Allan Small, senior investment advisor with Allan Small Financial Group at iA Private Wealth Inc. Illustration by Joel KimmelThe Globe and Mail
Money manager Allan Small isn’t the type of investor to hang on to a stock for years just because it has done well.
“You can’t be married to a stock. Every stock has its day when it will no longer continue to grow at the same rate,” says Mr. Small, senior investment advisor with Allan Small Financial Group at iA Private Wealth Inc. in Toronto, who oversees about $600-million in assets.
For instance, he’ll trim a high flyer, such as Nvidia Corp. NVDA-Q, on its way up and then buy more if the share price falls and the fundamentals remain strong.
“I am a buyer on weakness and seller into strength. It’s a contrarian approach that investors should take if they want to outperform the markets,” he says.
Still, that doesn’t mean he never buys a rising stock.
“If I think that stock is going to another level higher – and if I think it’s cheap – then I will buy it,” says Mr. Small, who describes himself as a growth-at-a-reasonable-price investor.
His portfolios include equities and bonds, with the mix determined by the client’s risk tolerance and investment timeline.
He says his average returns for medium-risk portfolios invested mostly in equities are about 20 per cent over the past 12 months. His three-year annualized return is 25 per cent. The performance is based on total returns, net of fees.
The Globe spoke with Mr. Small about what he’s been buying and selling.
Name three stocks you own today and why.
Microsoft Corp. MSFT-Q is a stock I’ve been adding to my portfolios in recent months. The stock is down roughly 25 per cent from its 52-week high of around US$555 in July, 2025. It dropped after an earnings disappointment and investor fears around how AI will disrupt software companies such as Microsoft.
To me, the sell-off has been overdone. It’s been a buying opportunity. I believe in Microsoft’s management; Satya Nadella is a great chief executive. The company also has a relationship with AI company Anthropic [Microsoft is introducing a new offering with Anthropic AI models as part of its online services], and it’s also one of OpenAI’s largest shareholders, with a 27-per-cent stake.
Microsoft is one of the best companies in the world with a hand in many different growth areas. If you can buy it cheaply, you will be rewarded.
Meta Platforms Inc. META-Q, the company behind social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, is another stock I’ve been buying more of recently. It’s another tech stock that’s trading about 25 per cent below its 52-week high last summer.
The stock has sold off in part because of how much it’s spending on AI. It’s another good buying opportunity. Meta has a good management team. It just reported record profits for its first quarter. I don’t see how anybody can argue against this company given that 3.6-billion people use its apps every day.
Blackstone Inc. BX-N, the manager of alternative assets, is another stock I’ve been buying more of recently. The stock has sold off more than 30 per cent since its 52-week high in September last year.
It got mixed in with the sell-off of other private equity firms that have been punished because of their exposure to software companies and the threat from AI. Blackstone is different. The company owns a lot of assets that are attractive, such as data centres, and pays an attractive dividend, yielding about 4 per cent.
It’s another company with a great management team. Blackstone is a great idea right now, especially with Canadian banks trading close to all-time highs. Even U.S. banks, although they’ve come off a little bit, have recently been trading at 52-week or all-time highs.
Name a stock you sold recently.
Walt Disney Co. DIS-N is a stock I’m selling in some portfolios when I want to generate cash to buy something else. While I love Disney as a consumer, the stock hasn’t moved higher, seemingly in a long time.
I still own it in my business, but selectively, depending on the portfolio.
I’ve also been trimming a lot of data-storage memory chip companies, such as Micron Technology Inc. MU-Q and Western Digital Corp. WDC-Q. It’s not that I think they’re bad companies; their products are still in demand. I’ve been trimming because it’s the prudent thing to do to crystallize some of those gains.
This interview has been edited and condensed.