Investing FAQs

Yes.  Authentic Asset Management Inc. / Gestion D’actifs Authentic Inc. has been regulated in Canada since 2015.  The firm is a registered Portfolio Manager in BC, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick, a registered Derivatives Portfolio Manager in Quebec and a registered Commodity Trading Manager in Ontario.

AUTHENTIC undergoes a financial audit on an annual basis.

The firm seeks to continually pursue best practices, and is a Member of the Portfolio Management Association of Canada (PMAC.org) and the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA.org).

We actively manage the following for clients:

  • AUTHENTIC Global Equity – Active Allocation Strategy

The strategy seeks to navigate through the challenging market conditions we anticipate ahead.

We invest in exchange-traded instruments because we value:

Real-time pricing to properly value securities and portfolios.

Market liquidity to transact as and when we deem fit.

Transparency for clients regarding the value of their assets.

Redemption periods that are measured in days not months.

We recognize that passive investing has worked well over recent years as most risk assets have appreciated significantly.  The traditional portfolio mix of 60% equities/40% bonds has also worked well for the same reason. 

We actively manage portfolios. What makes active investing particularly compelling now is our anticipation that real returns on most risk assets are set to diminish considerably during the market cycle ahead.  We think investors will need more creativity to secure decent returns in the decade ahead than at any point in the last 50 years. 

Active, nimble multifaceted investment strategies that can profit in all market conditions and utilize liquidity, flexibility, and rigorous analytical methods are enablers for generating more robust returns. 

Vulnerable conditions for generic investment mandates may include:

  • Elevated volatility levels
  • Debt at record highs
  • Richly valued stock &  bond markets overall
  • Rising inflation
  • Central bank regimes in transition
  • Aging demographics
  • Tepid productivity growth

We believe in active discretionary portfolio management, because:

  • Investment opportunities vary as market forces change.
  • A flexible, proactive approach to investing can deliver superior portfolio performance. 
  • Thoughtful investment strategies and timely market exposures can be rewarding.

Investment style – selective, active, and disciplined. We buy with conviction and sell with purpose – if we cannot do so, we are inclined to reduce risk.

Our analytical framework is broad and free flowing to promote collaboration, understanding and responsiveness.

We apply a variety of analytical elements to the opportunities & risk at hand:

  • Fundamental analysis
    – Macro, industry, sector, and micro level views to identify value gaps.
  • Technical overlays
    – May provide additional insight on when and where to enter positions. Based on market conditions, potential mean reverting tendencies, seasonality, and measures of deviation from fair value.
  • Risk Management
    – A key component of investment analytics. Evaluate sensitivities to delta spread, beta, and convexity risk and consider exposures to extreme market dislocations through scenario analysis and value-at-risk measures.
  • It is an opportunity to capture value when the price of an asset is above or below our estimate of fair value. That mispricing could be based on our macro risk view, the extent to which volatility should affect perceptions of value, financial imbalances including market overbought or oversold conditions, seasonality, policy impacts from changes in monetary and fiscal policy, event risks such as elections, and periods of volatility that can create forced selling conditions from which opportunities may arise.
  • Value gaps are always in a state of flux and the holding periods required to capture them can vary considerably and affect their relative attractiveness.
  •  
  • Creative Thinking 
    – Experience and skill supported by rigorous research are essential to unravel complexity – we layer in an ethos of innovative thinking.
  • Discipline
    – Discipline is essential to effective risk management, when to monetize gains or losses.
  • Agility
    – Anticipate change to capture value during various market episodes, understand what you know, and what you think you know.
  • Dynamic Allocation
    – Timely management of exposures based on market conditions coupled with the pursuit of differentiated sources of value can help generate required returns with less downside volatility over a market cycle. 

The AUTHENTIC Global Equity – Active Allocation Strategy is a separately managed account offering that incorporates sector preferences, company stock selections, and allocation decisions. 

It is the allocation decisions that make the offering especially unique.
AUTHENTIC actively adjusts the allocation of portfolio exposure to the equity market through the lens of seeking to meet the target 6% annual return, not to make the “market return”. 

Clients find this outcome-oriented approach attractive.
They also prefer that the asset allocation decision with respect to exposure to markets, reside with us.

A separately managed account is an account opened by the client and held in their own name, with the assets in the account managed exclusively by AUTHENTIC. The private client accounts that we manage are held by Interactive Brokers Canada Inc. a registered broker-dealer custodian.

A fund is a pool of assets of multiple clients in which the client owns a share of the fund. The value of that share is based on valuations made of the assets in the fund by a fund administrator. For example, AUTHENTIC is the trading advisor to a fund whose assets are held in custody with TD Securities and where the fund administrator is Apex Fund Services.

We bring seasoned institutional investment expertise directly to Clients without middlemen and without generic pre-packaged products. Our Clients are typically interested in longer term risk adjusted returns and value our expertise in positioning portfolios in anticipation of both rising and falling markets.

Here are some reasons why Clients value an AUTHENTIC relationship: 

  1. Clients of AUTHENTIC are interested in longer term risk adjusted returns and value our innovative investment focus.
  2. We bring seasoned institutional investment expertise directly to Clients without middle men.
  3. AUTHENTIC assesses returns and risks across asset classes and according to market conditions.
  4. Robust and straight-forward operating structure where we are the investors, directly acting on behalf of clients.
  5. Clients appreciate our transparency and client-first ethos, where conflicts of interest are not a client concern.

 

We look forward to speaking with you.