Published: May 31, 2024
In this Meet the Public Equities Team video, we introduce you to Justin Flowerday, Vitali Mossounov, Monica Yeung, Benjamin Gossack, and Damian Fernandes. Find out more about their unique backgrounds, what drew them to the investment world, and their typical day as a portfolio manager or analyst.
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Justin:
So my name is Justin Flowerday and I lead the fundamental Equity Investment team here at TD Asset Management.
I was born in Sudbury, grew up in Ottawa, went to school, studied finance at McGill University, joined TD Asset Management in 1999 and and joined the equity group in 2003 and about 10 years ago began to build out a a global equity research team and I was given the opportunity to lead that team.
And then more recently of course I took over the leadership of the broader fundamental equity team.
Vitali:
My name is Vitali Mossounov and I'm the Co lead of the fundamental equity research team at TD Asset Management.
I came to Canada when I was 10 years old and I caught the bug of the stock market when I was about 15 years old.
However, I didn't start working in capital markets initially.
Actually I was an accountant, mining accountant to be specific and an auditor and that actually worked out very well for me and that it gives you a lot of foundation in terms of building solid financial analysis skills.
Later I did transition to becoming an Equity Research associate and about nine years ago I moved to TD Asset Management where I've worked in various roles and most recently as the Co lead of the Fundamental Equity Research team.
Monica:
My name is Monica Young.
I'm a portfolio manager in the Fundamental Equities team at TD Asset Management.
I grew up in Vancouver, my parents immigrated to Canada in the 1970s and they really instilled in me the values of hard work, dedication, perseverance, honesty.
Those are values that have served me well in my childhood and my education and now in my career as a portfolio manager at TD.
So my first job out of school was working at TD Securities in investment banking.
I then moved into TD's corporate development area where I evaluated acquisitions and divestitures for the bank.
And all of that has led me here today to my role as a portfolio manager at TD Asset Management.
Ben:
My name is Benjamin Gossack and I'm a portfolio manager at TD Asset Management.
So originally was an engineer and I worked in aerospace for about 5 years and then discovered the world of financial services and then realize what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.
And so that was a journey to get to asset management.
Damian:
My name is Damian Fernandes, I'm a Managing Director here at TD Asset Management.
I manage a few of a high performing global and US mandates.
I started on proprietary investment desk.
These were, you know, basically internal hedge funds for financial institutions. And after the financial crisis, I transitioned to managing US equities under a quantitative framework.
So you move from fundamental, you know, thinking about companies and management teams to thinking about data and what's the evidence and data telling you about these companies you invest in.
You learnt that these big macro variables were driving markets and I wanted to spend more time understanding what those were.
So we helped build the investment process for a tactical asset allocation framework and I've tried to take all of those together, you know, and I've come full circle.
When I joined TD Asset Management 11 years ago by bringing the best of fundamental quant and some insight into macro variables.
Justin:
I would say my analyst years were very formative years for me.
They were years where I learned the importance of building up frameworks to evaluate companies and building up processes for selecting securities and identifying the companies that are going to be able to capture a greater portion of a free cash flow in any given industry.
And you know, it really actually taught me the importance of collaboration as well. You know when you when you're younger and you think about investing, you think your, your research companies and you pick stocks and you do it alone.
You read and do everything by yourself.
It's incredibly important, this concept of collaboration and having other folks with different backgrounds being able to ask questions on a thesis that you may not have thought of before and poke holes in your thesis.
And so I'd say, you know, just the concept of process and collaboration as an analyst were really, really important.
Vitali:
When I discovered the stock market in my mid teens, what I found fascinating was that with the click of a button you can become an owner of a company.
But truthfully, what I found even more captivating was that millions of people who are looking at this business every single day diverged so much in what that business is worth.
And we've all seen it.
The stock market fluctuates wildly even for well known securities.
And so I said to myself, I think that's when the fire was lit and I said I think I'd like to give this a shot and I can, you know, compete pretty well against others.
Monica:
I'm collaborating globally with our peers in Hong Kong or in London talking about new developments that they're seeing in their geographies.
I also collaborate with other teams across assets.
So I'm often talking to our fixed income team about their macroeconomic views and thinking about how that ties into our own equity portfolios.
Or I'm also having quiet time doing my own internal research, looking through financial statements or quarterly releases and thinking about how to reposition holdings in our portfolios.
Ben:
So you can think about financial services or investing in the science of companies, but there's the application part of it.
And so I feel like what I do every day is just problem solving, learning about companies and then trying to apply it to our portfolios for us to outperform.
Damian:
We have this view on our team.
We keep saying data drives decisions, right?
We want to be able to exploit the market's skepticism on free cash regeneration.
That requires fundamental insight, but you have to mirror that with evidence.
It's not just my opinion and meeting the management team.
What matters is that what's the data telling us.
So we try and you know, we try and take the best tools from our quantitative framework and match them with our fundamental insight and we wrap that together in our global outlooks, right, a macro view on what's moving the markets right now.
Justin:
So when I'm not in the office, I'll spend time with my wife and three kids.
My three kids lead very busy lives.
They all play basketball and other activities.
So I spent a lot of time in gyms across Ontario and when I'm not doing that I try and find some time to get some exercise.
I like to cycle, so in the summer and spring and fall I do a lot of cycling.
Vitali:
My wife and I have a 2 year old at home.
So I would say that my typical day when I'm not at work is primarily spending time with my son Theodore, and really watching the miracle of him grow up and finding myself losing more and more of my free time.
But it's well worth it, I'm finding.
Monica:
I think it's really important to take a step back and to have some balance in life.
And so for me, the best way I like to do that is to go for a walk.
I live close to ravine, so I like to go on a long walk, breathe in fresh air and just enjoy nature.
Ben:
Running and fitness has been a big important journey for me, so that is something that I'm trying to do every day.
Even when we go away on vacation, I feel like there's more workout clothes than there are regular clothes.
I do have a daily ritual with my pour over coffee, with hand grinding and then spending time with my wife.
Damian:
My family's awesome and I've been supportive throughout.
Wonderful Wife and Two rambunctious boys and an 8 year old really active American lab.
I try and keep active, so you know whether that's just sports or running or gym, I try and do that, try and travel a lot and try and keep active.
Justin:
Interesting part of our jobs is that every day is different.
It could be a management meeting with one of our portfolio holdings.
It could be a meeting with our risk management team to discuss how different scenarios could impact our portfolios.
It might be listening to one of the analysts make a pitch on a stock.
We spend a lot of time discussing different trends in the industries.
One of the benefits of TDAM is we're a leader in various asset classes.
So we have fixed income and credit, we have infrastructure and real estate and we have asset allocation.
And so we have opportunities to collaborate and and learn from each other and discuss and debate some of the more important topics that are going to drive the changing landscape across investments.
So a whole bunch of different aspects to the job, which makes it very enjoyable.
Vitali:
The pride of coming into work every single day with my amazing colleagues of working together, making each other better in the pursuit of our goal of investment excellence.
Monica:
I think what I love about this role is that you're constantly learning.
It's a really collaborative environment where I think ultimately we're all sharing different points of view and trying to come to the right investment decisions for our portfolios and for our clients.
It's such a honor to be able to work in a job that I love because it really doesn't feel like work at all.
Ben:
I love that there's instant feedback in aerospace. It was incredible work, but they're long cycle, so maybe it takes five years before an engine is developed and in production. With the markets, you may have an idea, a thesis, you put it to work the markets quick with its feedback, whether it's good or bad, and then we can set course based on that feedback.
Damian:
You learn so much, you learn about different industries and what's the drivers for it.
So every day, just like my innate curiosity satisfied when I'm, you know, when I'm looking at these different companies and the industries we invest in.
Justin:
When I think about our team, I think about the diversity of the individuals and their backgrounds across the team.
And I think it really is an important aspect of which is allowed us to be successful.
And I think about some of the hiring we've done over the last 20 years in the backgrounds, I mean we've brought in folks with aerospace engineering backgrounds and people who are accountants, people who spend time in public policy.
We have a really interesting group of people.
And the reason that's so important is because we're really in the business of doing analysis on companies and in industries and then debating and having the insights from all different walks of life to arrive at the most optimal investment decisions for our clients.
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The information contained herein has been provided by TD Asset Management and is for information purposes only. The information has been drawn from sources believed to be reliable. The information does not provide financial, legal, tax, or investment advice. Particular investment tax or trading strategies should be evaluated relative to each individual's objectives and risk tolerance.
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