Philosophy
Alpha is a rare commodity, but we believe there is more than one way to mine it. At Loomis Sayles, our investment teams are part of a unified organization but have the autonomy to pursue alpha in their own distinct ways. Our adaptable culture and deep research expertise nurture each team’s individual approach.
Who We Are as Investors
Active.
Simply put, we look for opportunities to take risk. Our independent, tailored research provides the foundation for high conviction. We take prudent risks when deep insight creates a legitimate informational or analytical edge.
Collaborative.
Connectivity between portfolio management, research and trading-supported by state of-the-art technology-facilitates the free flow of ideas. Although investment decision making rests with small, accountable product teams, they leverage a broad base of interconnected resources.
Confident, but Humble.
No investor has all the answers. Intelligent humility—or knowing your limits—is part of what makes a good money manager. We do not expect our investment professionals to have a crystal ball, but we demand deep introspection about the investment process and a commitment to ongoing enhancement.
Six Pillars Investment Philosophy
Loomis Sayles strives to be a place where true investors can thrive. Although we do not subscribe to a single investment process, the same pillars underpin all of our strategies:
A Sound
Philosophy
Every Loomis Sayles strategy starts with a solid foundation or “alpha thesis.” This alpha thesis seeks to identify market inefficiencies and the investment process necessary to exploit them.
Proprietary
Research
In this information age, being well informed is no longer a competitive advantage. High-conviction, prudent risk taking requires deep insights that can only be generated through proprietary research. Tailored research, distinct to each alpha thesis, is an inextricable part of the investment process.
A Rigorous,
Repeatable Process
Investment processes must take an exacting, consistent approach to idea generation, portfolio construction, reward-to-risk assessment and decision-making in any market environment. But discipline should never mean dogma; each team continually evaluates and refines their investment process in line with the core tenets of their strategy.
Integrated
Risk Management
Risk management is central to alpha generation, not ancillary. Our integrated risk management capabilities are customized to each investment strategy-an approach we believe helps optimize each team’s ability to identify, analyze and utilize risk.
Disciplined
Portfolio Construction
Though our strategies have different return patterns and time horizons, they all seek strong risk-adjusted returns. Disciplined portfolio construction requires constant assessment of reward to-risk at the security and portfolio levels. Investment teams look for asymmetric reward-to-risk opportunities and minimize exposure when information is lacking or insufficient.
Incorporated
Sustainability Factors
Our investment teams each use a tailored approach to incorporate ESG factors and engage with issuers and companies to meet our clients’ objectives. We do not view ESG as an overlay to our investment processes. We view it as an integral component throughout.
Alpha: a measure of risk-adjusted performance. A positive alpha indicates outperformance and negative alpha indicates underperformance relative to the strategy’s level of systematic risk. “Alpha engine” alludes to efforts to promote positive risk-adjusted excess return.
Any investment that has the possibility for profits also has the possibility of losses, including loss of principal.
There is no guarantee that the investment objective will be realized or that the strategy will generate positive or excess return.
*Includes accounts that may also be counted as part of other strategies.