Internal Strategies
A Competitive Core
Strategies managed by the Atlantic Trust investment team provide a core foundation upon which a comprehensive portfolio may be built. We realize that no firm excels in all investment categories and therefore only emphasize internal products where we have expertise and a compelling track record. For all other asset classes we employ our Multi-Manager team to search for the best external managers to round out our clients’ needs.
Atlantic Trust's internally-managed "core" strategies with which we have many years of experience are as follows:
- Cash Management
- U.S. Equity - Disciplined Equity
- U.S. Equity – Mid-Cap Growth
- Fixed Income – Taxable and Tax-Exempt
- Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs)
Disciplined Equity and Mid Cap Growth: Quality, Growth and Reasonable Value
In both of our traditional equity strategies, Disciplined Equity and Mid Cap Growth, we employ bottom up, research driven processes that focus on quality companies with proprietary brands or franchises with records of consistently generating strong cash flow. Each strategy seeks companies with top tier managements with proven track records and strong competitive positions operating in industries that earn attractive returns. It is essential that companies we consider for purchase have strong balance sheets, strong cash flow characteristics and reasonable growth. Strict attention is paid to valuations such that in addition to attractive upside potential our candidates also provide for some downside support in difficult environments. While Disciplined Equity looks for large companies with consistent moderate growth, Mid Cap Growth seeks companies with sustainable above average growth. Adherence to diversification and risk management has resulted in lower than benchmark volatility. Extensive initial due diligence by our industry analysts and our strong valuation discipline has led to relatively long holding periods for our individual positions, a plus for tax sensitive clients.
Fixed Income: Limited Risk
The bond portfolios we manage are highly customized for each client and emphasize quality and intermediate maturities. We believe that intermediate-term bonds generally provide most of the return of longer-dated bonds with only a fraction of the market value risk. We find that the value offered by non-government bonds (i.e., corporate bonds) varies based on business cycle position. We look to limit risk in bond portfolios and concentrate it instead in other asset classes where the risk-reward proposition is more favorable.
