Member Documents

Market Outlook

January 29th, 2010

"We believe the S&P 500 will close out the year at 1320 ..." This is a recent quote from one of the typical market outlooks one finds at this time of year. Exactly how do you get a target of 1320 on ...

Emerging Markets - The only place to be

January 22nd, 2010

Developed world ... sounds like we're all done. It's been a good run, now pack up your bags and get the heck outta here. The picture of a massive growth phase in emerging markets is hard to argue. The headlines above are ...

Year in Review

January 8th, 2010

We are often asked by potential new clients what our performance looks like through a cycle? When does our style work best and when does it not? Well the good news is we seem to understand our process and how it responds ...

It's all about your expectations!

December 11th, 2009

I recently had the pleasure of seeing my dentist for a root canal. Even typing the words sends a jolt through my spine, but you know what it wasn't that bad. I expected it to be terrible and when it wasn't I ...

What is it you do again?

November 6th, 2009

Our philosophy - is to buy a portfolio of sustainable and enduring businesses run by capable, committed and candid people. We select equities on the basis of good value. We hold positions over an indefinite period of time.

A perspective on time

October 23rd, 2009

This week the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board unveiled measures to cut executive pay at firms which were recently bailed out. In addition, they will monitor banks' pay policies to ensure they don't promote excessive risk taking. Any measures which ...

Quarterly Review

October 16th, 2009

During the third quarter of 2009 the Canadian market saw widespread appreciation as eight of ten sectors posted gains. The small cap market was even stronger with nearly every sector posting positive double digit returns. The areas which performed the best were ...

Hakuna Matata

September 11th, 2009

You may recognize the above lyrics from the award winning Walt Disney production "The Lion King". In case you have forgotten, when the baby lion Simba was distraught along came his new found friends, the warthog Pumbba and the lemur Timon. They ...

Buy our Fund and we'll give you a ...

August 21st, 2009

What is it going to take for you to put some of your hard earned cash into our Funds? Decent performance and protection of your nest-egg are important criteria but that's not enough is it? We know what you are waiting for: ...

That car won't pay you dividends

July 17th, 2009

As investors, we are often influenced by numbers and reports based on the near term. It is very apparent that the majority of businesses in the economy are being negatively impacted by the current circumstances. What we have tried to do is ...

Q2 2009 - At a glance

July 10th, 2009

The Fund rose approximately 16.0% (before fees) in the quarter compared to a gain of 29.7% for the benchmark BMO Small Cap Index (unweighted). The under-performance relative to the benchmark was primarily a result of a continued large underweight in the Materials ...

Return on Equity

June 19th, 2009

We often speak of financial return and quality interchangeably around the hallowed halls of the QV campus. Speaking of our campus, we are about 60,000 square feet, sorry make that 6,000 square feet, of comfortable office space attained during the peak of ...

Cyclicals versus Defensives

June 12th, 2009

Is nothing sacred in this upside down world we live in anymore? Just when you think you know how to beat the market by selling in May and going away, it doesn't seem to work. How about the old adage, "don't fight ...

Earnings Season

May 8th, 2009

It's been a busy week with many of our companies reporting their quarterly earnings. Some have been relatively good and others down right terrible. The consensus earnings expectations for the market have been reduced significantly for 2009 after market analysts were slow ...

Cash is King...for now

April 3rd, 2009

The best performing investors over the past 12-18 months have hoarded cash, a good call to say the least. Currently, the average investor is acting as they have historically; they are chasing what has worked rather than considering the opportunity or risk ...

Seasons Change

March 20th, 2009

After a cold winter we welcome with open arms the first day of spring. But as a radio commentator reminded us, "it's only 274 days until winter again". It is not only those directly involved in the investment industry which have become ...

Don't Buy Stocks for 2009!!!

February 20th, 2009

Two weeks ago the subtitle of our letter was -
Investment Manager Marketing - BEWARE. Our marketing department would be outraged by our title in this week's letter. But hold on, before we are delegated back to the "research room" let us ...

Quality - It's all how you define it

February 6th, 2009

Investment Manager Marketing - BEWARE
Our portfolio of quality companies with strong management, blah blah blah. How many times have investors heard about the quality companies their manager owns? Just this week there was a column on a hedge fund manager ...

2008 Portfolio Review

January 9th, 2009

PERFORMANCE - The QV Canadian small cap model portfolio declined 16.97% in the quarter, versus a loss of 30.41% for the benchmark BMO Small Cap Index (unweighted). The annual loss for the Fund was 29.54% versus a decline of 49.68% for the ...

Leon's Furniture, Transcontinental - Jugovic and Cooke's Manager Picks
By David Plett, FP Trading Desk, Jan 07, 2009

January 7th, 2009

"If you look at what the market expects in terms of earnings growth, it's still too high. It needs to revert to a more normal level and that is the process that the market will work through this year. At the same ...

Investment Industry - Ba Humbug

December 19th, 2008

Sorry for the less than cheery title to our final letter of the year, but how else do you describe it? You may find it surprising though, we are not in fact referring to the 2008 stock market crash. Rather, the recent ...

The Dreaded "R" Word

December 5th, 2008

In times like these no one has the answers. Neither the government, nor the self-proclaimed economic experts have instilled much confidence in the public. People are becoming more and more uneasy with the situation and want answers. In this regard it appears ...

Just Your Average Joe

October 31st, 2008

Here we are, Halloween, one of my favourite times of the year. Ahhh, the tootsie rolls and the little munchkins dressed up as spooky ghosts and goblins is just the diversion most of us need right now. To top it off, the ...

Setting Expectations

September 26th, 2008

There has been so much headline news yet so little of it seems to make much difference in this environment. The investment in Goldman Sachs by Berkshire Hathaway early in the week seemed to be a positive, for about six minutes. The ...

Making up Losses

August 22nd, 2008

On occasion we've been asked, "what's the point of being cautious and defensive in your investing, after all you invest in stocks to make money don't you?" It is our belief that you invest not to maximize gains but rather to minimize ...

Inside the Fund

July 25th, 2008

That's right, the title says it all, this week we're talking about the portfolio. No economics, no monetary reports, and no commodity reflections - just the portfolio. For those of you who read this Update you know our outlook on the economy ...

Barometric Pressure = 101.1 kilopascals

June 13th, 2008

Before we get into the hot topics of the past five days lets talk about the weather. Yes, for much of history the weather has been a topic of discussion for both idle chit chat as well as major global events. Today ...

Don't you guys get it ?!?!

May 23rd, 2008

Here we go, we're ready for the criticism, as they say, "Bring it on". What has been the area of the stock market which has been hugely successful in the past three to four months? The answer, commodity stocks particularly energy companies. ...

Oil, Gas, and Dilly Bars

May 9th, 2008

Well, we finally did it. After a number of years of talking about attending the Berkshire AGM, we finally packed our bags and joined the other 30,000 or so people making their way to Omaha.

Keeping us on our toes!

April 18th, 2008

One of our long time supporters in the Fund recently sent us an e-mail inquiring about some of our holdings. We thought that instead of giving you the usual macroeconomic outlook we'd share our thoughts on the things which matter most, individual ...

Trust and Truth

March 28th, 2008

A number of months back in our Small Cap Update we discussed the concept of "trust". Without it confidence in the system is lost, a terrible occurrence and one difficult to repair. Sometimes the question of truth is not as blatantly violated ...

Psst: A fund that practices ethical investing can still make money
Investors Digest, August 17, 2007

August 17th, 2007

Mention socially responsible investing and tree huggers often come to mind. But the linkage is inaccurate, says Joe Jugovic, who runs a small-cap portfolio for the Ethical Funds Co. of Vancouver. Indeed, for Mr. Jugovic, a good company above all is one ...

Sounding Like a Broken Record

May 27th, 2007

Having to write a weekly investment letter can be challenging at times. You often feel like you're blathering over the same stuff week-in and week-out.

Small-cap ethical fund targets high profitability, lower risk
Investment Executive, Mid-January 2007

January 15th, 2007

Joe Jugovic, the 33-year-old co-manager of Ethical Special Equity Fund, recalls the anxiety he felt about two months ago, when he stepped into the market and bought a handful of income trusts that had lost an average of 30% in four days. ...