Philosophy

We are bottom up investors with a business owner’s perspective who seek to deliver superior absolute returns over the long term. We operate in a market with historically strong and consistent earnings growth where volatility has provided regular mispriced entry points.

The team believes that the stock market is mostly efficient most of the time, and so it looks for inefficiencies with the expectation that the market will eventually allow such ideas to turn profitable.

Process

The objective of the process is to ensure that the investment philosophy is implemented by bringing discipline and temperament. The team looks to identify a mix of opportunities that can deliver excess returns and such opportunities must be available across market cycles to allow for repeatable outperformance. They must also be scalable to ensure the construction of a diversified portfolio.

The team believe that investment research is a combination of science and art. The former consists of setting a clear framework using metrics and quantitative criteria which are comparable across companies and industries to narrow the investible universe to a “focus list”. The latter is the less tangible part of investment skill that is based on experience driven intuition.

Investment Universe – the House of Ocean Dial

There is a journey from focus to conviction which begins with the creation of the House of Ocean Dial (HOOD). This is the investible universe from which companies can be allocated to portfolios. It ensures focus and a deep rooted understanding by the analysts of a limited number of stocks. The science part of the process forms the basis of both the team’s idea generation and risk management. Companies with sound management practices and business models which are likely to create long term shareholder value in a sustainable manner are accepted into the universe.

Ranking Tool

A final valuation based on relative and absolute metrics is constructed, allowing the universe to be ranked on a live basis in descending order of expected return.

Decision Making

The journey ends with conviction to take a concentrated call on an opportunity. The Ranking Tool acts as a strong signal to the Portfolio Adviser as to where the most profitable investments in the universe lie. Its strength is as a guide to enable better resource allocation and decision making, not as a systematic final output of what the portfolio should be. Deeper due diligence in the form of further management interaction, background checks, and broader scrutiny of the competitive landscape is conducted by the team depending on the Portfolio Adviser’s requirement to build a fully informed thesis as to whether an investment decision should be recommended.

Investment Committee

To reflect the dynamic and complex nature of innovation and disruption, management practices, consumption patterns, and capital markets, the House of Ocean Dial is a continuously evolving universe of investible opportunities. An investment committee (IC) exists to ensure that existing names continue to pass filters set, and to provide a forum for members of the Investment Team to propose new names for inclusion into the universe. This forms a core part of the investment process.

The IC meets at least quarterly, sometimes more often, and acts as a gate keeper for stocks under consideration for acceptance into the House of Ocean Dial, with any changes needing to be approved by the Committee. Robust debate is a core element to these discussions.

For more information on how we conduct our research including portfolio construction, sell discipline, or risk management please get in touch via telephone or email.