Lobbying as Investment Tool 

Public policy is cementing itself into a super-cyclical investment theme that will be important across both business and political cycles. As regulatory and legislative developments cast a larger shadow over financial markets, government policy is becoming more important for company earnings. The last two decades alone have seen major regulatory and legislative actions with wide-ranging economy, sector, and company-level ramifications. From Sarbanes Oxley and Dodd-Frank to the Trump tax cuts to the COVID-19 relief and the bipartisan infrastructure package – policy matters and its ability to create winners and losers makes it a necessary, but often underused, consideration for investors today.  

The Strategas Policy Opportunities Portfolio attempts to capture the impact of those efforts through companies displaying the greatest lobbying intensity. 

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Congress Asset Management believes that the best way to compound wealth is by participating in rising markets and preserving capital in falling markets.  They seek to accomplish this by investing in quality companies with strong fundamentals with a focus on growth, profitability, franchise, and valuation. 

Investment committees exist on all strategies to ensure consistency and adherence to the firm’s investment tenets.  Congress Asset Management strives to avoid short-term thinking as they believe that superior long-term results are generated by companies that are consistently growing earnings and cash flow.  Finally, they believe that their high-conviction portfolios offer the potential to outperform over time with lower volatility.  This approach has resulted in average upside/downside capture ratios of 102 / 71 since inception for the three strategies available on the Orion platform*. 

*Small Cap Growth inception date of 7/1/2013, SMid Growth inception date of 4/1/2017, and Mid Cap Growth inception date of 10/1/1999.

Learn more about Congress Asset Management and its strategies in the materials below. 

Small Cap Growth Strategy Card 

SMid Growth Strategy Card 

Mid Cap Growth Strategy Card 

Managing Risk with a Value Focus: A Disciplined Approach for 25+ Years 

Confluence Investment Management’s philosophy is based upon independent, fundamental research that integrates evaluation of market cycles, macroeconomics, and geopolitical analysis with a value-driven, company-specific approach. 

The firm’s value equity investment philosophy is a bottom-up, fundamental approach that seeks to generate above-average returns over the long-term by identifying high-quality businesses at bargain prices. In-depth proprietary research focuses on companies that consistently generate high levels of cash flow, maintain competitive advantages enabling pricing power, and are led by seasoned management teams that are true stewards for effectively allocating capital.  

The investment process focuses on managing risk, which Confluence defines as the probability of a permanent loss of capital, by investing in quality businesses at attractive valuations. This discipline strives to protect long-term investors on the downside, while enhancing upside potential. 

Learn more about Confluence’s Large Cap Value strategy and their latest thoughts on the market in the materials linked below. 

Confluence Large Cap Value Q1 2023 

Confluence Large Cap Value Fact Sheet