The International Equity Fund uses a disciplined, three-step process in keeping with Greystone's discipline of using quantitative and qualitative methods to manage a portfolio that focuses on relative growth.  Our International Equity team seeks companies with the best earnings growth characteristics relative to their peers and the market at large. We select quantitative variables that best highlight those relative growth characteristics, and avoid the “hurdle rates” employed by absolute growth managers, which can result in a riskier portfolio.

The Fund's stocks will change over a market cycle because of this relative-growth factor (e.g. earnings growth of 5-10% may be relatively attractive at times).  Greystone also looks at earnings surprise characteristics for changes “at the margin,” meaning companies with accelerating growth in earnings.

Lastly, Greystone uses valuation levels as a cross check, because we do not think that growth and valuation are polar opposites. This helps us not overpay for the earnings growth.  Greystone’s risk-conscious, relative-growth philosophy underpins the rationale for using our international strategy to off-set HGI as part of the EAFE Plus Fund.