My favorite song of the Christmas season is the Little Drummer Boy. It reveals the best of our nature and reminds us we are meant to serve others. He didn’t have gold, frankincense or myrrh. He did not come on a camel or in a caravan. He came by foot with his drum and a song in his heart. The little drummer boy gave what he could. He gave something from his heart.
As we look forward to Christmas and shared time with family, we also take time to look back over the past year and ask ourselves if, in the spirit of the little drummer boy, we also gave the best we could. Certainly, we look at the “results” of the year, and how our investments performed. But more importantly, we consider the decisions we made as advisors and ask if we adhered to our simple, timeless process. After all, we can’t control the outcome, but we can control the decisions we make along the way.
Our philosophy is simple. We believe that buying quality companies at reasonable values and maintaining balance in our portfolios is the best way to deliver solid results.
- Quality—we look for companies that have sustainable competitive advantages.
- Value—we prefer companies that are priced fairly given their prospects for growth and profitability.
- Balance—we balance investments across sectors because we want our portfolios to be driven by economic forces.
- Results—we have a “sleep well at night” portfolio, full of companies that are often the best at what they do, that are likely to get stronger during challenging economic periods, and thrive when conditions are good.
In many ways, we also want to emulate the same virtues so beautifully demonstrated by the Little Drummer Boy. He gave the best he had to offer; a gift only he could give. He played from the heart and with great intent. And while he couldn’t have known exactly who the baby Jesus was, he knew enough to be humbled by the experience and was joyful in his presence.
The Little Drummer Boy had the heart of a servant, and it’s with this servant mindset that we thank you for your continued trust, wishing you a Merry Christmas and a new year full of blessings … pa-rum pum pum pum.
~ Steve Davenport, CFA