We limit as much as possible investment constraints and avoid investment dogmas. As for our investment philosophy, over the years we have developed a taste for quality, earnings growth, generation of excess cash, dividends, reasonable valuations, and all within the framework of respect and integrity among different stakeholders.
Quality not only means a sustainable franchise, but also a solid business model, and therefore a fortiori a solid balance sheet, operations, products or services and, of course, management, employees and shareholders. More on QUALITY here.
Earnings growth is the foundation for the long-term expansion of the intrinsic value of any business. Beyond the amplitude of growth, it is its regularity and visibility, as opposed to its cyclicality, which determines the level of risk of a company and therefore its valuation. More on PROFIT GROWTH here..
In addition, strong excess cash flow generation allows for distribution to shareholders in the form of dividends, or in certain situations, share buybacks. Aggregating growth and distribution to shareholders would ideally generate a double-digit annualized return for every stock we hold in the portfolio. More on DIVIDENDS here..
The purchase price has a direct and mathematical impact on the return on each investment. Buying in the right conditions is therefore essential. As a result, we tend to be contrarian investors. We believe that by buying when others have sold, i.e., by buying low, or, conversely, by selling when others are rushing to buy, we can improve the returns generated by the growth-dividend combination. More on VALUATION here..
Growth and Dividends are the drivers of value creation, and therefore of the fund's performance, while Quality and Valuation make it possible to protect capital during shocks by avoiding catastrophic scenarios. The instruments of this Quartet express themselves with different intensity at different times, knowing that Quality is the instrument that must resonate constantly and which constitutes the musical background of the portfolio. More on portfolio construction here.
By focusing on quality at a reasonable price coupled with growth and dividends, we believe we can protect capital while capturing growth in the emerging world.