The Ivey Value Fund invests in publicly-traded equities that have been screened, analyzed and recommended by students in the Value Investing course. At the moment, the Fund restricts itself to North American equities and adheres to the value investing philosophy which was developed by Ben Graham in the 1920’s and is taught today in the Value Investing courses at Ivey.
The Fund also applies hedging strategies taught in Ivey’s new Strategic Investing course. While the value investing component reduces firm-specific risk, the objective of the hedging component is to reduce the Fund’s exposure to market risk.
Vision
To make the Ivey Value Fund an indispensable tool in the preparation of our students for successful careers as value investors.
Mission
The Fund’s mission is to provide students of value investing in the Ben Graham tradition the opportunity to gain real-world, real-money, experience that cannot be found in Finance text books.
To this end, we wish to:
- Significantly increase students’ proficiency as value investors.
- Provide a way for students to demonstrate their analytical skills.
- Create a recruitment pipeline into the value investing community, including the establishment of internship opportunities.
- Earn market-beating returns for the Fund over the relatively long-term of an entire market cycle (market peak-to peak, or trough-to-trough, as determined by a 15% or greater change in direction), measured against an index that is a 50/50 blend of the S&P/TSX Small Cap Total Return (TR) Index and the Russell 2000 Value TR (the Russell 2000 Value TR index aligns closely with the holdings of the Fund as it holds stocks that exhibit characteristics widely considered to represent ‘value’ stocks, such as comparatively lower price / book ratios, lower price / earnings ratios, and lower growth rates).
- Instill in students not only sound investment skills, but also provide practical examples of how operating ethically and with integrity is indispensable for long-term success.
Connection to Value Investing Courses
The Ivey Value Fund is an extension of the courses taught at the Ben Graham Centre for Value Investing. As set out in our mission statement, the Fund provides Ivey students with a value investing experience that cannot be acquired in a text book. The classroom provides the knowledge, and the Fund completes the experience. The two go hand-in-hand, and our students have the additional benefit of gaining exposure to potential employers. We firmly believe that this is a winning proposition for both the students and the employers.
Thanks to Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. for their vision and generous support of the Ivey Value Fund, which benefits students and practitioners worldwide.
Investment Philosophy, Policy & Process
Ivey Value Investing and Selected Courses as Related to the Fund's Operations