| ANNUALIZED SINCE INCEPTION | QUARTERLY | YTD |
|---|---|---|
| 9.6% | 3.4% | 7.4% |
| 2025 |
|---|
| 7.4% |
Bristol Gate's Canadian Equity strategy significantly underperformed the S&P/TSX Composite in 2025, which delivered its best gain since 2009 at 31.68%. The portfolio's underperformance was primarily driven by lack of exposure to gold and silver miners, which benefited from gold's 67.41% annual return - the strongest since 1979. Copper also surged 42% for the year. An industrials overweight and underexposure to major banks further detracted from relative performance. The firm's dividend-focused strategy led to several portfolio changes, exiting Premium Brands Holdings, OpenText, and EQB due to deteriorating dividend growth prospects, while adding Royal Bank of Canada, Pet Valu Holdings, and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Top absolute contributors included Dollarama, Toromont Industries, and Element Fleet Management. The Materials sector dominated benchmark returns with a staggering 100.61% gain. Bristol Gate remains committed to its core thesis of investing in companies with consistent dividend growth supported by strong free cash flow generation and disciplined capital allocation.
Bristol Gate believes companies with consistent high dividend growth, supported by robust free cash flow and disciplined capital allocation, are uniquely positioned to deliver superior risk-adjusted returns through economic cycles.
Bristol Gate expects continued acceleration in core business drivers, execution on key growth initiatives, and a supportive housing backdrop to drive resilient earnings growth and sustain dividend growth for their holdings. The firm remains committed to providing income growth and strong investment returns into the future.
| Date | Letter | Tickers | Keywords | Pitches | Quick Takes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 20 2026 | 2025 Q4 | CLS.TO, CM.TO, DOL.TO, EFN.TO, ENGH.TO, EQB.TO, FSV.TO, L.TO, OTEX.TO, PBH.TO, PET.TO, RY.TO, SHOP.TO, TFII.TO, TIH.TO, TRI.TO, TVK.TO | Banking, Canada, commodities, Copper, dividends, gold, materials, value |
TVK CN FSV TRI CN OTEX CN RY CN PET CN CM CN TFII CN |
Bristol Gate focuses on companies with consistent high dividend growth supported by robust free cash flow and disciplined capital allocation. The firm believes dividend growth rates are powerful predictors of total return, with fastest dividend growers often outperforming the broader dividend-growth universe. Several portfolio transactions were driven by deteriorating dividend growth prospects. Gold finished up 67.41% in 2025, the strongest annual return since 1979. Gold benefitted from multiple underlying fundamental and macro drivers, pushing the metal meaningfully higher. The portfolio's underweight and lack of exposure to gold/silver miners was a primary detractor from relative performance. Copper gained over 42% in 2025 and continued its move higher after bottoming during the pandemic. Copper finished up 21.43% in Q4 alone, benefitting from multiple underlying fundamental and macro drivers. The metal's strong performance contributed to Materials sector dominance. |
| QUARTER | THEMES | TAGS |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 Q4 |
CopperMarket shifted from deficit to surplus as Chinese demand stalled for first time in 25 years while supply expanded by 3 million tonnes since 2021. Exchange inventories reached 1.2 million tonnes, highest since 2003. Bearish outlook as China transitions from under-consuming to over-consuming copper. |
Base Metals China Inventories Surplus |
DividendsJapanese companies paid record dividends of ¥18 trillion for fiscal year ending March 2025, a 13.8% year-over-year increase. Many major firms have adopted progressive dividend policies guaranteeing dividends will never be cut, only maintained or increased. |
Progressive Dividend Record Payouts Shareholder Returns Yield Growth | |
GoldGold returned +65% in dollars in 2025, driven by broadening demand from central banks, professional and retail investors. Central banks now hold 24% of reserves in gold versus 23% in US Treasuries for the first time. Maintained 12% portfolio allocation throughout the year. |
Central Banks Reserves Diversification Demand |
| Date | Pitch Type | Author | Ticker | Company | Industry | Sub Industry | Bull / Bear | Exchange | Keywords | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 20, 2026 | Fund Letters | Achilleas Taxildaris | OTEX CN | OpenText Corporation | Information Technology | Application Software | Neutral | New York Stock Exchange | ARR, cloud, dividends, Retention, Software | Login |
| Jan 20, 2026 | Fund Letters | Achilleas Taxildaris | RY CN | Royal Bank of Canada | Financials | Diversified Banks | Bull | New York Stock Exchange | banking, Capitalstrength, dividends, scale | Login |
| Jan 20, 2026 | Fund Letters | Achilleas Taxildaris | PET CN | Pet Valu Holdings Ltd. | Consumer Discretionary | Specialty Retail | Bull | New York Stock Exchange | cashflow, dividends, expansion, Petcare, retail | Login |
| Jan 20, 2026 | Fund Letters | Achilleas Taxildaris | CM CN | Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce | Financials | Diversified Banks | Bull | New York Stock Exchange | banking, Capital, dividends, oligopoly | Login |
| Jan 20, 2026 | Fund Letters | Achilleas Taxildaris | TFII CN | TFI International Inc. | Industrials | Integrated Freight & Logistics | Bull | New York Stock Exchange | cashflow, Freight, Logistics, Margins, recovery | Login |
| Jan 20, 2026 | Fund Letters | Achilleas Taxildaris | TVK CN | TerraVest Industries Inc. | Industrials | Industrial Conglomerates | Bull | New York Stock Exchange | Acquisitions, buybacks, cashflow, growth, Industrials | Login |
| Jan 20, 2026 | Fund Letters | Achilleas Taxildaris | FSV | FirstService Corporation | Industrials | Industrial Services | Neutral | NASDAQ | Cyclicality, earnings, Propertyservices, valuation | Login |
| Jan 20, 2026 | Fund Letters | Achilleas Taxildaris | TRI CN | Thomson Reuters Corporation | Industrials | Research & Consulting Services | Neutral | New York Stock Exchange | AI, cashflow, Government, Info_Services | Login |
| TICKER | COMMENTARY |
|---|---|
| CLS.TO | Non dividend paying technology names Shopify and Celestica had also meaningful contribution to the index returns for the year, detracting our relative outcome. |
| CM.TO | Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is Canada's fifth-largest bank, operating within an oligopoly that has consistently compounded shareholder value over decades. With the highest dividend growth of the peer group over the past two years and a commitment to a 40-50% payout ratio, we believe CIBC is well-positioned to continue delivering reliable dividend growth. |
| DOL.TO | During the year the leading absolute performance contributors were Dollarama, Toromont Industries and Element Fleet Management. |
| EFN.TO | During the year the leading absolute performance contributors were Dollarama, Toromont Industries and Element Fleet Management. |
| ENGH.TO | The top detractors for the last twelve months included Thomson Reuters, Enghouse Systems and FirstService Corporation. |
| EQB.TO | EQB Inc. was sold despite its continued high dividend growth because of a deteriorating record on its credit book. While the company has historically offered high dividend growth, recent performance metrics indicate growing concerns regarding credit quality, hurting profitability. |
| FSV.TO | The top detractors for the last twelve months included Thomson Reuters, Enghouse Systems and FirstService Corporation. FirstService Corporation released earnings in late October and while the quarter was not bad, with small misses primarily due to low catastrophic/weather-related business being low, the stock was punished as a result. |
| L.TO | TerraVest Industries, TFI International and Loblaw Companies were the top contributors to performance. Loblaw Companies released earnings mid-November and saw a nice bump in the stock price as a result. EPS surpassed expectations with revenue remaining steady and in-line with consensus. The company also bought back 6.8M shares, reducing outstanding market float. |
| OTEX.TO | OpenText released decent earnings on November 5, but apparently not good enough. OpenText was sold because of deteriorating dividend growth. While the company remains a significant player in the information management space, its latest dividend increase in September 2025 was just 4.8%. |
| PBH.TO | Premium Brands Holdings was sold because of deteriorating dividend growth. |
| PET.TO | Pet Valu Holdings Ltd. is Canada's largest specialty pet retailer, operating an unrivaled network of over 830 stores. With a hybrid model of franchised and corporate stores, Pet Valu maintains a clear runway for growth through new store openings and a long-term goal of 1,200+ locations. We believe this infrastructure, combined with a sticky, large loyalty base, will drive resilient free cash flow and support continued dividend growth. |
| RY.TO | The Royal Bank of Canada is Canada's largest bank, with operations across North America and globally and a workforce of more than 100,000 employees. The bank has a leading position in Canadian retail and commercial banking and multiple levers for organic growth. We expect continued acceleration in core business drivers, execution on key growth initiatives, and a supportive housing backdrop to drive resilient earnings growth and sustain dividend growth. |
| SHOP.TO | Non dividend paying technology names Shopify and Celestica had also meaningful contribution to the index returns for the year, detracting our relative outcome. |
| TFII.TO | TerraVest Industries, TFI International and Loblaw Companies were the top contributors to performance. TFI International released earnings at the end of October. The company beat on EPS, but they missed consensus on revenue and dealt with the continued deceleration in the North American freight market. Renewed optimism regarding a subsequent recovery of the freight market lifted the stock prices in the transportation industry in both sides of the border. |
| TIH.TO | During the year the leading absolute performance contributors were Dollarama, Toromont Industries and Element Fleet Management. |
| TRI.TO | The top detractors for the last twelve months included Thomson Reuters, Enghouse Systems and FirstService Corporation. Thomson Reuters delivered in-line quarter with a beat on EPS and revenue. Headwinds in their government solutions business will likely result at the lower end of the FY25 organic growth range. Free cash flow decline year-over-year was a concern. More importantly, perceived skepticism that AI startups could disrupt the business model has hurt its stock price. |
| TVK.TO | TerraVest Industries, TFI International and Loblaw Companies were the top contributors to performance. TerraVest Industries struggled for the first half of the quarter before a materially better second half. The company released strong fourth quarter earnings with sales for Q4 and FY2025 up 82% and 50% year-over-year. The board of directors declared a dividend increase of 14% over the prior quarterly dividend in mid-December during the latest quarterly earnings. |
| Ticker | Put/Call | Amount Bought | Shares Bought | % Change | Weight % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Recent Buys Data | |||||
| Ticker | Put/Call | Amount Sold | Shares Sold | % Change | Weight % | Status |
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| Industry | Prev Quarter % | Current Quarter % | Change |
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