InvestNow News – 13th Mar 20 – Devon Funds – Monthly Investor Report February 2020
Better Governance Required at the Top
This month’s interest piece is an article written by our Chairman, Paul Glass. As you will be aware, corporate governance is an issue that we take very seriously at Devon, and we believe that good governance standards should also apply to the New Zealand Government.
However, before we examine these governance matters, we felt it appro- priate to first comment on the evolving situation in respect of Coronavirus (Covid-19). We believe that we have positioned our portfolios appropriately for current market developments. We have an investment style which fo- cuses on owning high quality businesses that are supported by attractive valuations. This approach, together with careful sector selection, has mini- mised our exposure to those companies which are most directly exposed to the effects of the virus, such as Retail and Tourism, and should ensure that we can navigate the volatility currently being seen. As is often the case in situations such as this, the first stage of response in the markets is one of in- discriminate selling (where all stocks are sold down) but eventually a more rational approach to pricing typically emerges and it is in this environment where we expect our active approach to be rewarded…