ResearcH & STRATEGY
Investment research is more than information. It is a search for truth, insight and understanding.
We rely on our own fundamental research to identify companies that are engaged in businesses with superior market economics, and we prefer businesses that are understandable and relatively predictable. Our approach emphasizes companies that have demonstrated consistent and superior profit growth and high returns on capital. We place particular emphasis on a select group of companies whose cash flows have provided shareholders with a rising stream of income through steady increases in dividends over many years.
We do not engage in market-timing and we do not base our purchases and sales on short-term assumptions for economic growth, monetary policy and corporate profits. Still, we monitor these critical variables closely in order to avoid excessive exposure to significant changes that might have long-lasting adverse consequences for our clients.
Many of the high-quality companies of interest to us are rarely undiscovered. Still, opportunities arise because the majority of investors are short-sighted – chasing the fads, themes, news and rumors that drive stock prices in the short term. Yet, history confirms that differences between market prices and intrinsic value are always corrected eventually – sometimes quickly and sometimes over a few years. Indeed, patience and humility are critical to our approach.
We share our research with our clients in our quarterly Investment Comment. In these reports we assess critical trends and issues in the economy and the financial markets. Most important, the Investment Comment includes reviews and analysis of our major holdings – providing our clients with a deeper understanding of the companies in which they are invested.
The Investment Comment is available at no cost and posted on this site after distribution to our clients.