Kenneth Broekaert, CFA
Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager
Areas of Focus
- European equities
- Global equities
Ken’s passion for investing grew out of his interest in business. His interests were as a generalist within business, across business functions and industries, as well as outside of business across subjects such as philosophy, psychology and math, which have also been useful for investing. His generalist interests led him to The Boston Consulting Group at the start of his career. A fascination he developed during that period was the study of how businesses can enhance or lose their competitive advantages. Then he discovered the writings of Warren Buffett and Benjamin Graham. Their teachings immediately resonated because the concept of value was embedded in him from his upbringing in a family with modest means and conservative financial views. One of his favourite Buffett concepts is to challenge yourself to make only 20 investment decisions in your life, which requires good judgement about the durability of the competitive advantages of businesses. Ken continuously challenges himself to own a concentrated portfolio of companies that Burgundy could own “forever” that earn stronger long-term returns for clients. Ken’s interests in business as a generalist, competitive strategy and value investing have made Burgundy a very natural and happy home for him.
Burgundy Experience
- Joined Burgundy in 2003
- Appointed a Senior Vice President in 2010
- Previous roles include: European equity Investment Analyst, Director of Research
Relevant Experience
- 20+ years of combined professional experience
- 4 years at The Boston Consulting Group, helping senior management of companies enhance competitive advantage and drive profitable growth
Education
- CFA charterholder
- MBA (Dean’s Honor List), Richard Ivey School of Business, Western University
- Honors Business Administration (Ivey Scholar), Richard Ivey School of Business, Western University
Memberships and Community
- Chair of Audit Committee, Loran Scholars Foundation
- Member, CFA Society Toronto
- Member, CFA Institute
POSTS FROM THIS AUTHOR
Europe: Navigating the Storm (Part III)
The Journal | September 2012
In Part I I explained that we let the strong management of our great companies generate value for us over time, and in Part II that our returns are generated...
Europe: Navigating the Storm (Part II)
The Journal | August 2012
In Part I, I discussed how Burgundy has navigated the storm in Europe by owning great companies with strong profits, regardless of the macroeconomic scenario. In Part II I will...
Europe: Navigating the Storm
The Journal | July 2012
Over the last 12 years, since launching the Burgundy European Equity Fund, the European market has declined by 1.6% per year, turning one dollar into $0.82 for the index investor,1 while our European...
European Equities
The Journal | January 2012
As part of a Globe and Mail article on investing in Europe, I was recently interviewed by Brian Milner to discuss how Burgundy invests in European equities. My message was...
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
The View | September 2005
On May 9, 2005, Dr. Werner Seifert, the CEO of Deutsche Börse AG, Europe’s most important securities exchange, was forced to resign by dissident shareholders of his company. Over Dr....