| Organizational
Background
Van Berkom and Associates Inc. (VBA) was founded and incorporated on
July 31, 1991, and is registered with the Quebec, Ontario, Nova
Scotia, Alberta and British Columbia Securities Commissions as
an Investment Counselor and Portfolio Manager and with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (United States) as an
Investment Advisor. The firm is 100% owned by its
employees. Van Berkom and Associates Inc. has been in the
business of managing small-cap portfolios since July 1991.
The four
senior executives; J. Sebastian van Berkom, Steve Boutin,
Benoit Durand and Mathieu Sirois, control 100% of Van Berkom
and Associates Inc.'s common shares.
Distinctions
Research -
Rigorous
bottom-up, fundamental analysis is conducted on each
candidate. The research intensive due diligence process
focuses on internal returns, sources and uses of cash flow,
and valuation.
Team -
The team is disciplined and enthusiastic, meeting with over
500 companies yearly.
Conviction
-
We concentrate on our best ideas as portfolios contain between
35 and 45 stocks.
Long-term Perspective
-
Annual turnover has ranged between 35 and 55% over the history of the
product.
Performance
-
As of December 31, 2006, top quartile annualized performance since inception.
Assets
Under Management
as of December 31, 2006
|
U.S. Small Cap |
$254 mm |
|
Tax-Exempt |
$251 mm |
|
Taxable |
$3 mm |
|
Canadian
Equities |
$925 mm |
|
North
American Equities |
$17 mm |
|
Total Firm Assets |
$1,196 billion |
|
 |
Biographies
US Small Cap Team
Steve Boutin, CFA,
joined
VBA in 1997 and is currently Vice-President, US
Small-Cap Equities
and the key decision-maker on the US team. Mr. Boutin holds a
B.A.A. (Finance) from the École des Hautes Études Commerciales
in Montreal. He has 15 years experience in analyzing and
managing small-cap equities. Prior to joining VBA as a
partner, he worked at three different investment management
firms in Quebec, British Columbia and Ontario..
Mathieu Sirois, CFA,
joined VBA in 2000 and is currently
Portfolio Manager, US Small-Cap
Equities. Mr. Sirois holds a
M.Sc. (Finance) from the École des Hautes Études Commerciales
in Montreal. He has 4 years experience and is responsible for
research on specific US sectors and researches individual
companies, builds financial models and recommends stocks that
fit with VBA’s investment philosophy and discipline.
Judy M. Grant, CFA,
joined VBA in 1995 and is currently Research Analyst, US Small-Cap
Equities. She is responsible for all
US small-cap trading. In addition, she monitors technical trends of the US market, sectors and
individual US small-cap stock. Ms. Grant holds a B.A. in
Commerce from Concordia University and commenced her
investment career in 1990 with Toronto Dominion Bank. In
1993 she worked for Jarislowsky Fraser & Co.
Philippe Hynes,
joined
VBA in 2004 as Assistant Research Analyst,
US Small-Cap Equities.
Mr. Hynes is responsible for
conducting fundamental research on specific sectors of the US
equity market. He holds a M.Sc. (Financial Engineering) from
the École des Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC) in Montreal.
Philippe is a CFA Level III candidate.
|
