Gryphon firmly believes that equities outperform other asset classes over long periods of time; however, there is no portfolio for all seasons. Although we have an orientation toward equity ownership in the portfolio, we maintain the flexibility to shift the asset mix when economic and financial conditions warrant.

Gryphon's balanced fund management is a process in which we identify, in advance, the potential rewards and risks of the complete portfolio structure and balance the diversification trade-offs in a risk-aware portfolio management style. The management of each sector is interrelated and the asset mix decision is but one step, an important one, in an interconnected string of risk/reward tradeoffs.

Starting from the top-down, we gain an insight into the world's major economies, narrowing this down to North America, and finally, Canada. Economic data is a key element to our forecasts of the future environment while current market valuations relative to those forecasts define the risk/reward tradeoffs of various asset mix strategies.

An important part of our investment decision-making process is the setting of asset mix, which is the responsibility of the six portfolio managers forming the team. This team is responsible for setting the weights for Canadian, U.S. and EAFE equities, bond and cash. Asset mix is under constant review and all investment decisions (e.g. stock selection, term structure of the bond portfolio, etc.) emanate from this, encompassing a risk-aware approach to total portfolio returns.