Loomis Sayles Sakorum Long Short Growth Equity

The fund operates under a well-defined investment philosophy centred on generating risk-adjusted excess returns through a long-term, private equity-style approach. Their philosophy emphasises identifying high-quality businesses with sustainable competitive advantages and profitable growth, purchasing them at a significant discount to intrinsic value, and exploiting market inefficiencies caused by behavioural biases such as short-termism and herding. The investment process is rooted in a proprietary, 7 step research framework that evaluates quality, growth, and valuation. The team begins by identifying businesses with durable competitive advantages, assessing industry positioning, financial health, and management quality. Growth drivers are analysed to ensure long-term secular opportunities, and intrinsic value is modelled using discounted cash flow methodologies, incorporating sensitivity analyses across different scenarios. Investments are made with a margin of safety, ensuring low embedded expectations for long positions and high embedded expectations for short positions. Portfolio construction follows a high-conviction, concentrated approach, typically consisting of 15–25 long and short positions. Each investment undergoes rigorous vetting and is sized based on risk/reward assessments and conviction levels. Long positions are characterised by structural advantages and discounted valuations, while short positions target structurally deficient businesses or those trading at premiums to intrinsic value that cannot be justified. Risk management is active and absolute, focusing on avoiding permanent capital loss rather than minimising short-term volatility. Diversification is achieved at the business driver level rather than through traditional sector exposure, thereby enhancing resilience against correlated risks.