Monthly Message

The Wutherich & Co. Composite was up 2.7% in March. This compares with the S&P/TSX up 1.0% and the BMO Small Cap Index down 1.0%.

The Wutherich & Co. Composite has now gained 31% from its low on Dec. 24, 2018 and now sits at an all-time high. At 21.4%, the first quarter also marks the second strongest performance that the Composite has ever had. The strongest was the very first quarter that the composite was in existence, the fourth quarter of 2001 when we posted a 30.6% gain. Then, as now, the strong numbers came at time of heightened uncertainty and investor fear. This serves as a great lesson in that we need to tune out the cacophony surrounding the stock market and focus on the value of the individual names in the portfolio.

While the portfolio is not as cheap as it was a few months ago, we think that it still offers value and should provide good long-term returns. A few recent additions have helped performance. Questor Technology (QST), Xebec Inc. (XBC), Sangoma Technologies (STC) and Plantronics (PLT) have all been added in the last year. They have replaced names that have been acquired by other companies or were sold for valuation reasons. We still have about 6% in cash and have firm ideas on where to deploy it in the coming weeks.

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