Bart Geer, Portfolio Manager

Bart Geer has navigated every kind of market

  • Analyzing stocks since 1981
  • Manager of Putnam Equity Income Fund since 2000
  • Active value investor
  • Strong overlay of risk control
  • Rigorous fundamental analysis
  • Seeks combination of stock appreciation and dividend potential
Successful investing for me is not the result of one or two large macro calls, but rather is driven by hundreds of smaller decisions.

— Bart Geer, Portfolio Manager

Bart's investment approach

Active management and flexibility

I seek to remain as flexible as possible and to take advantage of investment opportunities as they present themselves. This can mean moving in and out of a holding quickly as its valuation characteristics change. This is what active fund managers are ultimately asked to do.

Taking advantage of the market's discounts

In my 30 years of experience, I've found that the stock market always offers something at a discount. My commitment to the value–investing style is grounded in a basic concept: It doesn't make sense to risk paying too much for a stock when there is a cheaper alternative. An undervalued stock is less likely to have inflated expectations, which can help during periods of volatility, when overhyped stocks might be especially vulnerable.

Rigorous research and analysis

Our stock selection process is anchored by fundamental analysis, which facilitates our understanding of why companies may perform well in the future, and by real–time quantitative screening and ranking models, which help us to understand how companies performed in the past and to identify stocks that look historically cheap.

Disciplined search for promising stocks

We follow a disciplined approach to finding midsize to large companies across all sectors that represent sound investment ideas and offer attractive yields. We seek to maintain a diversified, actively managed, risk–controlled style of value investing and yield investing designed to serve our investors well in changing market environments.

Active decision–making and vigilance

Generally, I am a low–beta, yield–oriented investor with a disciplined, risk–controlled process. Successful investing for me is not the result of one or two large macro calls, but rather is driven by hundreds of smaller decisions. Key drivers in this process are fundamental research, disciplined security selection, careful timing of trades, and constant attention to company fundamentals and stock valuations.