Investment Philosophy & Process

Our Investment Approach

The overall investment philosophy of Sit Investment Associates is to create positive returns over complete economic cycles, avoiding excessive volatility and taking into consideration historical and future inflation rates. Our comprehensive understanding of industry trends, corporate fundamentals, and company-specific issues ensures that the firm remains objective throughout the investment process.

We view investing as the practice of applying a consistent philosophy and decision-making process over meaningful time periods utilizing a disciplined, fundamental research-driven process.

Equity Management
Fixed Income Management

Our firm’s disciplined growth equity investment process centers around choosing companies with sustainable, higher-than-average earnings growth. Backed by a rigorous, disciplined research process, the firm steers an opportunistic course through changing investment cycles and responds readily to growth opportunities in developed and developing markets.

We are committed to fundamental research, conducted internally, on the industries and companies in which we invest. Our research team uses extensive databases and quantitative tools to help identify and evaluate prospective investments. Valuation is analyzed in relation to industry peers, historical levels, and earnings growth rates. In addition, we evaluate each company’s market niches, distinctive products, competitive position, financial status, and management team.

As fixed income investors, we seek consistent, superior risk-adjusted returns using a conservative investment style. We utilize investment-grade securities, with special emphasis on fixed income securities that provide high interest income and stability of principal. In our taxable securities portfolios we emphasize interest income, over time, provides the vast majority of a bond portfolio’s total return. The focus of our approach is to provide a high level of interest income with lower volatility of return. In our municipal securities portfolios we emphasize tax-exempt income to achieve consistently strong, risk-adjusted, after-tax returns.

Top-Down Macroeconomic Analysis & Bottom-Up Security Selection

Portfolio managers and research analysts operate as a team. We bring sector and industry specialties, along with current company research and quantitative data, to collaborative daily meetings that facilitate communications, ensure unity in our objectives, and consistency in our adherence to the firm’s standards and methods. 

Our firm employs a top-down and bottom-up analysis approach in formulating investment strategy and evaluating industry sectors, individual companies, and overall markets. Our research team is disciplined and focused on the selection and observation of investments. We closely monitor important developments throughout the world, such as key economic indicators, economic outlook, monetary policies, and investor sentiment. This approach enables us to identify, assess and understand the securities in which we invest.

Sit Investment Philosophy Graphic: Top Town Analysis - Secular Trends, Political Environment, Economic Outlook, Sentiment > Portfolio Decisions - Regional and Country Allocation, Industry and Sector Allocation, Stock Selection < Bottom Up Analysis: World Class or Regional Dominance, Distinctive Product or Services, Proactive Managements, Healthy Financials, Attractive Valuations, Interest Rate Volatility, Supply/Demand, Credit Evaluation, Security Structure, Valuation

Your success is our goal. Learn more about the ways Sit Investment Associates can help you achieve it.