Camber's investment approach and historical returns

Historically, our investment returns have been in line with market returns, ~10% per year on average for an all-stock portfolio*. Our portfolios are built using Nobel Prize winning research. They are broadly diversified, low-cost, and tilted to emphasize areas of higher expected returns.

Philosophy 
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If you are looking for hot stock tips, unfortunately we are not that sort of firm. We believe that evidence will always outperform emotions.

At Camber, our disciplined approach to investing can be distilled into the following principles:

1. Diversify broadly. Allocate stocks and bonds not only to Canada and USA, but globally across Europe, Asia, and emerging markets.‍
2. Invest through a long-term lens. Enduring short-term volatility is the cost paid for higher investment returns. The greatest ingredient to investing is time in the market — so don’t waste it on the sidelines.‍
3. Keep costs down. Use low-cost investment vehicles and minimize transaction costs. ‍
4. Emphasize areas of higher expected return. Tilt portfolios to small-cap and value stocks to improve expected portfolio returns. ‍
5. Respect the research. Evidence shows that picking individual stocks is highly unlikely to produce favourable long-term results.  Instead, Camber focuses on capturing market returns efficiently. ‍
6. Exercise daily vigilance. As markets move and prices change, portfolios are rebalanced to capture returns and bring exposures back in line.‍
7. Be tax-efficient. Use tax-advantaged and registered accounts wisely. Implement tax-loss harvesting strategies, or portfolio overlays, to delay payment. ‍
8. Plan for success. Net performance improvements come more easily and consistently from financial planning than from attempting to increase gross returns through investment performance. ‍
9. Be disciplined. The future is unknowable; no optimal solution exists. In this environment, thinking should transition from seeking brilliance to avoiding stupidity.

What our portfolios look like

Camber’s portfolios invest across 10,000+ individual companies operating in more than 40+ countries, touching all major sectors of the economy. We invest in today’s (and tomorrow’s) greatest companies.  

Camber efficiently executes this mandate through our partners at Dimensional — an institutional asset manager with over 40 years of experience, more than 1,400 investment professionals, operating across 13 global offices, and managing more than $800 billion. 

Each portfolio we build is unique to our clients’ needs. Here is a portfolio example Dimensional Global Equity Portfolio, DFA607 _{(as of March 2022):}

‍Why Dimensional?

Camber’s beliefs, values, standards, and philosophies align with no other solution as eloquently as Dimensional. 

Dimensional is a long-standing, reputable organization operating globally. Founded in 1981, Dimensional has helped transform the field of finance, with several founders being recognized as Nobel laureates in economic sciences.

If you care to learn more about Dimensional, please visit their website.

Camber is not beholden to Dimensional and receives no compensation to use their products. We select Dimensional as our investment vehicle of choice because our beliefs, values, standards, and investment philosophies align — they are the best solution for our clients’ money (and our own!).

What have been investment returns for Camber clients?
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Camber takes a systematic approach to investing, which liberates our portfolios from the most destructive forces: human emotions and behavioural bias.

While the media and financial prognosticators highlight endless reasons to feel pessimistic about markets, the evidence shows there are attractive opportunities for long-term investors.    

(Dimension Global Equity Portfolio, DFA607)

_{*Annualized number is presented as an approximation by multiplying the monthly number by the square root of the number of periods in a year. Please note that the number computed from annual data may differ materially from this estimate.}