In this episode, we discuss the global equity strategy with Christian Deckart, chief investment officer and portfolio manager at Mawer. Christian stresses managing absolute risk over relative risk for better long-term outcomes and details Mawer’s approach to risk management, focusing on decision-making, portfolio risks, and external factors such as government debt and rising rates. He also discusses adapting to AI trends, preferring companies leveraging AI applications over infrastructure investments. He emphasizes maintaining focus on fundamentals amid evolving global and technological landscapes.

Key Takeaways:

• Effective risk management begins with a sound decision-making culture, clear accountability, and thorough evaluation of securities, portfolios, and systemic exposures to avoid unintended biases.
• Market and portfolio vulnerabilities include rising government debt, interest rate shocks, hidden real estate losses, over-specialized economies, and investor psychology driven by greed and fear. Disciplined risk management and avoiding overreliance or shortsighted behaviors in markets are important keys to success.
• While AI and semiconductor stocks dominate attention, there are overlooked opportunities in the broader U.S. market, diverse, underappreciated companies that meet rigorous criteria at attractive valuations.
• Christian highlights investments with potential to leverage AI applications for competitive advantage and long-term profitability beyond initial AI infrastructure trends.
• While the global equity strategy's absolute performance in 2024 is strong, relative performance lags the benchmark due to its different composition, particularly the focus on stable, "boring" businesses versus high-growth sectors like AI infrastructure.
• Christian attributes the global equity strategy's underperformance to its broader diversification compared to the benchmark, with a larger focus on stable, recurring businesses and less emphasis on high-growth sectors like AI, particularly in the U.S. market.

Host Name and title:
Rob Campbell, CFA
Mawer Institutional Portfolio Manager

Guest names and titles:
Christian Deckart, CFA, PhD
Director, Chief Investment Officer, Portfolio Manager

For more details and full transcript visit: https://mawer.com/the-art-of-boring/podcast

This episode is available for download anywhere you get your podcasts.

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Founded in 1974, Mawer is a privately owned independent investment firm managing assets for institutional and individual investors. Mawer employs over 250 people in Canada, U.S., and Singapore. Visit Mawer at https://www.mawer.com.

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