Manager Profile · managements that are using it to create value for shareholders. This can be done...
Transcript of Manager Profile · managements that are using it to create value for shareholders. This can be done...
Manager Profile
Epoch Investment Partners, Inc. is a New York-based investment management firm established in 2004 by a group of highly experienced investment professionals led by Wall Street veteran William Priest. The firm is founded on their belief that the drivers of investment returns have changed, with the use of free cash flow to create value for shareholders now much more important. Epoch’s value-based, bottom-up approach incorporates this emphasis. The firm manages more than US$24 billion in assets.
The Epoch team
William Priest, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Chief Investment Officer, has more than 45 years of Wall Street experience. Before founding Epoch, Mr. Priest was Senior Partner and Portfolio Manager at Steinberg Priest Capital Management, LLC, which he joined in 2001. Prior
to that, he was Chairman and CEO of Credit Suisse Asset Management Americas and CEO and Portfolio Manager of its predecessor firm BEA Associates, which he co-founded in 1972.
Mr. Priest holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a former Chartered Public Accountant. He is a graduate of Duke University and the Wharton Graduate School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
David Pearl, Executive Vice-President and Co-Chief Investment Officer, has more than 26 years of investment experience. Prior to co-founding Epoch, he was Managing Director and Portfolio Manager at Steinberg Priest Capital Management. His previous experience also includes positions as a senior portfolio
manager at ING Furman Selz Asset Management, Citibank Global Asset Management, and BEA Associates. Mr. Pearl holds an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and a B.Sc. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Portfolio Managers:
Eric SappenfieldJanet Navon
Michael WelhoelterEric Citerne
Analysts:
Thomas HuJeffrey SmithKera Van ValenJohn Reddan Josepha Kaufman
David SiinoChris WoltersBill BoothEmily BakerMichael Jin
Investment philosophy
Epoch seeks to produce superior risk-adjusted returns by building portfolios of businesses with outstanding risk/reward profiles without taking a high degree of capital risk. Epoch managers analyze a business in the same manner as that of a private investor looking to purchase the entire company. They invest only in businesses that they understand and in which they have confidence in the financial statements. Epoch looks for businesses that generate free cash flow and securities that have unrecognized potential yet possess a combination of above-average yield, above-average free cash flow growth, and/or below-average valuation.
At the heart of Epoch’s approach is a focus on companies that have strong and growing free cash flow coupled with managements that are using it to create value for shareholders. This can be done by reinvesting in the business, making acquisitions and/or returning cash to shareholders through dividends, share repurchases or debt reduction.
Investment process
The Epoch investment process consists of:
n Analyzing the business – to determine the sustainability of the business, drivers of earnings, barriers to entry, and competitive advantages.
n Understanding the cash flow structure – by focusing on companies generating cash earnings and assessing the quality and character of those earnings to determine the net cash flow from the business.
n Relating cash flow to enterprise value – by examining the claims against net cash flow and determining their necessity to maintain and grow the business. Epoch evaluates how management will use this free cash flow, value the cash flow stream and compare it to the enterprise value to determine the attractiveness of the investment.
n Assessing management quality – by identifying management with a reputation and demonstrated ability to create shareholder value.
n Seek out unrecognized assets – by discovering, where possible, hidden, undervalued or underutilized assets, especially in small- and mid-cap companies.
Portfolio construction and risk management
Epoch diversifies portfolios across sectors, limits the size of individual holdings and uses a sell discipline with low portfolio turnover.
Specific stock selection
60-80 portfolio holdings for U.S. mandates80-125 portfolio holdings for global or non-U.S. mandates
Ongoing theme/stock evaluation
Portfolio Construction – Risk Control
Size limitations per holding Liquidity considerations
Sell discipline Diversification across attractive sectors
MSCI country & sector weightings as backdrop Ongoing risk monitoring
Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with mutual fund investments. Please read the prospectus before investing. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. ®CI Investments, the CI Investments design, American Managers and Global Managers are registered trademarks of CI Investments Inc.
Morningstar Awards © Morningstar Inc. All rights reserved.
Epoch funds n CI American Small Companies Fund*
n CI American Value Fund*
– Morningstar Canadian Investment Award Winner,
U.S. Equity Pooled Fund, 2005-2008, and U.S. Equity
Fund, 2009
n CI Global High Dividend Advantage Fund*†
n CI Global Small Companies Fund*
n CI Pacific Fund*
Co-manager:
n CI American Managers® Corporate Class n CI Global Managers® Corporate Class
* Also available in CI Corporate Class† This fund closed to new investment effective April 15 2013.
1303-0480_E (05/13)
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