Here’s to number1!

Last week we mentioned that we would bring you additional colour on our latest Pavilion report. So here it goes.

Pavilion (previously Brockhouse Cooper) keeps track of our performance relative to a group of peers in what they call the Canadian Small Cap Equity Universe. The latest report, as of June 2018, showed that we were ranked #1 in our peer group on a one-year basis and #3 on a two year basis, gross of fees. We show gross of fees in this communication to be consistent with how most managers report their numbers. We normally show after fees in our client communications to better reflect the experience that our clients actually enjoy.

The report also shows the Beta and R-squared (R2) of our portfolio for the 5 last years as it compares to our benchmark: the BMO Small Cap Index. Beta measures the volatility of a portfolio compared with that of a benchmark index. A beta greater than 1.0 indicates a portfolio which is more volatile than the index, less than 1.0 indicates that it is less volatile than the index. Our beta is 0.6, meaning that, despite participating in a volatile part of the market, namely Canadian Small Caps, our portfolio has almost half the volatility of the benchmark index. R2 shows how closely our portfolio is correlated to the index. An R2 close to 1.0 indicates that the portfolio is highly correlated with the benchmark index. Our R2 was 0.4, meaning that we have a relatively low correlation with our benchmark. We have always told you that we are different and this is a clear indication that we are. From the perspective of how this fits in with your investments, this is exactly what you want. We add much needed diversification to your overall assets.

Though our short-term numbers have been good, we want to spend a minute reminding our readers of our long-term track record. Those of you who have been reading us for years know that this is where we have always been focused. The inception of the Wutherich & Co. Composite dates to September 30, 2001. From this date, we’ve delivered an annual return of 11.8% after fees (13.4% before fees). We did this despite three major market downturns: The 2000-2002 dot com bubble burst, the 2008-2009 financial crisis and a 2014-2015 Canadian small cap downturn. This compares to the BMO Small Cap Index at 8.6% and S&P/TSX at 8.1% and shows the strength of our core investment philosophy in that it can make a big difference to our clients’ wealth over the long-term.

Though the last few years have shown significant ups and downs, in the long term, we have come out ahead. We remain confident that we can continue to do this for our clients in the future.

To view the complete Monthly Message and Factsheet click here

Monthly Message The Wutherich & Co. Composite was up 0.3% in July. This compares with the S&P/TSX up 1.1% and the BMO Small Cap Index down 1.0%. Here’s to number one! It has been a little while since we have been there, so we will crow about it while we can. We submit numbers to […]

Monthly Message The Wutherich & Co. Composite was up 2.2% in June. This compares with the S&P/TSX up 1.7% and the BMO Small Cap Index down 0.3%. In June, The Wutherich & Co. Portfolio crept forward with very little news affecting our companies. Though the winds of trade war are blowing, there does not appear […]

Monthly Message The Wutherich & Co. Composite was up 6.6% in May. This compares with the S&P/TSX up 3.1% and the BMO Small Cap Index up 2.3%. May of 2018 marks the 200th month of the Wutherich & Co. Composite! Clients that stayed with us for this entire period would have made 6.4 times their […]

Monthly Message The Wutherich & Co. Composite was down 0.3% in April. This compares with the S&P/TSX up 1.8% and the BMO Small Cap Index up 3.8%. The Wutherich & Co. Portfolio drifted down slightly during the month on very little news. The Canadian Indexes benefitted from a very strong move in Energy stocks, which […]

Monthly Message The Wutherich & Co. Composite was down 0.3% in March. This compares with the S&P/TSX down 0.2% and the BMO Small Cap Index down 1.6%. By the end of March, all of our companies in the Wutherich & Co. Portfolio had reported their most recent quarterly results. With a few exceptions, the numbers […]

Monthly Message The Wutherich & Co. Composite was down 2.7% in February. This compares with the S&P/TSX down 3.0% and the BMO Small Cap Index down 3.9%. The Wutherich & Co. Portfolio was down along with the markets in February. We don’t make too much of this as we always focus on the fundamentals of […]

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Dear friends and clients, We would like to remind you that the 2017 RRSP period deadline is March 1, 2018. If you have not made a contribution to your RRSP account with Wutherich & Company in a while, now may be a good time to do so. Feel free to get in touch with us […]

Monthly Message The Wutherich & Co. Composite was up 9.6% in December. This compares with the S&P/TSX up 1.2% and the BMO Small Cap Index up 3.6%. Well, better late than never. Our 9.6% result in December marked one of our largest monthly gains ever (November 2004 was our largest at 10.6%), dragging us into […]