Value Opportunities Strategy
We provide customized separate account portfolio management with an active, value-oriented investment strategy. Our selection universe includes small-cap companies that have the capability and management expertise to reach mid-cap valuations and mid to large-cap companies that have temporarily fallen out of favor. We also invest in small to mid-cap divestitures from larger companies that may be underappreciated by the market if they meet our selection criteria.
Our investment process includes:
- Quantitative Screening for Value Opportunities
- Qualitative Research
- Valuation Assessment and Technical Analysis
- Security Selection
- Portfolio Construction
- Ongoing Review of Portfolio Holdings and Search for New Opportunities
Our screening, research and valuation assessment process has evolved with nearly three decades of investment experience. Our process is designed to identify undervalued investment opportunities that offer attractive risk-adjusted appreciation potential with a margin of safety supported by valuable assets net of debt. Portfolios are constructed based on our specific selection criteria and mostly consist of weightings in the 3 to 10% range depending on the time period held and extent to which a position has appreciated in relation to the portfolio. Higher weighted positions have typically been in the strategy for longer time periods and are most often our best performers. New positions are typically initiated in the 3 to 5% weighting range and sometimes purchased at varied time and price intervals.
In many cases, value investment opportunities take discipline and patience to develop. As a result, our portfolio turnover rate has historically been relatively low in the 20 to 35% range annually. Investments are made when we can identify potential catalysts that we believe could meaningfully increase shareholder value over our anticipated time horizon, which can vary based on specific opportunties and market conditions. We periodically invest in event-driven special situations on a select basis which have included spin-offs and reorganized new issues. We've also had success investing in companies that eventually became merger and acquisition targets. Since the inception of our strategy, positions that have been acquired/merged into suitor companies at substantial premiums (or received take-over offers that were rejected in some cases) include:
El Paso, Motorola Mobility, Sprint, D.E. Master Blenders, Hillshire Brands,TECO Energy, Diamond Foods, Questar, Dreamworks Animation, Hershey Foods, TiVo, Mead Johnson Nutrition, Scripps Networks, Snyder's-Lance, Validus Holdings, Andeavor, Goldcorp and Flexion Therapeutics.
Positions are sold if we achieve our objective, or if the investment no longer meets our selection criteria due to a permanent impairment or invalidated catalysts. We typically rotate out of companies when they achieve premium or large-cap valuations to free up capital for new opportunities based on market conditions.
We invest in undervalued companies that have the ability to generate cash flow with valuable assets net of debt service, which can provide a measure of downside risk protection.