Our different approach

Open architecture. Endless opportunities

Why choose us?

Empowerment, agility and partnership are key differentiating factors at the heart of our mission and at the service of your clients’ assets. Did you know that we are the leading bank-affiliated asset manager in Canada to sub-advise exclusively to other firms the portfolio management of the funds built for our product shelf? This 100% open architecture structure is what sets us apart and it provides many benefits.

First, it allows us to select amongst prominent global portfolio managers and to provide Canadian investors with their additional investment expertise, while opening up new investment opportunities. This structure also gives us the agility to maneuver the complex world of investing as we can change portfolio managers if they no longer meet our criteria for excellence in portfolio management, or if more promising professionals are identified.

Lastly, partnering with NBI allows you to simplify your processes and improve your clients’ experience. Because like you, we strive to select the best investment talent for our clients.

Learn more about our open architecture structure

See what sets us apart

Our investment beliefs

NBI's core investment beliefs are our guiding principles in delivering the best strategies possible. They power our mission, vision and values, while setting the tone for our open architecture structure.

We believe investment decisions should be exclusively evidence-based

Investment decisions must be based on sound facts. In a systemic approach based on an extensive study of historical business cycles, we strive to identify material information allowing us to attain the appropriate risk-return payoff. Through our robust due diligence process, we model our analyzes to remain truly rational.

We believe value can be added through active management

We manage a dynamic mix of active and passive solutions. Active vs passive is not a debate but a competitive advantage of our open architecture. It allows us to select key portfolio managers in each asset classes to actively manage different risk factors for greater returns when markets are inefficient. Our approach is to respond to these market conditions, while showing strong strategic and tactical asset allocation convictions for superior total fund diversification.

We believe in budgeting risks

The best way to support our goal of generating long-term results is by minimizing drawdowns. We care deeply about risk management and carefully budget the risk in our portfolios using optimal diversification of styles, factors and portfolio managers. Our goal is to give you access to uncorrelated historical risk premia in a way to optimize portfolio diversification.

We believe in a focused investment strategy

Following this investment process is paramount and fundamental to NBI's success. It adds tremendous alpha and brings the best investment results for our clients.

OP4+: A rigorous governance process

Our 100% open architecture structure relies on conducting ongoing due diligence and ensuring full accountability. Our monitoring efforts are based on a cycle during which the organization, the people, the process, the portfolio, the performance and the integration of ESG factors of external sub-advisors are assessed on an ongoing basis.