Friess Associates

About

Friess Associates is a growth-oriented manager driven by individual company research that seeks to isolate companies with fundamental profiles that position them for share price appreciation.

AMG Funds From This Firm

BWAFX

Brandywine Advisors Mid Cap Growth Fund

Seeks to provide capital appreciation by primarily investing in a portfolio of mid cap securities.

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BLUEX

Brandywine Blue Fund

Seeks capital appreciation by investing in a portfolio of primarily medium and large cap U.S. companies.

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BRWIX

Brandywine Fund

Seeks to provide capital appreciation by investing in primarily U.S. companies across the capitalization range.

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Philosophy and Approach

Our Philosophy

Friess is an active, bottom-up manager who performs exhaustive, company-by-company research. They use a differentiated approach to growth equity investing engaging in deep research and casting a wide net in seeking to uncover insights about companies that others miss. Friess dedicates their resources to conducting research legwork, which entails regular interaction with people on the front lines of the economy. Friess Associates coined the term “trade check” to describe the interviews they conduct with company executives, managers, customers, competitors and suppliers.

Our Approach

Friess Associates’ approach to investing is rooted in the following principles:

Individual-company fundamentals determine stock prices:

While interest rates, geopolitical events and other macro forces can move “the market” for fleeting periods, each company influences the long-term direction of its share price through operational execution.
As growth investors, Friess Associates views earnings growth as the ultimate sign of a company’s success. They believe companies with earnings power that the broader investment community underestimates offer the best potential for share price appreciation. Exhaustive research legwork isolates companies with the most potential to positively surprise.
Friess Associates believe the best way to gain insight into individual-company earnings trends is to stay connected to the front lines of the economy through ongoing interviews with management teams, customers, competitors and suppliers. Exhaustive research is the firm’s central focus.

Each company earns its space in one of the Fund's portfolios by showing greater promise than an existing holding

Consistent with the firm’s individual-company focus, a portfolio position is prime space only available to a company with a better fundamental profile than an existing holding. Portfolio construction is a function of our continuous search for individual-company earnings strength.

Valuation sensitivity is critical to investment success

High valuations invite risk. To maximize upside potential and manage downside risk, the firm focuses on rapidly growing companies that also sell at what the firm believes are reasonable share prices relative to earnings.

Fund Managers

Scott W. Gates

Managing Partner, Chief Investment Officer

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Insights

An Age-old Paradigm to Client Conversations: Their Knowledge on Risk

Our research shows 90% of investors cannot identify common measures of risk, yet 80% of investors consider themselves at least somewhat knowledgeable about investing. This gap in understanding presents an opportunity for advisors to add value for their clients by building a shared understanding about risk and diversification.

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AMG Funds: Providing Access to the World's Leading Network of Boutique Investment Firms

Joseph Maccone, Head of Sales, describes how AMG Funds partners with best-in-class boutique asset managers to offer a broad array of active, alpha-generating solutions across equities, fixed income, and alternatives.

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Keep Calm and Remain Diversified

A short- and long-term review of the power of diversification.

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