Family founded in 2002, Defender Capital manages private accounts – retirement accounts, non-retirement accounts, trusts, corporate accounts, donor advised funds, etc. – for individuals and corporations.
Why Work with Defender?
- As a private family run firm, we answer to you, not shareholders
- We invest in the same holdings as our clients
- We have fair and transparent fees
- We take a long term investment approach, focused on after tax returns
- We focus on selecting individual equities, as opposed to mutual funds and money managers
- Our clients know what they own and why; this conviction provides emotional fortitude in down markets
- We have near perfect client retention
Investment Management Philosophy
- U.S. core all cap equity adhering to a disciplined, research-driven investment process that results in low portfolio turnover and tax efficiency
- An in-depth understanding of the business and their philosophy on capital allocation – use of dividends, stock buybacks, acquisitions, debt service and internal investment
- The value of a business is determined by the present value of the cash it generates over its lifetime, not based on next quarter’s earnings, which allows long-term decisions with long-term capital
- Risk is defined at the company level, not the market level
- Time is spent researching individual companies and specialized outside managers rather than delegating to money managers
- We believe that while the price you pay for a great business is important, it is far more important to buy the “right” business
Portfolio Company Attributes
- Strong business fundamentals – inherent business advantages created by barriers to competition (technology, IP, brands, regulations, culture, etc.)
- Reasonable Valuations/Asymmetric Risk-Reward – determining “value” depends on the specific business; we seek opportunities with downside protection and substantial upside
- Scalable Business Models – ability to add customers at high margins with little incremental costs coupled with large total addressable markets (TAM) provide attractive opportunities for companies with the ability to scale
- Strong Customer Value Proposition – leads to recurring revenues and ancillary benefits that compound over time; how a company treats customers when providing a product/service matters
- High Levels of Board Ownership – aligns incentives with that of the long-term shareholder; allows a longer investing horizon for capital allocation rather than seeking to meet quarterly numbers