Fiera Capital Corporation (FSZ) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Hello, and thank you for joining us. With me today is Andy Gardner, the Senior Portfolio Manager for the Fiera Atlas Global Company Strategy, bringing us over 17 years of industry experience.

Welcome, Andy. I hear you talk a lot about exceptional companies. So what are they?

Exceptional companies are by our own definition, those companies that can be relied upon to increase their intrinsic value year in, year out, persistently and consistently and for a long period of time. And our wealth creation framework is the rule book, which enables us to apply that exceptional label. So every company is rigorously assessed according to this rule book.

So let me ask you this. How do you identify them?

There are 4 key characteristics we're looking for. First and foremost, it is a competitive advantage. This is the ultimate test of whether the profit is superior and sustainable for a long period of time, much easier said than done. Secondly, it is capital allocation. This is how well management spend the cash flows produced by that competitive advantage. Do they have the scale to identify new projects that can also deliver high returns and do they demonstrate good governance and discipline such as recognizing when there is a genuine excess cash flow that would be better given back to shareholders. Thirdly, runways for growth is an assessment of whether the company is exposed to long-term structural growth trends. companies that can catch the growth tailwinds from structural shifts in the economic pie rather than solely relying on growth in the size of the pie are far better placed to profitably expand their cash flows through time as well as protect those cash flows during an economic downturn. Last but not least, it is predictability. And predictability speaks to the stability of the end market that a company sells into as well as the reliability of the business model. For example, we will evaluate the nature of the relationship between the company and their customer and the more ongoing, recurring and nondiscretionary the relationship, the more stable the cash flows we receive.

It sounds like you demand a lot from the companies?

Yes. You could say we are very fussy. And the reason we are so fussy about what we invest in is because we genuinely believe it provides us with the best chance of delivering upon our dual mandate for our investors, both return and risk.

So Andy, one last question. How does ESG factor into your definition of an exceptional company?

ESG is very aligned with our philosophy because we want companies that can demonstrate financial sustainability over the long term. And so ESG has always been integrated into our process from the very beginning. For us, it's a qualitative assessment of every company by evaluating ESG impacts on each of those 4 key pillars of wealth creation. As an outcome of this assessment, we will adjust our ranking and hurdle rates where necessary. Also, just as with any risk, we may choose to engage where it is appropriate to do so. But most likely, if the risk is deemed too high, we simply will not invest. Essentially, what I'm saying is that our companies tend to be of a very high standard, but we will always take action when we believe it is warranted.

Fantastic. Thank you so much for joining us.