Terril & Company recognizes that consensus investing based on chasing momentum can work short-term, however, this strategy historically results in catastrophic losses. Terril & Co. researches for investments with characteristics or catalysts not fully appreciated by markets. As a long-term investor (usually for three years or more) Terril will hold out-of-favor investments until positive changes reward them with higher prices. While Terril hunts for unrecognized investment opportunities, they protect investors’ capital in liquid short-term investments to produce income.

Terril & Co. believes that its willingness to make disciplined investing decisions apart from “the crowd” is central to its success. Why? Because many professional money managers chase performance and buy the glamorous investments of the day.

Psychologically, it is far easier for managers to buy the investments their peers are buying because being wrong with “the crowd” is more comfortable than being wrong while standing alone.

Many investors – professionals included – are apt to underestimate investment risk. In bull markets, they are eager to buy more of what is already high in price. They tend to manage to performance benchmarks and are more inclined to expand risk boundaries. In bear markets or with out-of-favor assets, their evaluations often fail to reflect the truism that many times, when an investment is low in price, significant financial risk is already eliminated.