SEI’s Manager Research group carries out the sourcing, analysis, selection and ongoing monitoring of investment managers. Manager Research has a global presence with analysts in the United States, Canada, London and Hong Kong. This reach extends our ability to understand managers’ local peculiarities and usually provides convenient access to visit them on-site to gain genuine familiarity with their teams and processes.

Under normal circumstances, SEI’s Manager Research team evaluates managers on a recurring basis as part of our standard practice. Managers that have been funded in our mutual funds or managed accounts are under continual review. We monitor performance and conduct attribution analysis regularly.

A significant part of our investment theses are dedicated to describing expectations for how a manager should be expected to respond to trends or factors―such as a sharp shift to higher volatility or down-market environment.

Quarterly, if not more frequently, we speak with every manager that we cover―funded or not―in an effort to evaluate their decisions and outlook. Part of this may entail our analysts visiting managers at their offices, at least annually, for unfettered access to the full investment team in their working environment.

A lot can happen in a year, and the goal of our re-certification process is to make sure that our theses remain accurate, and that we remain engaged on developments, large and small, that might impact our understanding of each manager.

A Highly Unusual Environment for All

In light of the coronavirus crisis and subsequent travel restrictions, we have asked the managers that we work with to provide additional information this quarter regarding how the change in the work environment exposed new business risks and what impact the reduction in assets is having on firm profitability.

This exercise is intended to go beyond what is already included in our standard quarterly due-diligence questionnaire.

We expect that over the course of the next month, we will receive nearly 200 responses to these supplemental questions. Given the highly unusual nature of the environment we are in, a summary note on key findings will be forthcoming to provide additional analysis and detail.

Our Outlook

Importantly, all of our managers are in business continuity mode. Most are working from home, many with technology that allows them to talk freely with their colleagues throughout the day. Despite the extraordinary circumstances most are faced with, the investment process itself appears to be business as usual.

We believe the managers are faring this condition well, and it has not been an impediment to how they trade nor how they do what they do best—the functions of investment analysis and communication.


















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.

This material may contain "forward-looking information" ("FLI") as such term is defined under applicable Canadian securities laws. FLI is disclosure regarding possible events, conditions or results of operations that is based on assumptions about future economic conditions and courses of action. FLI is subject to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations as expressed or implied in this material. FLI reflects current expectations with respect to current events and is not a guarantee of future performance. Any FLI that may be included or incorporated by reference in this material is presented solely for the purpose of conveying current anticipated expectations and may not be appropriate for any other purposes.

Information contained herein that is based on external sources or other sources is believed to be reliable, but is not guaranteed by SEI Investments Canada Company, and the information may be incomplete or may change without notice.

There are risks involved with investing, including loss of principal. Diversification may not protect against market risk. There may be other holdings which are not discussed that may have additional specific risks. In addition to the normal risks associated with investing, international investments may involve risk of capital loss from unfavourable fluctuation in currency values, from differences in generally accepted accounting principles or from economic or political instability in other nations. Emerging markets involve heightened risks related to the same factors, in addition to those associated with their relatively small size and lesser liquidity. Bonds and bond funds will decrease in value as interest rates rise.

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