We start every day in the exact same position:

We have no idea where we’re going but we know exactly how to get there.

Our approach has successfully navigated us through worse times than today including bubble blow ups, great recessions and global pandemics. Like any other day, our thinking and actions are guided by our approach. What does “guided by our approach” mean on days like this?

Here are just three quick examples.

1. Our approach helps put us in a position of strength before there is a problem.

We own a collection of durable businesses that we believe are well positioned to take on uncertainty. The opposite of a durable business is a fragile one. An example of a fragile business would be a company that started today with a lot of debt. Almost every one of our businesses is in a position to get stronger in the face of all the uncertainty in the market today. That should translate into them winning more than competitors who might be fragile. As crazy as it sounds, the future of a durable business is actually better today than it was before yesterday’s disruptive tariff news. That’s the great thing about owning businesses in a position of strength. We’re taking advantage of dislocations to add to our durable business holdings. This morning alone, we added to 15 of our global positions.

2. For our newer team members, it’s worth pointing out that our approach helps us live in a narrow emotional band.

Most stock market participants know the price of a security they own but not its value. There’s very little in life as uncomfortable as watching the price of something you own go down when you don’t know what the value of that something is. That isn’t a recipe for living in a narrow emotional band. It’s our job to know the future value of our businesses in the same way that the average person on the street might know the value of a car or a sweater. If I was selling fancy cars for $1, an average person would buy as many as they could because they’re aware of the discrepancy between its price and value. Being prepared and sticking to the approach allows us to capitalize on behavior from others who don’t know the value of what they own. Said differently, marrying our approach with a narrow emotional band allows us to capitalize on mistakes made by others on days like this. I’m sure it’s not a widely shared sentiment, but the partners on the Investment Team are grateful for days like these as they make our job easier to deliver against the trust our clients place in us.

3. Ultimately the approach is about buying growth without paying for it. Uncertainty amplifies our ability to do just that.

Greg and TJ just told me that the last time we were this active on the global side was during the first quarter of Covid. That was exactly five years ago. I went onto Morningstar to look up our 5-year numbers as of last night. Global F’s CAGR was 14.7%, Global Growth & Income F’s CAGR was 12.3%. Covid was awful for so many different reasons, but it provided one heck of an opportunity to buy growth for free. Today’s uncertainty should make for a good starting point to look back on.

Tye

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Annualized total returns, net of fees (excluding advisory fees), in C$. As at March 31, 2025.
EdgePoint Global Portfolio, Series F – YTD: 3.09%, 1-year: 6.80%, 3-year: 8.98%, 5-year: 13.84%, 10-year: 8.30%, 15-year: 11.40%, Since inception (Nov. 17, 2008): 13.34%;
EdgePoint Global Growth & Income Portfolio, Series F – YTD: 2.12%, 1-year: 6.98%, 3-year: 8.24%, 5-year: 11.73%, 10-year: 7.28%, 15-year: 9.66%, Since inception (Nov. 17, 2008): 11.21%.

Series F is available to investors in a fee-based/advisory fee arrangement and doesn’t require EdgePoint to incur distribution costs in the form of trailing commissions to dealers.