Investment Process
We really believe our unique, collaborative, research-driven approach to stock selection offers the best opportunity to achieve superior, risk-adjusted returns over the long term.

Portfolio managers, fundamental research analysts, and quantitative research analysts collaborate to identify the best opportunities in the mid-cap value arena.

Our process ensures that all team members focus on the key drivers of stock performance – business fundamentals, valuations, and catalysts.

This dynamic team approach encourages team members to challenge assumptions with the goal of achieving superior performance. Presiding over this exchange of ideas is the portfolio manager, who ultimately makes the buy and sell decisions.

Both our fundamental and quantitative research teams have a disciplined process for rating each stock. These ratings are derived from a detailed analysis of more than 200 factors. This system allows the team to make decisions with direction and objectivity.

Portfolio Focus
In constructing the Mid Cap Value Equity portfolio, our approach to value investing is traditional. Our management team tries to identify stocks that we believe are mispriced on a temporary basis but show a clear path to a fundamental turnaround. This, in turn, should lead to a higher price.

The team uses a disciplined process to select companies from that universe that exhibit:

Compelling business fundamentals. Analysts and portfolio managers use fundamental research to identify the companies in this group that, while attractively valued relative to their peers or the market, have solid business potential based on good or improving fundamentals.

Attractive valuations: Because great companies are not always great investments, we screen every potential buy candidate to determine the stock’s valuation range relative to the sector, industry, and its own history.

Catalysts: In considering each buy candidate, we look for a catalyst that may close the valuation gap between market and fair value in the near future. Catalysts may be economic or industry-related, or specific to the company.

Holdings are sold if they achieve their price target or if their position exceeds portfolio parameters. We would also sell if we predict a deteriorating outlook or a significant change in company fundamentals or if a catalyst failed to materialize.

Risk Management
Aside from guiding our efforts to deliver positive performance in up markets, our disciplined investment process – specifically our strict sell discipline – helps limit downside risk. We also manage risk by being fully diversified across all sectors and continuously monitoring individual issues and sector parameters.