Investments
Investment philosophy
At Bélanger, Brosseau Fiscalité, Assurances & Placements, our approach to investment is inspired by the legendary investor Warren Buffett's philosophy. As a wealth management firm for entrepreneurs and affluent families, we believe in a cautious, long-term approach focused on the intrinsic value of businesses. Rather than seeking short-term investments, we prioritize opportunities that offer sustainable growth potential, based on solid fundamentals and responsible management.
We emphasize companies with products and services that have sustainable competitive advantages and efficient management. We seek companies with little or no competition in their respective sectors, with significant pricing power power over suppliers and customers, and operating in sectors with very high barriers to entry.
Our goal is to generate solid and stable returns for our clients while minimizing long-term risks.
Geographic and sectoral diversification
Diversification is a fundamental pillar of our investment strategy. We seek a balanced asset allocation globally, investing in a diversified range of geographic markets and business sectors. This approach aims to reduce specific risk related to a particular region or industry while maximizing growth opportunities.
We diversify our investments across different economic sectors to spread risks and capture growth opportunities in various areas such as technology, telecommunications, basic consumption, and financial services.
We avoid more volatile sectors such as the materials sector (mining, lumber, and agricultural commodities) and energy because they generally operate in emerging countries with high geopolitical risks. These companies also have very unpredictable cash flows.
The importance of asset allocation
Asset allocation is a crucial element of any investment strategy. By diversifying your portfolio across different asset classes such as stocks, bonds, real estate, and cash, you reduce the overall risk of your portfolio while maximizing return opportunities. A prudent asset allocation allows you to endure market fluctuations and protect your capital against risks specific to a particular sector or asset class. According to a study by Vanguard, asset allocation accounts for 90% of the return of a given portfolio. You will therefore understand that it is a major issue when building a portfolio.
We therefore pay particular attention to asset allocation for each client, taking into account their risk tolerance, financial goals, and investment horizon. We seek to create balanced portfolios that offer long-term growth potential while mitigating risks through diversified asset allocation. Our rigorous approach to asset allocation aims to provide our clients with protection against market disruptions while optimizing potential long-term returns.
Asset allocation also has a major impact on portfolio-related taxation. Therefore, it is essential to optimize asset allocation when building a portfolio for an entrepreneur to maximize after-tax returns.
Your interests come first
At Bélanger, Brosseau Fiscalité, Assurances & Placements Inc., the interests of our clients are our top priority. We adopt a consultative and personalized approach, taking into account the needs, objectives, and risk tolerance of each client. We work closely with our clients to develop customized investment strategies that meet their unique needs and evolve with their long-term financial goals.
Our President, Frédéric Babeux*, Associate Portfolio Manager, is committed to providing exceptional service and providing informed advice at every stage of the investment process. We are committed to providing complete transparency to our clients, keeping them informed of their portfolio performance and regularly assessing their investment strategy to ensure it remains aligned with their goals.
We firmly believe that an investment recommendation should be made for a client only if we would be comfortable investing our own personal money in it. This is why we hold the same securities as our clients, so our interests are perfectly aligned.
When you win, we win too.
Investment strategies for incorporated Entrepreneurs
Over time, we have developed investment strategies for incorporated Entrepreneurs, with the aim of optimizing investment taxation. The type of income generated by an investment portfolio will greatly influence the tax payable by the company. For example, interest income is 100% taxable, while capital gain income is subject to much more favorable treatment. With this in mind, we have designed portfolios specifically for our incorporated Entrepreneur clients.
For Entrepreneurs with large investment portfolios in a holding company, it is very important to optimize the taxation of these investments as they could influence the tax payable by your operating company.
Indeed, if there is too much passive income in your management company, you could see the small business deduction threshold (the low tax rate payable on the first $500,000 of business income) reduced or completely eliminated by your passive income. The SBD threshold is affected from $50,000 of passive income and is completely eliminated at $150,000 of passive income.
It is therefore very important to optimize the taxation of the investment portfolio when we are an Entrepreneur.
Obviously, each portfolio will take into account your investment horizon, risk tolerance, and income needs, while ensuring that after-tax return is optimized.
Competitive management fees
We understand the importance of transparency and simplicity in management fees. At Bélanger, Brosseau Fiscalité, Assurances & Placements, we prefer a fee-based compensation, that is, management fees that are charged as a percentage of assets under management, based on the size of the portfolio according to a pre-established grid. We are committed to offering competitive management fees that provide excellent value for our clients.
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No hidden commissions
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No transaction fees
Our management fees are designed to be fair and competitive, while reflecting the value we bring to managing your portfolio. We firmly believe that transparency and clarity of fees are essential to establish a trusting relationship with our clients, and we are committed to providing comprehensive and detailed information on our management fees at all times.
*Frédéric Babeux est rattaché auprès de Valeurs Mobilières PEAK Inc. à titre de Gestionnaire de Portefeuille. Valeurs Mobilières PEAK Inc. est un courtier de plein exercice inscrit auprès de l'OCRI limitant ses responsabilités aux produits de placement tel que les actions, obligations, FNB et les fonds mutuels. Valeurs Mobilières PEAK Inc. est un membre du Fonds canadien de protection des investisseurs (FCP). Les placements sont offerts par Valeurs mobilières PEAK Inc. et sont dissociés de l’offre de service de Bélanger, Brosseau Fiscalité, Assurance & Placements Inc. Bélanger, Brosseau Fiscalité, Assurance & Placements Inc. est un cabinet indépendant dûment inscrit auprès de l’Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) dans la discipline d’Assurance de personnes.