Through fundamental research, we seek to identify mispriced securities with an embedded margin of safety to build concentrated, yield advantaged, portfolios.
Polen Capital
Manager
April 1998
Inception of Strategy
USD
Base Currency
Investment Approach
We strive to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns by employing a disciplined, bottom-up investment process with strict adherence to downside protection. Through rigorous due diligence with an emphasis on preserving a margin of safety, we believe that we can construct concentrated portfolios that can outperform broad high yield indices over a full credit cycle.
We view credit risk differently than credit rating agencies and that structural inefficiencies in the leveraged credit market create opportunities for active management.
We believe that :
Portfolio concentration allows for deeper knowledge of, and engagement with our portfolio companies Investing across bonds and loans provides the ability to capitalize on relative value opportunities Targeting higher yielding securities with a margin of safety potentially drives outperformance In depth legal analysis can enhance downside protection and helps to mitigate risk
Polen US Opportunistic strategy has for objective to outperform a broad based U.S. high yield index over a full credit cycle while experiencing realized credit losses at or below market level. Conviction-weighted portfolios are composed of 70 90 issuers targeting a yield premium of ~200 300 bps over a broad based high yield index.
Dave Breazzano
Portfolio Manager
Founded in 1979, Polen Capital is a global investment manager that provides actively managed growth equity and high-yield credit strategies. Polen delivers distinctive growth and income solutions, building high-conviction, concentrated, competitively advantaged portfolios with the potential to compound and outperform over the long-term. The firm has a distinctive culture and is committed to attracting, developing, and retaining exceptional professionals who are aligned with the firm’s mission of preserving and growing clients’ assets to protect their present and enable their future.
Stephen Atkins CFA, Portfolio Manager, Strategist & Analyst at Polen Capital, explains why his firm believes in active management based on historical evidence over the past 20-30 years.
Jean Maunoury, Deputy CEO and CIO of Research and Investment at iM Global Partner, speaks with June Lui, Portfolio Manager & Analyst for Emerging Markets Growth at Polen Capital, about investment strategies in Chinese equities. June explains Polen Capital’s long-term, fundamentals-driven approach to investing in China, focusing on structural growth opportunities and high-quality companies rather than short-term market trends. She highlights the importance of being selective, emphasizing management quality, business models, and valuations. The discussion also covers the limitations of traditional Chinese equity benchmarks, often dominated by state-owned enterprises, and why Polen Capital avoids them in favor of independent research.
In this conversation, Jean Maunoury, Deputy CEO and CIO of Research and Investment at iM Global Partner, speaks with June Lui, Portfolio Manager & Analyst for Emerging Markets Growth at Polen Capital, to explore how Polen Capital’s Emerging Market teams collaborate effectively.
In this video, Damon Ficklin, Head of Team and Portfolio Manager at Polen Capital and Lead Portfolio Manager for the Global Growth Strategy, outlines the firm’s disciplined investment philosophy centered on three key advantages: portfolio concentration, long-term holding periods, and rigorous risk management. He explains how Polen Capital focuses on selecting 20 to 30 of the world’s highest-quality growth companies, leveraging a long-term investment horizon to let fundamentals drive returns rather than market timing. The investment process uses five guardrails, high return on equity, strong earnings and free cash flow growth, solid balance sheets, improving margins, and organic revenue growth, to filter a broad universe down to about 100–150 best-in-class businesses, while excluding cyclical and competitively weak firms. ESG factors are fully integrated into their analysis, ensuring companies manage risks and capture opportunities. This methodical approach has delivered consistent performance over decades and remains central to Polen Capital’s mission of protecting and growing client capital.
The Team
