Quality Growth Boutique

AI-driven momentum trades and non-US value dominated markets in 2025. However, the sustainability of these trends remains uncertain, particularly given unproven ROI of AI investments. Amid this backdrop, quality stocks emerge as a prudent choice, offering both resilience and steady growth potential.

International equities offer long-term structural growth opportunities. Europe is undergoing an economic transformation through defense, technology, and infrastructure investments. In our view, rising US risks, like fiscal deficits, underscore the need for diversification.

Markets inevitably shift, but global diversification endures. A thoughtfully constructed portfolio that combines leading US and non-US companies can offer meaningful advantages to long-term investors: enhanced performance potential, compelling valuations and access to growth industries where the US lags.

Quitting is often misunderstood as weakness. But in investing, selling is the overlooked half of decision-making, hindered by biases like sunk cost fallacy or FOMO. In our view, knowing when to walk away is essential for preserving capital and seizing better opportunities.

The pace of progress in AI is extraordinary. But will it displace popular music or broader media in the near term? We continue to monitor developments closely, particularly in hybrid human-AI creative workflows, evolving rights frameworks, and new monetization models that could shift competitive dynamics over time.

In our latest Quality Conversations videos, discover how quality companies—those with strong franchises, pricing power, and unlevered balance sheets—can thrive in uncertain markets. By navigating inflation, shifting economic cycles, and interest rate volatility, these "masters of their own destiny" appear to offer resilience and long-term growth potential.

From deep dives into state and federal probes, to conversations with corporate clients and health plan auditors, our investigative analyst helped identify early warning signs of UnitedHealth Group’ s shift from market leader to a company facing regulatory liability. This case study highlights the benefits that former investigative journalists bring to the Quality Growth research process.

You can now watch the replay of our webinar “Steering through tougher conditions: finding resilience in quality”.

The AI boom has increased demand for data centers, but US electric utilities lack the capacity to power them. This has led to a rise in self-generation solutions, benefiting companies like Schneider Electric and National Grid. The issue was a key theme at the recent Data Center Dynamics trade show.

Uncertainty and volatility in today’s environment have highlighted the benefits of our disciplined Quality Growth philosophy, focused on proven businesses with inherent resilience and durability. Given the narrow tailwinds from the prior two years, select quality companies are attractively valued given their defensive growth characteristics.

As the exuberance we’ve seen over the past few years fades, our Quality Growth team looks to find resilience in industries that are shielded from the effects of tariffs and the volatility around AI.

How do you build the perfect portfolio? Portfolio construction is a little like gourmet cooking, where quality ingredients are combined to create a balanced meal. Portfolio Manager David Souccar reveals our view on what’s at the heart of that delicate balance between risk and return.