Monthly Message

The Wutherich & Co. Composite was down 40% in March. This compares with the S&P/TSX down 17.4% and the BMO Small Cap Index down 28.5%.

We understand how striking the -40% number is to all of us. JF and I have the majority of our net-worth in this portfolio and feel the pain right along with you. Yet, when we take a hard look at all our names, which we have been doing intently for the last few weeks, we remain convinced that most of them will make it through this crisis. “Invest like a lender” was a headline that we recently viewed. It points out how important the balance sheet is at times like this. Where we think the balance sheet will not see the company through to the other side of this crisis, we are trimming or eliminating the position. We are also doing this for positions where we have no line-of-sight as to how they can resume revenue and earnings growth.

If our numbers are anywhere near right, we think our portfolio is the cheapest it’s been since the 2008-2009 financial crisis. You might recall, this set us up for a strong run from 2009 to 2014.

JF and I intend to see this through. We hope that you can also.

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