David Barr is the CEO of Pender. He is also the Portfolio Manager of several of Pender’s funds.
David began his investing career in 2000. He initially worked in private equity which gives him a unique background to investing capital. At the end of 2007 he became a partner at PenderFund Capital Management Ltd and was appointed Chief Investment Officer with the objective of launching Pender’s mutual fund business. In April 2016 David was appointed CEO of Pender upon the retirement of Kelly Edmison.
David holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of British Columbia and an MBA from the Schulich School of Business. He earned his Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 2003 and is an active member of the Vancouver chapter. He is a past President of CFA Vancouver, having also served on its Board of Directors for four years.
David has been interviewed for his opinions on small cap, the technology sector and value investing by the Financial Post, The Globe & Mail, Morningstar and other media. He is a regular guest on BNN Bloomberg. In December 2012 Mr. Barr was recognized as one of British Columbia’s “Top Forty Under 40” business leaders by Business in Vancouver.
David is an advocate of value investing, a strategy to estimate the intrinsic value of a company before looking to invest in that company with a “margin of safety” or a discount to intrinsic value. He believes that investing in a company well below intrinsic value decreases the risk and sets it up for generating long term performance. This approach forms the basis of Pender’s overall investment strategy, which aims to preserve and grow client capital.
In order to execute on his value investing strategy David is a true contrarian. To meet his stringent value investing criteria, he looks for value in unpopular places with a view to reducing risk and finding prices that include a margin-of-safety. He refuses to follow the crowds and is driven to find quality at a discount.
Highlights One of our largest holdings, Copperleaf Technologies Inc (TSX: CPLF) announced it was to be acquired for $12.00 per share. It was among our top three contributors for the quarter, along with Sylogist Ltd (TSX: SYZ). and TerraVest Industries Inc (TSX: TVK). Top detractors this quarter included Dye & Durham Ltd (TSX: DND), Chesswood […]
The Pender Value Fund had a strong start to the year, gaining 17.3%[1] in the first quarter of 2024. This result compares with gains of 6.6% in the S&P/TSX Composite Index and 7.9% in the S&P/TSX Small Cap Index. In the US, the Russell 2000 Index (CAD) returned 7.5%. The strength in overall equity market […]
Highlights The Fund generated excess returns mainly driven by company-specific performance. Rotation into high quality growth companies is now complete. The Fund exited several smaller positions and created new positions in a Canadian SaaS firm and select U.S.-based companies in the cannabis sector. Fund Performance What a way to start the year! Our Fund had […]
Highlights Positive performance in the Fund during the quarter was driven by by D2L Inc. (TSX: DTOL), Dye & Durham Ltd. (TSX: DND) and KKR and Co L.P (NYSE: KKR), Detractors included Baidu Inc. (Nasdaq: BIDU), Tiny Ltd. (CVE: TINY) and Texas Pacific Land Trust (NYSE: TPL). The Fund increased exposure to Canadian equities to […]
Highlights The strong performance into year-end is indicative of a strengthening small cap market. A more stable interest rate environment and improved business strategies among small caps, we believe, will lead to increased M&A by both private equity firms and strategic buyers. We have streamlined the number of positions in the portfolio from 61 to […]
Highlights We continue to focus on the fundamentals, rotating into high quality businesses. We initiated new positions in two companies during the quarter that we have been following for a long time but have finally hit our buy zone. Small caps are trading near trough valuations. The re-rating in multiples, we believe, is a tailwind […]
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