lockdown: CIO Paul Moroz summarizes the major market themes of the past four quarters and how it has (and hasn’t) affected our process and way of looking at the world.
Equity Analyst, Stanislav Lopata, shares his observations regarding the pandemic’s impacts on markets and what’s new with the portfolio.
Deputy CIO Christian Deckart discusses market performance in a “story of three quarters” and some new holdings we added to the portfolio.
Chief Investment Officer Paul Moroz discusses why the Research team’s post-mortem process is important, and some of their top learnings from 2020.
Lead portfolio manager, David Ragan, discusses how the portfolio did over the past year, why some companies were more resilient than others, and what makes skepticism a competitive advantage.
CIO Paul Moroz walks us through his “best practices” portfolio construction checklist.
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.
Opening the Pandora’s box of Bitcoin, societal trust, and why investors might not, but need to, fully understand the technology.
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.
“Making the macro micro” around demand trends, inflation concerns, valuations, and earnings. We discuss Comcast, Visa, Dollar General, Alphabet, and more.
A close look at our research methods to understand trends, opportunities, and challenges in the pharmaceutical industry.
How thinking like a deer in the forest (situational awareness) and other risk management process tinkering has helped the team. In addition, thoughts on the potential CP Rail and Kansas City Southern deal and TELUS International IPO.
One year since lockdown: CIO Paul Moroz summarizes the major market themes of the past four quarters and how it has (and hasn’t) affected our process and way of looking at the world.
Equity Analyst, Stanislav Lopata, shares his observations regarding the pandemic’s impacts on markets and what’s new with the portfolio.
Deputy CIO Christian Deckart discusses market performance in a “story of three quarters” and some new holdings we added to the portfolio.
Chief Investment Officer Paul Moroz discusses why the Research team’s post-mortem process is important, and some of their top learnings from 2020.
Lead portfolio manager, David Ragan, discusses how the portfolio did over the past year, why some companies were more resilient than others, and what makes skepticism a competitive advantage.
It is much more valuable to have a probabilistic risk evaluation process.
This week we learned about e-krona, a digital currency in Sweden; the lasting impacts of Black Monday on Wall Street; how McRib availability can affect S&P 500 returns (hint: it can’t) and appreciated a few wise reminders on what to do when “things get wild” in the markets.
We know we can’t predict the future (read: unknowns), but we can account for the likelihood of some scenarios.
To be sure, there are many reasons a company may prefer to turn to private investors over more traditional public markets, but as more companies choose private funding when they need to raise capital, what are the implications for investors in public markets?
Last week, Morningstar interviewed international equity portfolio manager David Ragan about finding resilient stocks in international markets during turbulent times.
Our reading list this week considers factors leading to the next market correction; stock-based compensation; golfing economists; and the pitfalls of generalization.
How can a business continue to grow while still retaining the internal characteristics that helped contribute to its past success?
A reminder to focus on the long-term; a look at growing corporate debt levels; a helpful explanation of stock buy backs, and a tip to improve the workplace. It’s been an illuminating week.
Canadian insurance companies are no longer just in the business of selling insurance to Canadians. They function more like financial conglomerates, and that, for investors, is potentially a good thing.
This week we admired some exemplary examples of CEO annual letters; raised our eyebrows at the remarkable effects of trade wars; reaffirmed our belief that language matters; and despaired at nefarious online trading platforms.
Given how often “defensive” enters into the investing lexicon and that it can mean different things to different people, aiming for a greater degree of precision in its definition may help to reduce misunderstanding or generalized historical bias.
Twenty ways to make mistakes with money, the history of monetary innovation, untangling misconceptions around interest rates, and the truth (data) about the creativity of pop songs. It was (not) a boring week!
It is much more valuable to have a probabilistic risk evaluation process.
This week we learned about e-krona, a digital currency in Sweden; the lasting impacts of Black Monday on Wall Street; how McRib availability can affect S&P 500 returns (hint: it can’t) and appreciated a few wise reminders on what to do when “things get wild” in the markets.
We know we can’t predict the future (read: unknowns), but we can account for the likelihood of some scenarios.
To be sure, there are many reasons a company may prefer to turn to private investors over more traditional public markets, but as more companies choose private funding when they need to raise capital, what are the implications for investors in public markets?
Last week, Morningstar interviewed international equity portfolio manager David Ragan about finding resilient stocks in international markets during turbulent times.
Our reading list this week considers factors leading to the next market correction; stock-based compensation; golfing economists; and the pitfalls of generalization.
How can a business continue to grow while still retaining the internal characteristics that helped contribute to its past success?
A reminder to focus on the long-term; a look at growing corporate debt levels; a helpful explanation of stock buy backs, and a tip to improve the workplace. It’s been an illuminating week.
Canadian insurance companies are no longer just in the business of selling insurance to Canadians. They function more like financial conglomerates, and that, for investors, is potentially a good thing.
This week we admired some exemplary examples of CEO annual letters; raised our eyebrows at the remarkable effects of trade wars; reaffirmed our belief that language matters; and despaired at nefarious online trading platforms.
Given how often “defensive” enters into the investing lexicon and that it can mean different things to different people, aiming for a greater degree of precision in its definition may help to reduce misunderstanding or generalized historical bias.
Twenty ways to make mistakes with money, the history of monetary innovation, untangling misconceptions around interest rates, and the truth (data) about the creativity of pop songs. It was (not) a boring week!
What makes the U.S. mid cap investable universe unique, some key learnings since the strategy’s launch, and how inflation can be a “positive” for wealth-creating companies.
Why small caps may zig while large caps zag, the advantage of businesses that sell scarce skills (CBIZ, Insperity, RS Group), and why eyewear retail is harder than it…looks.
The impacts of inflation, interest rates, and sharp currency movements on the portfolio, and the importance of leaning in to process and keeping a long-term perspective.
The team debates the thesis that renewables are becoming “cheaper” than traditional energy sources, unpacks why the ultimate cost to the end consumer shouldn’t be missing from the conversation, and delves into the investment implications.
Inflation, interest rates, the valuation correction, bias creep, and “sticking to our knitting.” A full dive into Q2.
CIO Paul Moroz unpacks the foundational components to better decision making for investing, business, and life.
Lead Portfolio Manager, Crista Caughlin, on what’s happening in bond markets, a look at inflation and interest rates, and the key scenarios we’re monitoring.
Opportunities and risks we’re seeing in energy, rail, and financials; why we exited Shopify; and a few team learnings.
What DevOps is and why it’s a theme with investment potential.
On building a “global investment franchise” and balancing the trade-offs between creativity, efficiency, and process to build a consistent environment for better investment decisions.
Russia, the potential parallels to Taiwan and China, and macro to micro portfolio considerations in an inflationary environment.
CIO Paul Moroz shares his take on what’s happening in the markets, some of the underlying factors behind recent performance, and a reminder that the wheels of capitalism will continue to turn.
What makes the U.S. mid cap investable universe unique, some key learnings since the strategy’s launch, and how inflation can be a “positive” for wealth-creating companies.
Why small caps may zig while large caps zag, the advantage of businesses that sell scarce skills (CBIZ, Insperity, RS Group), and why eyewear retail is harder than it…looks.
The impacts of inflation, interest rates, and sharp currency movements on the portfolio, and the importance of leaning in to process and keeping a long-term perspective.
The team debates the thesis that renewables are becoming “cheaper” than traditional energy sources, unpacks why the ultimate cost to the end consumer shouldn’t be missing from the conversation, and delves into the investment implications.
Inflation, interest rates, the valuation correction, bias creep, and “sticking to our knitting.” A full dive into Q2.
CIO Paul Moroz unpacks the foundational components to better decision making for investing, business, and life.
Lead Portfolio Manager, Crista Caughlin, on what’s happening in bond markets, a look at inflation and interest rates, and the key scenarios we’re monitoring.
Opportunities and risks we’re seeing in energy, rail, and financials; why we exited Shopify; and a few team learnings.
What DevOps is and why it’s a theme with investment potential.
On building a “global investment franchise” and balancing the trade-offs between creativity, efficiency, and process to build a consistent environment for better investment decisions.
Russia, the potential parallels to Taiwan and China, and macro to micro portfolio considerations in an inflationary environment.
CIO Paul Moroz shares his take on what’s happening in the markets, some of the underlying factors behind recent performance, and a reminder that the wheels of capitalism will continue to turn.