About

Principles

The lifeblood of Hillsdale’s investment culture is constant improvement – in our investment process and knowledge base. We value curiosity, humility and resilience, and we strive to build and maintain an open, collegial and dynamic environment where people are driven to discover new investment insights, challenge the obsoletes and, ultimately, make a difference in the lives of the people we serve.

Values

These core values are central to Hillsdale’s culture and success.

Curiosity

A penchant for seeking out new experience, original knowledge, candid feedback and an openness to learning and change.

Engagement

A knack for using interaction and logic to communicate a persuasive vision and to work with people.

Humility

The mature ability to maintain a balanced perspective and to rely on intrinsic self-worth. 

Integrity

Being conscious about ethical issues and having the courage to integrate multiple perspectives and approaches to take sound actions.  

Motivation

A fierce commitment to excel in the pursuit of big collective goals and a powerful ambition to leave one’s mark.

Resilience

The wherewithal to fight for difficult goals despite challenges, and to bounce back from adversity.

People

The process of building lasting excellence is labourious, long and ambiguous. We believe that in this journey, it is more rewarding to work with those who understand what it takes and who appreciate that the whole can be stronger than the sum of its parts.

Hillsdale attracts exceptional individuals who are keen to foster and advance our culture. We bring together a team of professionals with diverse, yet complementary, skillsets and backgrounds. They join us from top academic programs and leading industry firms. Many spend years building their success with Hillsdale, becoming our invaluable partners.

Careers

Hillsdale is constantly on the lookout for exceptional people to join our team. We offer a unique and independent work environment with opportunity for advanced learning and growth. If our culture and values speak to you, we would like to hear from you.

Advocacy

The Hillsdale Investment Management - CFA Society Toronto Research Award

At Hillsdale, we believe in seeking out different perspectives. We believe this is key to raising the quality of discussions, to innovating, and to adapting – all of which are vital to the long-term success of our industry, our firm and our relationships with investors.

To this end, Hillsdale helped establish one of the most prestigious investment research awards in Canada: the Hillsdale Investment Management - CFA Society Toronto Research Award. The aim of the award is to advance the knowledge and understanding of the practice of investment management through the publication of high-quality, practitioner-relevant research.

This $10,000 CAD Award is open to all those conducting research related to Canadian capital markets. Areas of research interest include all aspects of investment management, including portfolio management, asset valuation, risk management, ESG integration, compliance and performance evaluation. Investment fields include traditional and alternative investments, as well as all asset classes and investment vehicles such as fixed income, equities, and derivatives.

Learn more about the award
 

Canadian Coalition for Good Governance

Hillsdale is an active member of CCGG. Representing the interests of institutional investors, CCGG promotes good governance practices in Canadian public companies and the improvement of the regulatory environment to best align the interests of boards and management with those of their shareholders, and to promote the efficiency and effectiveness of the Canadian capital markets.

Hillsdale engages annually with over 35 Canadian public companies at the board of directors level  in cooperation with the Canadian Coalition of Good Governance (CCGG).  In addition, Hillsdale engages directly with company management of its largest holdings in its Canadian Small and Micro Cap accounts  We continue to defend our clients against takeovers and buyouts at prices that do not represent Fair Value.

Hillsdale is co-author of “The Directors' E+S Guidebook”, which provides practical insights and recommendations for effective board oversight of Environmental and Social matters.  Hillsdale endorses the CCGG’s Stewardship Principles.

Hillsdale has used Corporate Governance data in its security selection since 2012.

Learn more about CCGG

Principles for Responsible Investing

“We are delighted to welcome Hillsdale Investment Management on board as a signatory” commented Fiona Reynolds, CEO of the PRI. “It is great to see their commitment to incorporating ESG and responsible investing practices, and we look forward to working together in future.” – Fiona Reynolds, Managing Director, PRI

The PRI is the world’s leading proponent of responsible investment. Supported by the United Nations, it works to understand the investment implications of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors and to support its international network of investor signatories in incorporating these factors into their investment and ownership decisions. Launched in New York in 2006, the PRI has grown to more than 3,600 signatories, managing over $103 trillion AUM. 

Learn more about PRI

CDP is a non-profit organization that runs the global disclosure system for investors, companies, cities, states and regions to manage their environmental impacts. Over 9,600 companies reported through CDP and over 590 investors with over US$110 trillion in assets requested companies disclose through CDP on climate change, water security and forests.

Learn more about CDP

ESG

Hillsdale has practiced full ESG integration and implementation since 2011. Factors from over five ESG databases are considered and evaluated in our investment process on a strategy by strategy and client by client basis alongside all other potential alpha and risk signals. Our factor library contains over 2500 factors in 6 frequencies on 40,000 global stocks.

Our commitment to ESG integration is evident in our membership and support of the Principles of Responsible Investing (PRI), the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance (CCGG), including the Directors E&S Guidebook and the CCGG's Stewardship Principles, and the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).

Proxy Voting

In 2020, Hillsdale voted over 16,000 proxies for the companies in its pooled funds as well as on behalf of clients in their separate accounts. The “against” votes were cast to oppose unaligned compensation, to counter excessive dilution of shareholder interests, to challenge the lack of director independence and diversity, and to defend our investors’ rights to secure Fair Value in the event of takeovers and management buyouts.

Hillsdale Proxy Voting Summary 2020

Hillsdale Proxy Voting Summary 2019

Hillsdale Proxy Voting Summary 2018

Hillsdale Proxy Voting Summary 2017

Hillsdale Proxy Voting Summary 2016

Hillsdale Proxy Voting Summary 2015

Carbon Emissions

Carbon Emissions exposure is a concern for all of our portfolios. Hillsdale has been measuring and monitoring Greenhouse Gas Emissions for our clients since 2019. Hillsdale’s factor library contains Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Intensity factors on over 10,000 Global stocks, which are assessed and evaluated alongside all other potential alpha and risk signals, providing another lens through which we assess stocks.

We believe that understanding client climate and sustainability preferences is essential to ensuring an alignment between investor preferences and strategy implementation. Our experienced institutional service team, working with the portfolio management team, meets with clients at least annually to understand how their preferences towards climate change have evolved. Each client account is reviewed at least annually to ensure that a client’s objectives, constraints and preferences are effectively reflected and implemented in their strategies.

Hillsdale Portfolios Scope 1+2 Carbon Emissions 2020

Hillsdale Portfolios Scope 1+2 Carbon Emissions 2019

Industry Associations

Hillsdale is a member of the following industry associations:

Portfolio Managers
Association of Canada

Alternative Investment
Management Association
 

Employees of Hillsdale are members of the following:


CQA (Chicago Quantitative Alliance)
The primary goal of the group is to facilitate the interchange of ideas between leading quantitative professionals. The discussion is focused on practitioner issues and involves active participation by all members.

Q Group
Advancing the practice of global investment management by connecting investment professionals with rigorous research and ideas at the frontier of the industry. Through its seminars and programs, Q Group promotes excellence in research that demonstrates grounded logic and disciplined scientific methodology in finance, economics and those crossing disciplines. With an interest in research for applications, for 50 years Q Group has provided a forum for investment professionals to engage the academic community in a spirited dialogue.

CFA Society

ACPM – Association of Canadian Pension Management

Knowledge Bank

To continually inspire, refine and adapt our process and philosophy, we have always drawn on formative academic and applied research. Please see our Research section for articles which have contributed to our learning journey.

Community

We aim to make a difference.
 

This philosophy extends beyond our jobs and clients. Hillsdale is dedicated to enhancing the communities in which we work and live. Our firm supports a diverse group of high quality charities and organizations.

The Hillsdale Workplace Giving Program matches employees’ charitable donations up to $500/year providing employees the opportunity to double their donation to their favourite charities. 

We support