The Alitis Story: One to Share

Every once in a while, we are provided with a great opportunity to remember what is most important in our lives. For many people, including the Alitis Team, the COVID-19 pandemic has provided this opportunity. If asked, we tend to acknowledge that our family, friends and health are the things we cherish most. But in our day-to-day busy lives, without being prompted, we tend to forget this. In the last two months we have had to change how we live. We have had to change how we connect with our friends, family and our professional relationships.

Coinciding with the pandemic has been a major impact on the world economy and world markets. We have seen unprecedented volatility in public stock markets. When we hear about big drops in the markets and the doom and gloom reported in the media, it can be very easy to forget past conversations with your Alitis Adviser. It can be easy to forget the story of Alitis and the foundation it is built upon.

In the conversations we have had with our clients since early March, all were expecting a drop in their portfolios, but most have been pleasantly surprised they have experienced such small declines when compared to market indices. These reference points and the troubling experience of our friends and family during periods of prolonged market volatility are the cornerstones upon which Alitis carved out its strategy for shielding assets and providing consistent long-term returns. Alitis clients holding a diversified portfolio of Alitis investment pools have simply not experienced the full weight of declines in public fixed income and equity markets.

It is all by design that Alitis has performed well against these reference points and here are a few key reasons why:

• Philosophy: The core belief around Alitis is to reduce the volatility of investments and deliver consistent returns over the long term. To accomplish this, Alitis maintains a more naturally conservative approach to investments, with the portfolios being built with the objective of being resilient during market events such as this one. Alitis was created to limit the losses in times of recessions and downturns. Never do we want our clients to experience what many of them went through in the 2008 Financial Crisis.
• Active Management: All the Alitis Investment Pools are actively managed, daily. At all times during the day, we have our Portfolio Managers and Analysts monitoring market activity to take advantage of opportunities or reduce risk where necessary. This is quite different from many Investment Advisers or Portfolio Managers who utilize a passive management strategy, which is when the fund’s portfolio mirrors a market index.
• Diversification: All Investment firms claim to diversify, but many are only diversified through the public stock and bond markets. This type of diversification can include geographic, sector and various grades of Bonds, among others. Alitis also utilizes these strategies, but what sets us apart is additional diversification through other asset classes such as Private Real Estate, Private Mortgages, Private Debt, Alternative Fixed Income and Alternative Equities. Further to the investment diversification of each Alitis Pool, with the expertise of Alitis Advisers, each clients’ investment structure is uniquely built to meet their specific needs. This includes retirement and income planning to meet various financial goals, as well as tax and estate planning within an appropriate risk and return framework.

Once the investment discussion is over, the conversation quickly turns to the important things of life; family, friends and health. This is where we as advisers remember why we got into this business. It wasn’t for the charts, the graphs, the formulas and the constant feed of market updates. It was because we enjoy helping people. It’s because of the relationships that we get to be part of. It’s because of the personal interaction with our clients. It’s because helping clients achieve success for themselves and their family is what motivates us.

The majority of our clients have been referred to Alitis by other Alitis clients; great people tend to know great people. We truly want to thank each and every one of our wonderful clients for choosing Alitis to be your wealth management firm. We also want to thank all our clients for referring family and friends to us over the years. It is these referrals that reinforce the trust and confidence that our clients have in Alitis and our approach to helping them achieve financial success. For those who mentioned that your friends and family have experienced a rough ride with their investments as of late, please share your experience with them or introduce them to us so we can provide the same great Alitis experience to the people you cherish most. We enjoy working with and helping our clients and would like to do the same for your friends and family. We would be happy to get to know them, answer their questions and concerns, and provide insight on their financial situation. Alitis will provide a free financial and investment review for any referrals.

While COVID-19 has created a new “normal”, Alitis stays committed to providing the best service we can for our clients. We are here to answer any questions or inquiries by phone or video conference that you, your family or your friends may have and to help navigate through these uncertain times.

Sincerely,

Aaron Robertson, CIM, CFP
Associate Portfolio Manager
arobertson@alitis.ca

Harrison Brown, BSc.
Wealth Service Coordinator
hbrown@alitis.ca

Disclaimer 

This report is provided, for informational purposes only, to customers of Alitis Investment Counsel Inc. (“Alitis”) and does not constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities discussed herein to anyone in any jurisdiction where such offer or solicitation would be prohibited. Opinions expressed in this report should not be relied upon as investment advice. This report does not take into account the investment objectives, risk tolerance, financial situation or specific needs of any particular customer of Alitis. Each individual’s investment objectives, risk tolerance, financial situation and specific needs should be evaluated before making any investment decision.

Unless otherwise noted, the indicated rates of return are the historical annual compounded returns for the period indicated, including changes in security value and the reinvestment of all distributions and do not take into account income taxes payable by any securityholder that would have reduced returns. The investments are not guaranteed; their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. Unless otherwise noted, risk refers to the annualized standard deviation of monthly returns for the period indicated.

The information contained in this report has been drawn from sources believed to be reliable, but is not guaranteed to be accurate or complete. Alitis assumes no duty to update any information or opinion contained in this report. Neither Alitis nor any director, officer or employee of Alitis accepts any liability whatsoever for any errors or omissions in the information, analysis or opinions contained in this report, nor for any direct, indirect or consequential damages or losses arising from any use of this report or its contents.