Investing in the Build Canada Theme | EP 222
Art of Boring
Canada has spent a generation underinvesting in the infrastructure and resources that underpin its economy, and that may be starting to change. Canadian small cap equity analyst Dominic Drzazga examines the Build Canada theme: what it actually means beyond the headlines, and what has shifted since the federal election. He walks through the legislative groundwork, from the Building Canada Act to a fast-tracked pipeline of named projects, and explains why the clearest near-term opportunities potentially sit in the middle of the value chain rather than with the eventual asset owners. Above all,...
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Quarterly Update | Q2 2026 | EP 221
Art of Boring
Canadian equities gained in the second quarter of 2026 even as the economy tripped the technical definition of a recession and an oil shock sent crude toward $120 before it fell back. Institutional portfolio manager Kevin Minas and investment counsellor Stu Morrow review the quarter, from the gap between the Canadian market and the Canadian economy to the case for holding commodity exposure as geopolitical risk becomes a recurring feature rather than a one-off. They also discuss what a narrow, AI-led rally means for a diversified portfolio, record hyperscaler bond issuance in Canada, and how...
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Emerging Markets: Different Hats, Better Decisions, and Learning Faster | EP 220
Art of Boring
Investment teams increasingly build and rely on their own AI tools, but the payoff depends on how deliberately a team reinvests the time that AI frees up. Emerging markets portfolio manager Wen Quan Cheong walks through how his team puts believability-weighted decision making into daily practice, and where AI has genuinely enhanced the process. He closes with a tour of the emerging-market themes he is watching most closely, from reshoring and clean-room capacity to physical AI, low-earth-orbit satellites, and businesses winning simply by putting the customer first. Above all, he returns to the...
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Global Equity: The Odyssey, the AI Trade, and Concentration Risk | EP 219
Art of Boring
AI portfolio construction in global equity markets (memory semiconductors, mega IPOs, and how to manage concentration risk) is the focus of this conversation with Mawer’s global equity portfolio manager Paul Moroz. Drawing on Homer's Odyssey, he explains the discipline the team applies when navigating themes that are moving quickly: from trimming SK Hynix systematically as the position grew, to sizing up what a wave of large IPOs means for cost of capital, to the central trade-off between underexposure and overconcentration in the AI complex. He also puts numbers around the portfolio's AI...
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Looking Under the Hood: Canadian Equity Concentration and Diversification | EP 218
Art of Boring
Canada’s stock market has set repeated record highs in 2026, even as the domestic economy feels soft. Canadian equity portfolio manager Mark Rutherford explains the gap between the two, and why a large weight in financials can represent more diversification rather than less. He walks through how the team rotated within the sector as the banks re-rated, and the discipline behind trimming a gold position that had run. As indexes themselves have grown more concentrated, the conversation lands on a simple idea: knowing what you own matters more than ever. Key takeaways • The...
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Balanced Portfolios: A Market Tug of War and the Discipline to Stay Neutral | EP 217
Art of Boring
In this episode, portfolio manager Steven Visscher covers how Mawer's balanced portfolios navigated 2025 and how they are positioned in 2026. With a war-driven energy shock on one side and an AI investment boom on the other, the market is pulling in two directions at once. Steven walks through what that means for asset mix, where the team is seeing signs of investor complacency, and why cracks in private credit could soon create a meaningful opportunity. Key Takeaways: Two forces are competing for market direction in 2026: a war-driven energy shock from the conflict in Iran...
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U.S. Mid-Cap: The Physical Economy Comeback, Capital Intensity, and Portfolio Positioning | EP 216
Art of Boring
In this episode, Jeff Mo, U.S. mid-cap portfolio manager, explores a fundamental shift in how economies may grow over the next decade. He makes the case that after 25 years of intangible, internet-driven expansion, growth may increasingly depend on building physical things again: data centers, electrical infrastructure, factories, defense systems, satellites. Jeff walks through the forces driving this transition, from AI's voracious appetite for capital to geopolitical tensions reshaping supply chains and defense spending. The conversation examines how these macro themes connect to bottom-up...
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International Equity: Finding Quality Opportunities in Today’s Market | EP.215
Art of Boring
In this episode, Peter Lampert, international equity portfolio manager, examines the Middle East conflict and its implications for global markets. He walks through the portfolio's diversification strategy, explains the team's nearly 40-year history with Shell, and explores how a changing market backdrop has challenged traditional definitions of quality and why forward-looking analysis may matter more than historical patterns. How the Middle East conflict and the Strait of Hormuz blockade are affecting oil and LNG flows, and why equity markets have largely looked through the disruption...
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Global Credit: Energy Shocks, AI Borrowing, and Signs of Stress | EP 214
Art of Boring
In this episode, Brian Carney, lead portfolio manager of the Mawer Global Credit Opportunities Strategy, examines a fixed income backdrop reshaped by geopolitical escalation, an energy shock, and sharply changing interest-rate expectations. He explains why higher benchmark yields and modestly wider spreads still leave many parts of credit looking expensive, where Mawer is finding more selective value through bottom-up research, and why the strategy remains tilted toward shorter-duration, higher-quality credit. The conversation also explores AI-related bond issuance from hyperscalers, signs of...
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Quarterly Update | Q1 2026 | EP 213
Art of Boring
In this episode, Institutional Portfolio Manager Kevin Minas and Investment Counsellor Stu Morrow examine the forces shaping markets in the first quarter of 2026. From the escalating conflict in the Middle East and its impact on oil, inflation, and growth to the broadening AI disruption across software and asset-light business models, they explore how investors can stay thoughtful in an increasingly complex environment. The conversation covers stagflation risks, bond market dynamics, the role of gold as a hedge, and the portfolio adjustments being made as quality businesses face new tests of...
info_outlineBrian Carney, lead portfolio manager of the global credit opportunities strategy, explores the current credit market environment characterized by tight spreads and low defaults despite global uncertainties. He discusses the concept of "convergence and complacency"—where large pools of capital chase lower-quality borrowers while markets overlook serious warning signs including political pressure on central banks and hidden leverage. The conversation covers key crisis indicators, the weakening of credit covenants over the past decade, and the risks associated with private credit. He outlines the portfolio’s defensive positioning with high-quality, short-duration securities and highlights Saturn Oil and Gas as an example of selective opportunities that still favor lenders. He concludes with insights on how AI is enhancing the investment process while emphasizing that technology cannot replace the importance of human relationships in credit analysis.
Key Takeaways:
• How the Global Credit team approaches today's tight spread environment by focusing on capital preservation rather than reaching for yield, positioning for future market dislocations when opportunities will emerge.
• The key early warning indicators to monitor for potential credit market stress, including hedge fund liquidations, counterparty credit reductions, and central bank intervention patterns.
• The reality behind private credit's popularity: —understanding whether the additional ~200 basis points over public high yield adequately compensates for illiquidity, reduced transparency, and higher fees.
• The critical importance of credit covenant analysis in the investment process, and how the shift toward borrower-friendly terms over the past decade has reduced lender protections.
• The rationale behind the Saturn Oil and Gas investment, highlighting how disciplined management, forced deleveraging through quarterly bond buybacks, and attractive spreads create value in a challenging market.
• How AI technology is being integrated to enhance the investment process through improved issuer triage and covenant comparison, while maintaining the essential human relationships that drive successful credit investing.
This episode is available for download anywhere you get your podcasts.
Founded in 1974, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. (pronounced "more") is a privately owned independent investment firm managing assets for institutional and individual investors. Mawer employs over 250 people in Canada, U.S., and Singapore.
Host: Kevin Minas, CFA - Institutional Portfolio Manager
Guest: Brian Carney, CIM – Portfolio Manager
Visit Mawer at https://www.mawer.com.
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