Investment Philosophy and Strategy

We practice careful preparation rather than hopeful prediction.

“Chance favors the prepared mind” – Louis Pasteur

Our Investment Philosophy:

JSA invests in companies we can be proud to own, and we believe have the potential to provide long-term investment success. Looking at how a company behaves on social and environmental issues is one way to identify capable, forward-thinking management-an important factor in long-term success. The number of companies we've owned for more than 10 years shows the validity of this philosophy.

We search for opportunities on a global scale. These may be large or small companies, with stable or volatile stocks, across most industries and countries.

We strive to position our portfolios to take advantage of important global economic trends and substantial shifts in investor preferences. Our portfolios are deliberately and gradually reallocated toward the most attractive investment sectors.

We do our own research to uncover companies with strong, long-term gain potential. We follow the examples of Peter Lynch and Warren Buffett, who are modern-day stock market legends. They've achieved that status by developing a good eye for the worth of a business, and that's what we strive to do.

Our Investment Strategy:

We regularly measure portfolio volatility to keep it consistent with investment objectives. It's our goal to keep the volatility (risk) of your portfolio within your comfort zone. We add bonds to portfolios as needed to reduce volatility and increase current income, placing them in a maturity ladder in an effort to obtain higher than average interest income. Bonds are selected for minimum credit risk.

Portfolio diversification is a priority, yet we gradually overweight and underweight portfolios to take advantage of, or protect against, major developments in the global economy.

JSA takes advantage of opportunities wherever we believe they exist. Simply put, we work to find good companies at reasonable prices and hold on to them. These can be large or small stocks, risky or conservative, and in slow or rapidly growing businesses, wherever the ratio of reward to risk appears most attractive.

We regularly monitor sector weightings (the proportion of investments in particular sectors-company size, industry or geographic region) to verify they're in line with our investment strategy.

When do we sell? We sell a stock when events occur that challenge our original reasons for buying, when it becomes substantially overpriced, or as needed to reallocate the portfolio.