The senior portfolio manager knows that smaller stocks tend to be exciting but risky, while larger firms are generally safer with less upside. But mid-cap companies can enjoy the long runways for growth that their smaller-cap peers have, while still retaining the safety of larger companies.
Unlike most fund managers, VanCronkhite and co-manager James Tringas have backgrounds in accounting that they leveraged to form an unconventional, contrarian investing philosophy. Instead of obsessing over past performance, VanCronkhite said he puts a company's balance sheet front and center, though his intentions in doing so differ from many of his peers.
"There's so few managers that say, 'We buy low quality companies' that everyone says, 'I buy quality,'" VanCronkhite said."So I like to be more specific. I believe the special global equity team truly looks for special companies."