Justin is the Portfolio Manager of the Pender Alternative Absolute Return Fund. He joined Pender in August 2021.
Justin most recently worked as a Senior Portfolio Manager at one of Canada’s largest pension fund managers. During his four-year tenure, he was responsible for managing a high-yield focused credit strategy, generating returns for the underlying pension funds. Justin has also spent 11 years at a highly regarded Canadian investment firm. He worked in progressive roles as a member of the firm’s fixed income team. His investment research contributed to the Absolute Return and High Yield Bond strategies at the firm.
Justin’s investment approach is centered around his quick response to market dynamics, taking advantage of opportunities and reacting to increased risk. The key is intelligent security selection across capital structures and markets, supported by active investing, as experienced and applied through multiple market cycles. He has demonstrated the patience and discipline to hold a high quality but out-of-favour security, while constantly re-evaluating his investment thesis in response to new information. Justin is focused on uncovering the best risk-adjusted opportunities in every market cycle and dynamically adjusts portfolio positioning for market environments to protect and grow capital. He utilizes strategies such as distressed credit investing, event-driven trading, capital structure arbitrage, and actively works with management teams to help shape positive outcomes for the securities held.
Justin graduated with a BA in Honours History from Western University and an MBA in Finance from Washington State University. He earned his Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 2012.
Having lived in Victoria for four years, Justin relocated back to his home city of Vancouver with his wife and two children. He is an outdoor enthusiast, who enjoys skiing and playing golf whenever he can.
Highlights A major theme in January was the reopening of the primary market in North American liquid credit, following limited issuance in late 2023. The Pender Alternative Absolute Return Fund selectively participated in new issues in both investment grade and high yield markets. We focused on high-yield bonds with all-in yields of 7% or more, […]
Highlights One of the drivers of market performance in December was strong inflows for risk assets combined with limited new issue supply in credit markets. Despite our generally defensive positioning there are some areas of markets where we see value and opportunities. We continue to like our holdings in high quality term loans which trade […]
Highlights In November we significantly added to our US Treasury Bill holdings as well as high-quality term loans. Our purchases included loans backed by Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HLT), TransDigm Group Inc. (NYSE: TDG) and Four Seasons Holdings Inc. (private). We also topped up long positions in the Canadian dollar high yield market that […]
Highlights Both widening credit spreads and higher government yields negatively impacted returns for the month. The Fund increased market exposure with the focus on high-quality, high yield bonds trading at attractive discounts to par. The Fund finished the month with our highest exposure to the market all year - about 80% net long excluding positions […]
Highlights • The Fund benefited from volatility in credit markets with a bias to protecting capital. • The Fund’s exposure to event-driven positions was significantly reduced. The Pender Alternative Absolute Return Fund finished August with a return of 1.2%, bringing year-to-date returns to 5.2% . Following two months of decreasing risk premiums and volatility, both […]
Highlights The broad-based rally provided an opportunity to sell liquid high-yield positions at prices that we viewed as fully valued. There were several positive developments within our Event Driven book including Black Knight Inc. (NYSE: BKI), Arconic Corp. (NYSE: ARNC), and PDC Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: PDCE) We are watching commercial real estate where defaults mount […]
"*" indicates required fields
