Great Lakes Advisors, LLC (GLA) has been added to SEI Canada’s U.S. Small Company Equity Fund (the Fund).We like GLA’s adaptive investment process and the team’s extensive experience in small/mid-cap and small-cap investing.

Addition of GLA

What They Do
GLA’s investment philosophy is simple, logical and procedural. The investment team does not attempt to outsmart its peers, but rather employs sensible and achievable principles focused on historical analysis and factor rotation.

GLA believes that active management works; that definable market segments should be evaluated independently; that a spectrum of valuation factors is critical; that factor weights should be dynamic; and that optimization is the best way to construct portfolios.

How They Do It

GLA’s investment process relies on a multi-factor technique; stocks are scored on value, growth, quality, technical and risk factors. Portfolio construction involves a risk/return optimization process that features individual stock selection as the central source of active risk.

The process begins with an assessment of the liquidity of each stock; those with sufficient liquidity remain candidates for the buy list, while those that do not are removed. The team also removes a stock from the buy list if unanticipated recent news or events, such as acquisitions, bankruptcies or other corporate developments, occurs that could adversely affect the return expectation.

The portfolio is then optimized to ensure that its beta and other common risk factors, such as volatility, momentum, earnings-per-share growth rate and dividend yield, are similar to those of the benchmark. The final portfolio typically holds approximately 125 positions.

About GLA

GLA is a Chicago-based investment management firm founded in 1981. In 2011, GLA was acquired by Wintrust Financial Corporation. As of March 31, 2018, the firm had a total of CAD$9 billion in assets under management.

Glossary of Financial Terms

Beta: Beta is a measure of sensitivity to movements in the market. High-beta stocks are more sensitive to movements in the broad market. Low-beta stocks are less sensitive.

Dividend yield: A dividend yield is a financial ratio that shows how much a company pays out in dividends each year relative to its share price.
Momentum: Momentum stocks are those whose prices are expected to keep moving in the same direction (either up or down) and are not likely to change direction in the short-term.

Quantitative: Quantitative refers to quantitative analysis which is based on computer-driven models.

Important Information

SEI Investments Canada Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of SEI Investments Company, is the Manager of the SEI Funds in Canada. The information contained herein is for general and educational information purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal, tax, accounting, securities, research or investment advice regarding the Funds or any security in particular, nor an opinion regarding the appropriateness of any investment. This information should not be construed as a recommendation to purchase or sell a security, derivative or futures contract. You should not act or rely on the information contained herein without obtaining specific legal, tax, accounting and investment advice from an investment professional. This material represents an assessment of the market environment at a specific point in time and is not intended to be a forecast of future events, or a guarantee of future results. There is no assurance as of the date of this material that the securities mentioned remain in or out of the SEI Funds. The portfolio managers or the allocations of assets to a particular portfolio manager are subject to change from time to time at the Manager’s discretion. Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with mutual fund investments.Please read the prospectus before investing. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated.