By Scott Ronalds

If you grew up in the late 70’s or early 80’s, you know the band Journey. You probably owned one of their vinyls or cassettes, and maybe even had a poster of the quintet on your bedroom door (you know who you are). If the name doesn’t ring a bell, you’ve most likely heard their music at some point – the hit Don’t Stop Believin’ is the top selling catalog track in iTunes history.

I watched a documentary on the band the other night called Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey. It chronicles how the group found their latest frontman, Arnel Pineda. Guitarist Neil Schon was tired of the traditional channels of hunting for a new singer (i.e. auditions), so he turned to YouTube. While surfing the website one night, he found footage of a cover band whose lead singer (Pineda) was hitting every note perfectly, from Sting to Steven Tyler (Aerosmith) to Steve Perry (Journey’s former singer). The amazing part was, the band was in Manila and the singer was Filipino. Journey flew Pineda to the U.S. to hear him with their own ears, and the rest is history.

It’s a cool story, and a reminder that you never know where you’ll find a gem. To borrow a phrase from Steve Jobs, it pays to think different.

Money managers who move in the same circles tend to have processes and portfolios that look pretty similar, making undiscovered gems a rarity. Those who take a different approach and philosophy are more likely to discover the Arnel Pineda’s of the world.

Our Small-Cap manager, Wil Wutherich, is a different cat. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biology (along with an MBA), hangs his shingle far away from Bay Street in Montréal-ouest, and tells clients stories about taking his motorcycle on road trips to meet with CEOs. He has a rolodex of unique research contacts and no regard for the index. We love these non-traditional attributes, aside from the motorcycle thing.

I can’t confirm or deny whether Wil’s discovered investment opportunities through YouTube, but he’s uncovered several gems by thinking differently than the herd. And his portfolio (our Small-Cap Fund) looks decidedly different than the market and the competition.

Like searching for a lead singer, finding investment opportunities and managing a fund shouldn’t be a black and white process. It’s more of a journey.