, is a discerning bottom-up manager. So much so that he's never even looked at the vast majority of the world's exchange-traded companies. "There's 25,000 public companies the last I read," says Jenkins, adding that his narrowed-down universe of potential picks probably numbers less than 1,000.
The strength of Trimark Select Growth, whose various versions total $6.8 billion in assets, lies in its low turnover and concentrated holdings, says Jenkins, allowing time for thorough research. His research "path" begins with the question: Why is a business dramatically undervalued? To answer that question, he conducts further research that may include visiting management, looking at competitors or talking to customers and suppliers. Part of Jenkins' investment process also includes building valuation models. But he emphasizes that these spreadsheet-based models, while useful, have limitations in assessing how well a company will fare in the future. "We're not in the quant camp," he says, referring to managers whose securities selection is based strictly on the numbers.
During the screening process, Jenkins tends to look at businesses that are either leaders or ranked second in market share. These will tend to be companies with market capitalizations exceeding US$4 billion or much higher, depending on the business.
The fund's country weightings depend on where Jenkins and co-manager Evelyn Huang find the best company picks. Currently, the geographic split is roughly 30% in U.S. equities and 70% in other countries. Most of the latter portion is in Europe, though the fund also has exposure to Asia and South America.
While the fund's performance is measured against the MSCI World Index and competing mutual funds in the Global Equity category, Jenkins generally ignores these yardsticks. "Sometimes people say, 'gosh, your fund doesn't look like all the others and follow the index,'" he says, "and we sort of define it as, that's why we do well. [Looking] for areas where we think things are undervalued means you have to shut out that world of benchmarks, country and index."
A vice-president of AIM Trimark Investments in Toronto, the 42-year-old Jenkins is a 1986 bachelor of commerce graduate of the University of Alberta. Graduating in the depths of "a depression" in Alberta, he joined Colliers International as an investment analyst.
There he took part in a joint venture with Price Waterhouse in forensic accounting, assessing the value of failed financial institutions. In the late 1980s, he worked for Alberta's Heritage Fund in the housing division.
Early on, Jenkins knew that he wanted to pursue a global investment career and, in 1991, graduated with an MBA from INSEAD in France. Upon graduation, he joined TD Asset Management Inc., where he learned to look around the world and come up with those unusual companies in a less "North American-centric way."
Two years later, Jenkins realized his investment ambitions when he was recruited by Robert Krembil, then head of Trimark Investment Management Inc. Jenkins co-managed Trimark Select Growth from 1994 to 1997, and then from November 2003 to April 2004. He was appointed lead manager in May 2004.
Jenkins also co-manages the $1.5-billionTrimark Global Balanced 
, which he formerly led before taking on the lead role at Trimark Select Growth. In total, Jenkins manages about $9 billion. In each of the past three years, Trimark Global Balanced has won Global Balanced Fund of the year at the Canadian Investment Awards.
Trimark Select Growth currently is categorized as large-cap blend in the Morningstar Equity Style Box for its category. But Jenkins "fundamentally disagrees" with the notion that value criteria and growth criteria can be separated into tidy boxes.
In Trimark Select Growth, for instance, he's trying to find a small portfolio of 30 companies where the growth prospects of the business are not properly valued. "Part of that value is how fast it grows," he says.
While the average holding period can vary, "the turnover averages somewhere between 20% and 30%," Jenkins says. Finding better opportunities, profit-taking or fundamental changes in the business are the prime reasons for trading.
Jenkins recalls that when he returned to co-managing Trimark Select Growth in 2003, about six years after his first tour of duty ended, "about 20% of the companies in the fund were there way back when I was managing it, and another 30% to 40% I was familiar with. So we're long-term owners."
, which he formerly led before taking on the lead role at Trimark Select Growth. In total, Jenkins manages about $9 billion. In each of the past three years, Trimark Global Balanced has won Global Balanced Fund of the year at the Canadian Investment Awards.
Trimark Select Growth currently is categorized as large-cap blend in the Morningstar Equity Style Box for its category. But Jenkins "fundamentally disagrees" with the notion that value criteria and growth criteria can be separated into tidy boxes.
In Trimark Select Growth, for instance, he's trying to find a small portfolio of 30 companies where the growth prospects of the business are not properly valued. "Part of that value is how fast it grows," he says.
While the average holding period can vary, "the turnover averages somewhere between 20% and 30%," Jenkins says. Finding better opportunities, profit-taking or fundamental changes in the business are the prime reasons for trading.
Jenkins recalls that when he returned to co-managing Trimark Select Growth in 2003, about six years after his first tour of duty ended, "about 20% of the companies in the fund were there way back when I was managing it, and another 30% to 40% I was familiar with. So we're long-term owners."
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