Our Philosophy
At Duff & Phelps Investment Management we pursue a limited number of specialized investment strategies with exceptional depth of resources, expertise and intellectual rigor.
In this way, we leverage the perspective and culture of a respected fundamental research boutique to provide specialty investment strategies that enhance client outcomes through active portfolio management and customized solutions.
Since our earliest beginnings providing vital research and analysis of utility company securities to Depression-era investors, our attention has been squarely set on identifying attractive opportunities and strategies, while effectively managing the risks of investing in listed securities.
Today, with our analysts and portfolio managers building on our distinguished legacy, Duff & Phelps has earned a reputation as a leader in investing in Global Listed Infrastructure, Global Listed Real Estate, MLPs & Energy, and in developing and managing customized investment solutions for institutional clients.
Thank you for taking the time to learn more about Duff & Phelps.
Our People
Commitment and Experience that Counts
At Duff & Phelps, a team approach drives our efforts to provide clients with innovative, insightful and effective investment strategies and solutions. Our investment culture brings together experienced professionals with a shared philosophical approach to vetting ideas and implementing our strategies.
Our Mission and Values
Mission
To provide specialty investment strategies that enhance client outcomes through active portfolio management and customized solutions.
Values
Our values of quality, reliability and specialization all work together to reinforce who we are and what our future will be.
QUALITY
We pursue excellence in every aspect of our firm. We hire the best people and hold them to the highest standards. All of our work, whether investment related or non-investment related, whether seen by our clients or not, is of the highest quality and designed to produce value-added results. We question assumptions, discover weaknesses, learn from mistakes, and seek improvement. Quality is not just our tag line; it is our standard of excellence.
RELIABILITY
We do not take for granted the heritage we have inherited from a firm started in 1932. Instead, we do our part as a link in this chain to perpetuate and improve upon the processes and products we oversee. We know that our clients have relied upon us for decades, in good and bad times, to improve their investment outcomes. We realize that the journey is as important as the destination. The world is constantly changing, and we continually strive to run our firm in a manner that perpetuates reliability for our employees and clients – now and in the years to come.
SPECIALIZATION
We have focused on fundamental investment research since our founding. We cannot be all things to all people. Remaining specialists in a handful of asset classes gives us the best chance to retain an edge over the market. This focus of our business and investment strategies helps align our people, processes, and resource allocation to help us continue to keep our edge over time. Markets will evolve in the future as they have in the past, but remaining focused and specialized in what we do will enable us to deliver quality and reliability to our clients.
Our History
In 1932 during the depths of the Great Depression securities analysts William Duff and George Phelps identified the pressing needs of institutional investors for high quality, objective research and analysis of the security offerings of utility companies.
The utility holding companies of the era were consolidating ownership of the country’s electrical generation and gas transmission facilities into a small number of large companies. While these structures helped the companies achieve the benefits of economies of scale, they also enabled some undesirable behaviors as far as investors were concerned, notably stock manipulation, accounting irregularities and unreliable earnings reporting. Failures were not uncommon.
Despite one of the most challenging investment climates of all time, Bill Duff and George Phelps saw their fledgling firm thrive as portfolio managers for insurance and trust companies sought insights and analysis to steer portfolios toward sources of reliable returns and away from outsized risks.
As the firm’s reputation grew, demand for its analytical services extended beyond in-depth analysis of utilities companies to commissions for special feasibility studies and consulting engagements. Over the years, the firm’s reach was further extended to analysis of industrial companies and the creation of formal credit ratings for corporate bonds. In 1979, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. was formed to provide advisory services in the form of portfolio management to institutions. Since 1995, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of Virtus Investment Partners (“Virtus”) and its predecessor company, a Hartford, CT based company, which owns a collection of independently managed investment management boutiques.
Our Approach to Responsible Investing
ESG practices
At Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co., we are dedicated to understanding environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) concepts and their impact on economic value, integrating ESG factors into investment decisions, and encouraging companies we invest in to pursue and disclose sustainable business practices, consistent with D&P’s fiduciary duty to clients and the investment objectives that our clients have directed us to pursue. We believe that strong corporate governance and capital stewardship are essential components of long-term investing, and that embedding ESG practices into the core of our investment activities globally is in the best long-term interest of our clients and can enhance fiduciary outcomes. As a steward of our clients’ resources, D&P is committed to adapting our ESG approach to reflect the evolution of material ESG considerations around the globe.