Aside from the experience, track record and credentials to look for in a professional money manager, evidence of co-investment should also top the list. In other words, do they eat their own cooking?

Why is it relevant whether your money manager invests alongside you? It matters because when every dollar that you invest goes into the same ideas they're personally investing in, there's a clear alignment of interests. When they make money, you make money. But perhaps more importantly, when you lose money, they lose money. When this alignment isn't there, a manager may take on excessive risk or invest in businesses in which they don't have a high level of conviction.

Over the past eight years I've used my take on Benjamin Graham's time-tested strategy for defensive investors to uncover undervalued U.S. stocks. I'm pleased to say that the overall results have been superb. Over the last year we handily beat the index. But even our 16.8 percentage point outperformance wasn't enough to turn a profit in what is shaping up to be a whopper of a bear market.

PRESS RELEASE
TORONTO ONTARIO

Warren MacKenzie, President of Second Opinion Investor Services Inc (“Second Opinion”) warns investors that this is no time for inaction. “Many investors are acting like a deer in the headlights,” states MacKenzie, “afraid to sell because their investments might bounce back, but afraid to buy in case the market drops further.”