Investment principles

Our investment approach is based on stable principles which have been rigorously applied for nearly 20 years and steer clear of fashionable trends.

Risk

We aim to assess and address every risk factor we can identify. To do this, we apply a disciplined methodology based on our own research and on company valuations.

A long-term outlook

We take a long-term view in our investment process as forecasting short-term fluctuations on the financial markets is a game of chance. The financial markets reflect economic reality and company fundamentals only over the long term.

Active management

Systematic research for attractive opportunities needs active management, not index tracking. We construct our portfolios by selecting stocks irrespective of the structure of the benchmark index. The index is only used to measure the fund’s performance.

Investment

When we invest in a company, we treat the investment as if we were buying the whole company. We are highly selective in our investment process and apply a conviction-based management approach.

Valuation

‘Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.’ The price paid determines the return. We invest with a safety margin in order to reduce the risk of losses.

Advantages for our BL funds range

A management approach that emphasises risk control tends to generate above-average performance across a full equity market cycle (i.e. an average of 15 years). Due to the asymmetrical nature of profits and losses, the lag accumulated during periods of equity market euphoria is generally more than offset by withstanding the fall better during correction phases. The portfolios managed according to this approach tend to perform better and be less volatile over a full equity market cycle.