News & Views

News & Views

Waiting for Sebastian (Oct 2018)

We discuss the current investment environment by drawing parallels to the Portuguese myth based on the belief that King Sebastian will return to save Portugal. This seemingly captures the way most people feel about value investing by sneering at unpopular, but value-laden, tangible assets. We believe that what others condescendingly snub as “cigar butts” may turn out to be, figuratively, valuable ‘Cubans’, wrapper intact.

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Master and Servant (Jun 2018)

We discuss the dangers and opportunities created investors allow independent thought and judgment to be subordinated by the dominant theories of the day; to prescriptive economic theories; to formulaic investment models; and especially to price insensitive investment approaches. Why Kopernik prefers independent thought to dependency and judgement to data. We discuss why the future looks bright for active investing, for value investing, and for idiosyncratic investing.

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Runaway Train (Dec 2017)

Using the aforementioned song as an analogy for the current investment market, we discuss the how the markets look like a runaway train, the perils that presents for investors, but more importantly, the potential safety and money-making opportunities available to those who are willing to jump off the momentum express train.

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The Weight of the Wait (Jun 2017)

We revisit the active/passive debate, the current obsession with measurement, the concept of weight, and the misguided measurement of risk. These phenomena present attractive opportunities to thoughtful, patient, long-term investors.

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Time in a Bottle (Apr 2017)

We discuss the essence of time and how do we account it in an era where the world’s central banks have suppressed the most important variable used to discount the time value of money. Since these developments have effectively rendered conventional valuation models useless we delve into how Kopernik tries mitigate it by, among other things, using Charlie Munger’s approach of turning the models upside down.

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The Nifty Seven (Jan 2024)

As Benjamin Graham points out, "The intelligent investor is a realist who sells to optimists and buys from pessimists." In her year-end letter, Deputy CIO Alissa Corcoran highlights the extreme optimism and pessimism in today's markets. Drawing parallels to the 1960s and 1970s, she notes that there are similarities in investor psychology and warns of the risks when price is not considered in investment decisions.

The U.S. momentum market is on a roll. However, Kopernik is finding opportunities by venturing into less loved areas of the market, such as real assets and emerging markets. Corcoran argues that now may be the time for investors to sell to optimists and focus on the fundamentals.

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Uranium 2023 (Dec 2023)

In the third iteration of our uranium whitepaper, Kopernik energy analyst Stephen Rosenthal explores the state of uranium investing in 2023. When our previous whitepapers came out, uranium was far from popular with investors - now, it seems like we’re finally sitting at the cool kids’ table in the investing cafeteria.

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Misunderstandings Present Great Opportunities (Jan 2023)

In his latest commentary, Kopernik analyst and co-portfolio manager for the International Strategy, Mark McKinney analyzes and compares how the current developed world’s characteristics such as inflation, excessive deficits, censorship and politicized economic decision-making are looking more like emerging markets. This begs rethinking the prevailing rules and risks applied in the valuations of both. Is the valuation premium awarded to developed markets for so long still warranted? Or do emerging markets with sizable discounts offer better investment opportunities due to the misunderstood risks?

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Managing Geopolitical Risk in a Global Portfolio (July 2022)

In this whitepaper, Kopernik’s investment research team builds on our April 2022 webinar about geopolitical risk, breaking down our process and examples of both successes and losses in emerging markets. Evaluating geopolitical risk has always been a key factor in our global investment process. As global crises have made our role as investment manager more crucial than ever, our mission of being independent thought leaders could not be more pertinent.

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Fear is Good (July 2022)

In his latest commentary, Kopernik analyst and co-portfolio manager for the International Strategy, Mark McKinney, compares today’s U.S. market to the tech bubble of the late 1990s and 2000s. He also gives examples of the many “mini bubbles” that have already burst under the surface of the bigger names in the index. Lastly, there are some thoughts on the US Dollar, inflation, and gold.

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A Differentiated Approach to ESG (July 2022)

In this whitepaper on ESG, Kopernik’s investment research team provides an update to our March 2021 webinar on the same topic. In summary, ESG is important, complex, and nuanced. This whitepaper will give an update on how we think about the current ESG environment, provide examples of the types of ESG risks we are evaluating, and explain how we integrate ESG risk into our valuation process.

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Financial Times Story featuring Dave Iben - Contrarian fund manager cautions against writing off Russia assets - April 10, 2022

Kopernik's CIO Dave Iben spoke to the Financial Times about why Russian assets still hold value, even in the wake of the war with Ukraine. Read the full feature on the Financial Times website here (Requires login)

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BNN TV - Featuring Alissa Corcoran - April 27, 2022

Kopernik Deputy CIO Alissa Corcoran appeared on BNN Bloomberg to provide a rundown of investment opportunities in emerging markets and explain how Kopernik evaluates geopolitical risk. You can watch the interview here.

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The Antidote to Correlation Webinar - Managing Geopolitical Risk in a Global Portfolio - April 7, 2022

On April 7, 2022, Kopernik Global Investors had a discussion on managing geopolitical risk in a global portfolio, apropos current events. It is Kopernik’s belief that today’s world almost requires that a considerable part of portfolios be allocated to emerging markets to provide refuge from the perils of significant overvaluations and protection from the inflation-driven erosion of purchasing power. Yet, there are many challenges when it comes to investing in developing countries. In this webinar, we discussed how Kopernik appraises and manages a portfolio of businesses in the various parts of the world.

Speakers: Alissa Corcoran, Deputy CIO, Director of Research, Analyst and Todd Tosti, Industrials Analyst

Hosted by: David Iben, Chief Investment Officer and Lead Portfolio Manager

Replay: Please use the webinar registration to view a video replay

PresentationManaging Geopolitical Risk in a Global Portfolio Webinar Presentation

Transcript: Edited Transcript of Managing Geopolitical Risk in a Global Portfolio Webinar

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Bloomberg TV - Featuring Alissa Corcoran - December 7, 2021

Kopernik's Deputy CIO Alissa Corcoran appeared on Bloomberg TV to discuss why Kopernik believes precious metal mining companies present an attractive investment opportunity. Watch the full segment here.

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BNN TV - Featuring Alissa Corcoran - December 21, 2021

Kopernik's Deputy CIO Alissa Corcoran appeared on Bloomberg TV to discuss Kopernik's top picks among gold miners. Watch the full segment here.

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BNN Bloomberg - Featuring Alissa Corcoran - November 9, 2021

Kopernik's Director of Research Alissa Corcoran went on BNN Bloomberg to discuss why investing in gold miners is a great way to hedge against inflation. Watch the full segment here.

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