Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd.’s Q2 2019 Investor Letter

John Ewing and Darcy Morris founded Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd., an investment management firm, in 2011. They launched their own company with an objective to maximize the capital for their partners by concentrating on inefficient markets.

Prior to co-founding his own firm, Mr. Ewing honed his investment acumen at Burgundy Asset Management, as Director of Research. He graduated from the University of Guelph with Honours Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering.

Mr. Morris also worked at Burgundy Asset Management previously, and also at MacDougall, MacDougall & MacTier Inc., where he was a Portfolio Manager. He earned his Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Studies from Queen’s University. In 2010 he was awarded with a designation of the Canadian Investment Manager.

In the letter, Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd reported underpeforming its benchmarks.

Investment Commentary

As you may have noticed, stock markets have been extremely volatile in 2019. The S&P 500 Index declined more than 6% in May before rebounding more than 5% in June. Monthly moves of this size (>5%) typically occur once or twice per year. Yet we witnessed five of them this past school year! These are unusual times.

Thus far in 2019, our portfolios have underperformed their benchmarks while delivering respectable results in absolute terms. Our investors regularly ask how we invest in this kind of market. Here’s what we won’t do:

  • We won’t chase expensive markets. Low (and falling) interest rates have led many investors to bid up the prices on high-quality assets. If rates rise, many asset owners will be disappointed. The wish list of businesses that we would love to own continue to trade at high valuations.
  • We won’t lament the lack of opportunity. It is easy to complain about expensive markets. But the opportunity cost of holding cash is high. Enterprising investors not constrained by excessive size or highly restrictive mandates should always be able to find opportunity.”

You can download a copy of Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd.’s Q2 2019 Investor Letter here:

Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd.’s Q2 2019 Investor Letter

You can also see the list of our 2019 Q2 investor letters and download them on this page.