David Barr is the CEO of Pender. He is also the Portfolio Manager of several of Pender’s funds.
David began his investing career in 2000. He initially worked in private equity which gives him a unique background to investing capital. At the end of 2007 he became a partner at PenderFund Capital Management Ltd and was appointed Chief Investment Officer with the objective of launching Pender’s mutual fund business. In April 2016 David was appointed CEO of Pender upon the retirement of Kelly Edmison.
David holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of British Columbia and an MBA from the Schulich School of Business. He earned his Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 2003 and is an active member of the Vancouver chapter. He is a past President of CFA Vancouver, having also served on its Board of Directors for four years.
David has been interviewed for his opinions on small cap, the technology sector and value investing by the Financial Post, The Globe & Mail, Morningstar and other media. He is a regular guest on BNN Bloomberg. In December 2012 Mr. Barr was recognized as one of British Columbia’s “Top Forty Under 40” business leaders by Business in Vancouver.
David is an advocate of value investing, a strategy to estimate the intrinsic value of a company before looking to invest in that company with a “margin of safety” or a discount to intrinsic value. He believes that investing in a company well below intrinsic value decreases the risk and sets it up for generating long term performance. This approach forms the basis of Pender’s overall investment strategy, which aims to preserve and grow client capital.
In order to execute on his value investing strategy David is a true contrarian. To meet his stringent value investing criteria, he looks for value in unpopular places with a view to reducing risk and finding prices that include a margin-of-safety. He refuses to follow the crowds and is driven to find quality at a discount.
Markets were volatile this quarter, with small-cap technology in Canada bearing the brunt of the pressure. The S&P/TSX Info-T had one of its worst starts in recent history, driven by intensifying fears of AI-driven disruption and the so-called "SaaS-Pocalypse," even as the S&P/TSX Composite Index reached historic highs near 34,5001. While negative software sentiment may […]
The first quarter of 2026 was marked by significant volatility that continues to reverberate across global markets. The backdrop has been characterized by pronounced dispersion across equity sectors and individual stocks. The global economy entered 2026 following a 2025 "soft landing" supported by AI spending and fiscal stimulus, but Q1 brought heightened geopolitical risks alongside […]
February was an interesting month for investors, marked by elevated volatility and significant return dispersion beneath relatively modest headline index moves. Market leadership continued to shift, and with geopolitical tensions rising into early March, volatility may remain a key dynamic as geopolitical tensions contribute to elevated global uncertainty. Portfolio weights remained approximately 56.7% Canadian equities […]
In February, the Fund delivered a return of 1.2%. The portfolio once again benefited from its resource holdings, which helped offset a challenging month for technology companies. February was an eventful month, with AI disruption narratives continuing to drive significant drawdowns across software and IT services companies. The S&P 1500 Software and Services Index finished […]
The Pender Partners Fund returned 7.0% in January. The Fund’s all-cap mandate provides flexibility to pursue mispriced opportunities across market segments and geographies. January is always an interesting time of year. Calendars are flipped, resolutions are made, and investors look for signals about what the year ahead may hold. But does a new year truly […]
January was characterized by a sharp shift in investor sentiment, particularly toward growth-oriented sectors. As markets reassessed expectations around artificial intelligence, concerns that AI could materially disrupt traditional software business models resurfaced and weighed heavily on software equities. This narrative assumes that enterprises will increasingly rely on internally developed AI tools rather than purchasing software […]
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