Investment Philosophy

FOUNDATIONAL INVESTMENT PRINCIPLES

  • Christ-Centered - All we do is to bring Him glory and honor.
  • Optimism - Progress is accelerating and the future is full of promise.
  • Humility - We seek to continuously improve our security selection methods.
  • Diligence - Long-term investment success is more often associated with hard work than good fortune.
  • Discipline - A structured approach is required to determine an investment's true worth.
  • Thankfulness - We are very grateful to live in a period of flourishing capitalism and have the opportunity to enrich the lives of our clients thru our investment expertise.

INVESTMENT PHILOSOPHY

  • Biblically responsible approach - We believe that the probability of long-term investment success is greatly aided by an investment philosophy that seeks to align our investments with biblical values.
  • Long-term investment horizon - Longer-term earnings estimates are a more accurate indicator of true corporate worth.
  • Focus on leaders and emerging leaders - We seek to continuously improve our security selection methods.
  • Superior forecasts of long-term earnings and valuation - The highest quality companies tend to have the best stock market performance over time. We focus on evaluating those industries that are leading the economy forward and those companies that are leaders in their respective industries. We also pay close attention to those industries or companies poised to become leaders and are alert for signs that a current leader may be losing its grasp on the top position.
  • Balance discipline and flexibility - Properly balancing the two is more art than science and only years of experience allows any investment manager to come close to achieving the proper balance at any given time.
  • Search globally - Searching the world for the best companies will ultimately provide more profitable opportunities than relegating one's portfolio to a singular country or region.

STOCK SELECTION PROCESS

  • Biblically Reponsible Investing (BRI) - We first seek to eliminate from consideration those companies that are engaged in activities that are not compatible with our Christian worldview. We also seek to highlight those companies that are exemplary in putting a Christian worldview into practice in their management and operations.
  • Identify leaders and emerging leaders - Not necessarily the largest companies but rather those with the following characteristics:
    • Consistently high and stable profit margins and profitability
    • Strong balance sheets
    • Ability to generate free cash flow
    • Defendable and superior market positions
    • Above-average growth prospects
    • Sensible corporate strategy
    • Character, integrity and overall capability of management
  • Derive superior estimates of long-term earnings and valuation levels - Having assembled a list of companies that have strong and sustainable competitive positions, our analysts turn their attention to the intensive analysis required to formulate accurate estimates of long-term earnings power and valuation.

SELL DISCIPLINE

  • Reduced estimates of long-term earnings power or long-term valuation prospects
  • Significantly better value seen in another share
  • Changes in portfolio structure required to accommodate rebalancing activities
  • Position size grows too large or too small

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF LEADERS PORTFOLIO

  • Usually 40 to 50 stocks
  • Below average portfolio turnover and volatility
  • Diverse market capitalizations and diverse country, sector and industry weightings relative to the appropriate benchmark
  • Above-average exposure to high quality companies
  • Cash is minimized, but exceptions may occur