Shiraz Ahmed, founder and chief executive officer of Sartorial Wealth Inc. Illustration by Joel KimmelThe Globe and Mail
A big challenge for many investors is preventing biases such as fear of missing out or loss aversion from dictating stock selection.
Money manager Shiraz Ahmed believes he’s removed those emotions with his algorithm-driven approach to stock picking.
“What I think about a security actually doesn’t matter much; it’s how it behaves. The security has to prove itself,” says Mr. Ahmed, founder and chief executive officer of Sartorial Wealth Inc. in Mississauga, who oversees about $250-million in assets.
Mr. Ahmed describes his style as a “global equity, long-only, momentum-based portfolio management firm” that uses proprietary algorithms to systematize buying, allocating and trimming positions, aiming for risk-adjusted returns.
Put simply, his team plugs in data from thousands of global securities and lets the algorithm make the investment decisions. The portfolio is then rebalanced monthly.
“It’s a very dispassionate way of investing, and it’s done intentionally to remove unconscious bias that we all have as humans,” he says. “We invest in a way that intentionally minimizes our own weaknesses.”
The strategy has returned 7.2 per cent so far this year. Its one-year return is 14.6 per cent, and its three- and five-year returns are 21.3 and 17.6 per cent, respectively. The performance is based on total returns, net of fees, as of March 31.
The current stock mix is 54 per cent in the Americas (North and South America), 36 per cent in Europe and 10 per cent in Asia. The top five sectors are information technology at 22 per cent, financials and energy at 17 per cent each, health care at 15 per cent, and consumer staples at 11 per cent.
The Globe spoke with Mr. Ahmed recently about what he’s been buying and selling based on his algorithmic investing style:
Name three top picks in your portfolio right now.
Royal Bank of Canada RY-T is a stock we were in and out of last year and have held consistently since October. RBC is not just a domestic lender but one of the most complete banking franchises in North America, combining a dominant Canadian deposit base with a scaled wealth platform and a leading capital markets business.
What makes it compelling is the balance: stable funding and earnings from its core retail bank, growing recurring fee income from wealth management, and meaningful upside when capital markets activity improves.
Management has been consistent in executing this strategy, keeping capital strong and returning cash to shareholders, which positions RBC as a durable compounder rather than a pure cyclical bank.
Eni SpA E-N, the Italy-based multinational energy company, is a stock we bought at the start of April. Eni offers a differentiated European energy story, combining cash-generative upstream operations with a more capital-light strategy built around partnerships, LNG and transition businesses such as biofuels and renewables.
What adds an interesting macro layer today is geopolitical exposure. Rising tensions with Iran and instability in the Strait of Hormuz, which handles roughly 20 per cent of global oil flows, create both risk and opportunity for companies like Eni.
While Eni’s CEO has downplayed the likelihood of extreme disruption, escalation has already tightened supply and pushed countries such as Italy to secure alternative gas sources, which can support prices and margins but also increase operational and supply chain risk.
The result is a stock that provides income and commodity leverage, with an added geopolitical premium that can amplify upside in tighter energy markets.
Walmart Inc. WMT-Q is a stock we owned on and off throughout 2025 and has become a core holding. Walmart remains one of the clearest recession hedges in equities, with a dominant position in U.S. grocery and everyday essentials that drives consistent traffic regardless of the economic cycle.
The company continues to take share across income brackets, particularly as higher-income consumers trade down in weaker environments, while also building higher-margin growth engines in e-commerce, advertising and fulfilment.
This combination of defensive core retail and emerging profit pools allows Walmart to deliver steady growth and strong cash flow even when consumer sentiment softens, which helps justify its premium valuation relative to traditional retailers.
Name a stock you sold recently.
Thomson Reuters Corp. TRI-T, the business information services data and software company, is a stock we started selling late last year and exited entirely in January, based on the data.
It was part of the broader reallocation away from software, also known as the “SaaS-pocalypse.” AI is compressing different parts of the software sector, increasing uncertainty about pricing power.
So, all that to say, there aren’t as many opportunities in some of these names. I think some of the selloff was overdone, but Thomson Reuters seemed to be consistently in the penalty box for a lot of it, so we exited the position altogether.
This interview has been edited and condensed.