Market Insights

Offering Clients a Unique Flavor of Value Investing

Prospector Portfolio Managers John Gillespie, Kevin O’Brien (CFA), Jason Kish (CPA, CFA) and Steve Labbe (CFA) recently conducted a video conference call with Stacy Havener, Founder & CEO of Havener Capital Partners, in which they discussed the sustainability of 2021’s rotation toward value stocks...

Value’s Momentum: $15 Billion Quant ETF Goes from 2% to 32% in Financials

Some of the most common questions we hear from advisors today are “Can the outperformance of value stocks continue?” and “How long might the outperformance last for?”

While we have authored multiple blog posts over the past few months discussing the impact of the economic recovery and higher...

Lessons Learned from Our Heroes

Out of all the mentors who have passed lessons down upon the Prospector team members, the teachings from John (Jack) Byrne may have left the largest impression.

Prospector founder and Portfolio Manager John Gillespie notes the following observations regarding the lasting impact Jack had on the...

Is the Bank Rally Over?

Last year was a rollercoaster for bank stocks. We were fortunate to be underweight the sector relative to our history heading into the pandemic. By March 2020, the regional bank index declined over 50% from the start of the year as the pandemic instilled fears of a major recession and credit losses...

An Abundance of Speculation: 2021’s Rise of Risk Assets

Last week* we reflected on the trillions of dollars of government stimulus and monetary support that has left the United States awash in cash.

The result of all of this has undoubtedly aided the rise in risk assets during the first few months of 2021, and has led to some speculative market...

Reflections on Value’s Outperformance and Our Outlook Going Forward

After the new $1.9 trillion stimulus package was passed along party lines early in the year, the multi-trillions of dollars of government stimulus and additional trillions of monetary support by the Fed left the United States awash in cash. As can be seen in the chart below, the U.S. money supply...

Upside Participation, Downside Risk Mitigation

The volatility of 2020 is still fresh in people’s minds.

On March 12th, 2020, the S&P 500 had it largest single-day percentage drop since the 1987 stock market crash, falling 9.5% in a single trading session.

This infamous record was short lived, as four days later on March 16th, the S&P 500 fell...

Questions We Ask Before We Invest

Successful investing doesn’t have to mimic rocket science. Warren Buffet breaks it down well in his first two rules of investing:

Rule #1 – Don’t lose money; Rule #2- Don’t forget Rule #1!

We adhere to this principle, and our entire investment process revolves around the idea of limiting downside...

Tips on How to Approach Value Investing

Prospector approaches value investing from a credit perspective, with an emphasis on value-based principles and bottom-up fundamental analysis.

Our in-house, deep dive research is key to our approach, focusing on regulatory and statutory statements when available, in addition to GAAP.

We look at...

Industry Spotlight: Property-Casualty Insurance for Commercial Lines

Businesses purchase insurance for vehicles, property, liability, and employees, among others. Workers’ compensation insurance is mandated by law, but most other coverages are purchased regardless. Actuarial data on historical loss trends is prevalent, but less reliable for extrapolation, for the...