Katie Ophelders

Katie joined Sionna in 2015. Prior to joining the firm, Katie was an Account Supervisor at a marketing and communications agency, primarily working with clients in the financial services industry, including Sionna. She earned her Honours Bachelor of Commerce degree from the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University and after graduating, Katie spent several months volunteering at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and Paralympics. She holds the Chartered Investment Manager (CIM®) designation.

In Stock Market Drama, Investors Should Ask: What Would Warren Buffett Do Today? (Financial Post)

Unlike the hordes of sellers who seemingly wanted out at any price, two of the country’s best-known value investment managers – Prem Watsa from Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. and Kim Shannon from Sionna Investment Managers Inc. – were spectators to the dramatic turn in global stock markets on Monday.

Discovering Value in Obvious – But Overlooked – Places

Recently, I was asked to participate in a mystery stock presentation for a group of investment professionals where I would slowly reveal the name of one of my favorite investments by providing more and more information as we went along. After struggling to choose a unique and exotic name to present I realized that my best choice was right in front of me the whole time.

Searching Beneath the Surface

Traditionally, value investors are perceived as focusing on companies that trade at low price-to-earnings (PE) and price-to-book (PB) multiples. At Sionna, we believe these traditional methods are best married with extensive fundamental analysis and a healthy dose of skepticism since multiples can be misleading in some cases.

Home Sweet Home

With the Canadian capital market under siege again, we decided to brush off our 2006 essay, “Who is Afraid of the Canadian Stock Market”, and update it to address the current publicity. We find it interesting that Canadian investors are willing to consider severe criticism – that our market is sub-par and exposure to it should be minimized for our best interests – with very little backlash.

Kim Shannon Wants Canada’s ‘Rodney Dangerfield’ Market to Get Some Respect (Financial Post)

For the second time in the past few years, Kim Shannon, a relative value manager who formed Sionna Investment Managers a dozen years back, has revisited an old essay whose central thesis is there’s no point in being afraid of the local stock market.

Getting Comfortable with Discomfort

As value investors, we often have to make the challenging decision to buy and hold a business that is out-of-favour. When faced with the opportunity to buy shares in an unloved company, the easiest option can be to avoid it altogether – along with the criticism, stress and fear that can come with deploying capital into the investment.

Why Investors Should Care About Pricing Power (Benefits Canada)

How do you know if you should invest in a company or if it’s overpriced?

Pricing power—the ability to increase prices at least above cost, in real terms—is critical in determining a company’s value, said Marlena Zabielska, an associate portfolio manager with Sionna Investment Managers, at the firm’s spring market review.

Why Pension Funds Should Invest in Oil Companies (Benefits Canada)

Oil prices have tumbled recently—a drop of this magnitude hasn’t been seen since 2008/09. Headlines point to both supply and demand concerns, including increases in non-OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) supply; Saudi Arabia’s decision to keep producing despite lower prices; and lower short-term demand due to economic weakness in China and Europe.