Institutional Investment Management Philosophy

Our philosophy and primary focus for you is capital preservation, while combining growth and income when needed. Our specialized approach aligns our expertise with the your needs and goals. 

  • Focus on Risk Management – Prime objective is to preserve capital

  • Lower overall volatility of portfolio

  • Participate in market upside and minimize downside exposure

  • Adhere to pre-established rules for making changes to the portfolio

  • Diversify the portfolio across industry sectors

  • Choose high quality companies in each sector according to objective guidelines

Investment Approach

At RBC Dominion Securities we understand the challenges and complexities that go into managing institutional assets and we have a proven, disciplined process in place to knowledgeably advise Foundations, Endowments, Not-for-Profit Organizations, Institutions and Municipal Organizations.

Our specialized approach aligns our expertise with your needs and goals to best serve your Fiduciary directives. Our methodology begins with a comprehensive overall assessment, leading to the design and/or enhancement of your Investment Policy Statement (IPS).

The purpose of an IPS is to provide a clear understanding of the investment goals, objectives, and management policies applicable. The IPS establishes the guidelines for the long-term strategic investment plan and will also define the criteria for monitoring, evaluating and reviewing the investments.

Our Team’s approach and that of RBC Dominion Securities is to build an investment portfolio that is consistent with the your institutions Investment Policy Statement (“IPS”) with special attention to the:

  • Objectives

  • Purpose of the Portfolio

  • Liquidity Constraints and/or Spending Policies

  • Time Horizon

  • Return Expectations of the investment portfolio in order to create an:

  • Asset Allocation Policy

Once we have created an Asset Allocation Policy, we select the:

  • Geographic Allocations

  • Security Selection and Sector Diversification

  • Investment Managers

Investment Manager styles are chosen to be consistent with the IPS considering return expectations and preserving principal within the portfolio.

Each portfolio is back-tested for at least three and five year time periods; and compared to the appropriate benchmarks for return and risk analysis.

With every portfolio, the selection of managers is based on quality of manager, suitability of mandate to the IPS, the balance of value and growth managers and how the managers have been able to outperform in both rising and declining markets.

Investment Style

Our investment program knits together style specialists with both equities and fixed income. Through the use of multiple managers comprehensive, multi-level diversification is achieved. The following are considered and incorporated:

  • Asset Allocation

  • Style Diversification

  • Market Capitalization diversification (where appropriate)

  • Manager Style (Growth, Value, Core)

  • Investment Counselling Firms

 

The RBC Money Manager Strategy

RBC Dominion Securities incorporates a “multi-asset, multi-style, multi-manager” approach to investing, mitigating potential risks associated with using single money managers. Portfolios are diversified by asset class in proportion to specific long-term investment objectives and risk tolerance.  Multi-style managers who specialize in different investment styles which may include a combination of growth, value and multi-cap managers are carefully combined.  As one of the leading financial services organizations in Canada, we have the ability to engage world-class independent multiple managers.   We employ rigorous due diligence to scrutinize and identify managers that have demonstrated long-term, consistent quality and merit.  Ultimately, this ensures excellence and objectivity as the foreground for the management of your investments.

We engage a multi-manager approach to mitigate any potential risks associated with using money managers.   Our recommendation integrates a combination of the internal money management strengths of RBC as well as engaging world class, third-party money managers and research firms. Monitoring of the managers on a regular basis (i.e. the firm, their process, their performance etc.), is designed to uncover any deteriorating trends or other factors that can lead to excessive volatility or long-term underperformance.  We are proactively seeking to increase our likelihood of success while preventing failures. Managers may be diversified by asset class, investment style (i.e. Value, Growth, GARP or Core), or market capitalization.