Profile in expertise: Meet Steve Falardeau

Interview with Steve Falardeau, our Director, Industrials, Resources and Utilities, from the Global Research team, to understand his expertise and what sets his team apart at CDPQ.

Briefly, what do you do?

I came to CDPQ 19 years ago and my role and mandates have evolved substantially over the years. For 16 years now, I’ve been analyzing and selecting listed securities for the fundamental portfolios. For the last year, I have been in charge of research for the whole IRU team.?

My role is to choose the best securities for the Fundamental Equities portfolios by engaging in fundamental analysis of these securities, which includes financial modelling, risk management, and discussions with management teams. Our recommendations are then debated with portfolio managers from the broad Fundamental Equities team, to adjust our positions.?

For me, openness is the heart of my discipline. Being able to listen and adjust to diverse realities is critical to evolving in a harmonious environment, in which everybody feels like they belong and are valued.?

What are your key mandates??

My team’s main goal is to generate alpha, that is, returns that exceed the benchmark index’s, across our different stock market portfolios. We focus on sectors that are heavily influenced by economic cycles. A deep understanding of economic variables and market valuations is therefore essential to our approach.?

Beyond our role as equity market investor, our sector expertise means my colleagues and I share our knowledge and support teams in CDPQ’s other asset classes. In major cross-sector investment projects like AtkinsRéalis and WSP, we support the investment teams with due diligence, business model analysis, industry dynamics and the valuation of public comparables, as well as in presenting to the different committees.?

What sets your team apart??

The 7 analysts on my team have a combined 80+ years of experience in public market investment. The size of the team means we can share the workload and acquire in-depth knowledge of the sectors we are responsible for, so that we can weigh which type of sector or security will perform the best at that point in the economic cycle, or depending on the development of promising themes like the energy transition and industrial automation. It also makes it possible to put the right price on each company.

IRU companies are also generally at the heart of the economy and interact extensively with the other sectors (technology, finance, consumer goods, health care), allowing us to have a more integrated approach with our convictions.?

How do you make a difference??

My role is to get the best from each member of my team. I think this allows us to generate more value added in the portfolios. It also fosters cohesion, collaboration, and a debate culture across the team so that we’re always challenging ourselves and seeing better investment ideas emerge.?