Firm History

Cougar Global Investments Limited was founded in 1993 by Dr. James Breech, President and CEO who had devoted the previous 12 years to developing the Cougar Global investment management platform. Cougar Global provides investment counseling services to all types of accounts — private clients, RRSPs, trusts, foundations, donor-directed charities, corporate and institutional accounts. Cougar Global offers clients integrated wealth management services.

Cougar Global has developed a proprietary investment process that constructs globally diversified portfolios of ETFs designed to perform in accordance with clients’ investment objectives.  The firm’s investment process employs downside risk management methodology and tactical asset allocation to protect client’s assets in down markets.

Effective 4/30/15 Cougar Global was acquired by Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE:RJF) and became an affiliate of Eagle Asset Management, Inc. a wholly-owned subsidiary of Raymond James Financial, Inc.

Investment Philosophy

Cougar Global is a tactical asset manager with a focus on downside risk management. The goal of investing, Cougar Global believes, is to achieve compound annualized returns that meet the client’s investment objective. Cougar Global adheres to a strict discipline of downside risk management, and strives to participate in bull markets while mitigating or avoiding, if possible, the downside in bear markets.

Cougar Global performs ongoing research regarding the behaviour of about 20 global asset classes in order to determine how they will behave under various macroeconomic scenarios using our proprietary Multiple Economic Scenario (MES) methodology.

Cougar Global invests using only Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) that track the index returns for each global asset class. ETFs result in lower fees, lower trading costs, and increased tax efficiency.

Cougar Global constructs four mandates based on the investor’s risk tolerance and investment goals. The “GTS”  stands for Global Tactical Strategy.

GTS with Income: Suitable for clients who make monthly regular withdrawals for income

GTS with Conservative Growth: Suitable for clients who require at most annual withdrawals for income

GTS with Moderate Growth: Suitable for clients who want to achieve moderately high investment returns

GTS with Growth: Suitable for clients who want to achieve high investment returns over a long-term horizon

Wealth Management Services

Cougar Global has a knowledgeable client service team who provide full financial planning services incorporating retirement, tax and estate issues acknowledging the role of trusts or corporations. They frequently work with outside professionals regarding legal and tax issues.

Reporting & Communication with Clients

Clients receive quarterly statements which include a personalized overview letter from the Chief Investment Officer.

Safeguarding of Investor Assets

RBC Investor Services clears, settles trades, and holds all client assets in safekeeping. RBC Investor Services provides quarterly independent reporting to Cougar Global clients.

If you would like to find out more about Cougar Global, please visit their website, www.cougarglobal.com.