Our investment philosophy meshes top-down macroeconomic indicators with bottom-up fundamental research. We then use a disciplined portfolio construction process to ensure a client's investment objectives and risk tolerances are met. On the macro front, some of the more important factors and indicators that we monitor include: GDP Growth (domestic, US and international), inflation v deflation, interest rates (particularly domestic v US), consumer price index (CPI), the growing regulatory environment (Basel III) and jobs.

On the bottom-up research front, we would best describe our style as Fundamental 'Core' Research which we use for both bond and stock selection. We focus on the best attributes from both 'Growth' and 'Value' investing. Four of our top research criteria are: 1) Free Cash Flow (supports the dividend and dividend growth), 2) Strong Balance Sheet, 3) Proven Management (both vision and execution), and 4) Good Relative Valuation. In our ongoing search for best in breed, we do not want to exclude any particular subsector. Note that pure 'Value' investors avoid Gold and Technology companies based on high P/NAV or P/Es respectively while pure 'Growth' investors avoid REITs and Utilities. We prefer to search for value in all of the above. Investment styles that we do NOT subscribe too include: momentum, technicians/chartists, black box or quant.

During the research process, we will determine whether an investable company is more appropriate for either an equity investment or a fixed income investment. One of the determining factors will be the availability of suitable fixed income vehicles. Within the bond universe, we are currently focused on the midterm part of the yield curve. We have avoided a ladder approach in our holdings as we find that short rates are too low to provide meaningful income returns and longer midterm bonds offer unnecessary capital loss risk. Our bond sector weights have favoured high quality corporate bonds due to the significantly higher yield spreads over governments that have been available. Furthermore, we favour Federal bonds over Provincials and Provincials over Municipals.