FAQ

Yes. 100%. We believe in total alignment with our clients. All our staff are invested in the same equities, fixed income, and preferred shares as our clients, and most hold units of the Evans Value Fund too.

We meet with potential clients to discuss their current circumstances. This is what is called the Know-Your-Client (KYC) process. We need to get to know you, your ability and willingness to accept risk, your financial situation and potential income needs, the reason you want to invest (short term goals like saving for a house or car, or longer-term ones, such as retirement) and investment objectives.

Risk Tolerance:
How comfortable are you investing in stocks that on their own, can be highly volatile in the short term? We have a client questionnaire to help determine your overall ability and willingness to handle risk.

Income Needs:
Do you require any income monthly, quarterly, or annually from your investment portfolio? If not now, in the future?

Time Horizon:
Over what time horizon are you planning to invest to achieve your personal, family and/or business investment objectives? Are there any big events (children’s tuition fees, house purchase, etc.) for which you will require a large sum of money? When are they?

Once we have developed your investment profile, we decide which asset mix best meets your needs. We assist you with completing the appropriate paperwork and take care of all the details of transferring assets into your new account with us. Your Portfolio Manager will look at your current portfolio and will sell securities that do not meet your investment criteria. We review your asset mix regularly to ensure it reflects your financial circumstances and expectations. We offer the following general asset mixes, but can tailor them to your personal circumstances:

This depends on the type of account you’re opening. After the initial KYC process is completed, a straightforward personal account can often be opened in a few days. Registered accounts take a few days longer. With more complex accounts, such as trusts or estates, the timeline can vary.

Once your account has been opened, we can start managing your portfolio within 24 to 48 hours following a cash deposit. If assets are transferred in kind from another institution, non-registered accounts will take approximately two weeks to be moved over whereas registered accounts take a little longer. In particular, transferring GICs in-kind is a very manual process and can take a few weeks.

We can manage all your accounts separately or as a single cost-efficient alternative.

When people think of types of investments, they might only think about classes of stocks, bonds and mutual funds, but in recent years there has been a shift to consider the philosophy of the company issuing the shares, not just the numbers. The concept of “Ethical Mutual Funds”, which first came to mainstream prominence in the 1980’s, has expanded, and today there is ESG (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance) investing, which evaluates the extent to which a corporation works towards social goals instead of just seeking to maximize profits on behalf of the corporation’s shareholders.

Currently, we do not offer a solution that is in line with the principles of ESG investing. However, since each portfolio we manage is customized to a client’s circumstances, we can easily exclude any sector, company, or security you wish. We would be happy to discuss tailoring your holdings accordingly.

If you are interested in learning more about the investment approach we use, you may find the following books useful:

Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits by Philip A. Fisher (John Wiley & Sons)
Philip Fisher became a securities analyst in 1928 and made his name by espousing the importance of extensive research and owning only a few growth companies. This book has become an investment classic, as Fisher’s techniques enable one to make intelligent investment decisions.

Security Analysis by Benjamin Graham and David Dodd Cottle (McGraw-Hill)
This is what we consider the ultimate textbook on investing, though it is admittedly a very heavy read. This book provides the tools to analyse the inherent value of a business. At 700 pages, it is a lengthy but invaluable guide for analyzing financial statements.

One Up on Wall Street by Peter Lynch with John Rothchild (Simon & Shuster)
This folksy but wise book was written by the very successful manager of the Fidelity Magellan Fund, and is full of practical advice. Peter Lynch had hundreds of stocks in his portfolio, while Phil Fisher had only a few, yet both were successful. Perhaps Warren Buffett is correct when he states that “each investor needs to paint his own canvas”. The principles these great investors use are much the same; the difference is in their application.

The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America by Warren Buffett and Lawrence Cunningham (The Cunningham Group) 
This book organizes Warren Buffett’s investment views thematically. If you do not have the time or the inclination to read the last twenty years’ worth of Berkshire Hathaway annual reports, this book is an excellent alternative.

The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing by Benjamin Graham (Harper Business) 
Warren Buffett has said that he rereads Chapter 20 of this book (called “Margin of Safety”) annually, because it is the central concept of investing to him. After reading Graham’s biography and discovering that from 1929 to 1932 the cumulative losses for his partnership were 70 percent, it is understandable that Margin of Safety is the cornerstone of his own approach as well. This makes The Intelligent Investor a must-read book.

Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist by Roger Lowenstein (Main Street Books) 
This is the definitive biography of Warren Buffett, one of the greatest investors of all time. It tells the tale of this legendary mid-American who turned $10,000 in 1956 into $350 million today.

Value Investing: A Balanced Approach by Marty Whitman (Wiley)

John Neff on Investing by John Neff (John Wiley & Sons)

Beating the Street by Peter Lynch (Simon & Schuster)

Margin of Safety by Seth Klarman (HarperBusiness)

The Warren Buffett Way: Investment Strategies of the World’s Greatest Investor by Robert G. Hagstrom (Wiley)

Contrarian Investment Strategies: The Next Generation by David Dreman (Simon & Schuster)

The Little Book of Value Investing by Christopher Browne (Wiley)