Investment Philosophy

Investment Philosophy

Disciplined Investing

Trent Capital adheres to disciplined investment parameters. As a value oriented money manager that leans toward growth businesses [GARP = Growth At Reasonable Prices], our portfolios include investments in undervalued companies, often when the companies are out of favor or simply overlooked. We look for good businesses that have demonstrated strong long term growth characteristics and are dominant within their industry. Our investment philosophy is not concerned with short-term fluctuations of market price movements. Instead, Trent supports the premise that, in the long run, value always wins out.

Low Risk = High Reward

We do not subscribe to the belief that high risk and high reward go hand in hand. On the contrary, we believe lower risk brings high reward and high risk tends to diminish long-term rewards. Trent’s investments in both stocks and bonds include companies with low risk characteristics. These characteristics include measurable histories of high profitability, companies in control of their destiny, easily understood businesses, and in the case of stock prices, attractive price/earnings ratios or operating cash flow multiples.

Bottom-Up Approach

Trent Capital follows a bottom-up approach by selecting stocks and bonds on an individual basis. The portfolio managers look for strong, attractive businesses offered at reasonable prices. We see little logic behind buying a poor business at a low price when strong businesses at reasonable prices are available. We approach an investment as a business owner rather than as a market timer who focuses on short-term momentum and market movement projections, both characteristics being very unstable foundations on which to build prudent long-term investment decisions.

Patience

Finding great businesses is easier than buying them at the right price. Trent believes in being patient enough for the market to move a price of a great company down so the price is well below its intrinsic business value. Occasionally, a fall in the stock price below this value is the result of some transitory reason. Most investors cannot look past the next six months, a psychological phenomenon, which provides Trent Capital with a rich source of great buying opportunities.

Fee Philosophy

We do not benefit at all from any transaction made in a client’s account. As a result, clients can be certain that decisions made on the purchase or sale of any security in their account has been made with only their best interests in mind.  Philosophically, we feel any participation in transactional commissions immediately places one’s advisor in a direct conflict of interest with its client.  Trent’s perspective is the same as our client’s – we strive to keep the transactional costs involved to an absolute minimum because lesser costs means greater gains.  This perspective has been both a consistent and a critical differentiating business characteristic of Trent Capital since its inception, and only one of those business facets that separate it from the herd.  Because we are not motivated by commissions, sales promotional incentives, proprietary products or other pressured conflicts that compromise investment product decisions, no influence is exerted upon choice or frequency of investment transactions.  It is Trent’s strict adherence to not allow influence of any nature to compromise our focus away from our client that promotes alignment of our client’s best interest with our own and to build their base of wealth in an honest, safe and prudent manner.