Chris Kerlow, senior portfolio manager and investment advisor at Langsford Wealth Counsel with Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management in Oakville, Ontario, employs a strategy that embraces market volatility to enhance long-term portfolio growth. Overseeing $1.2 billion in assets, Kerlow’s approach combines defensive positioning with selective asset additions, viewing market fluctuations as opportunities rather than threats.
Kerlow’s diversified portfolio includes Canadian dividend stocks, U.S. growth shares, international equities, and alternative investments such as managed futures, credit strategies, and merger arbitrage funds. The model growth portfolio, which maintains roughly 55 percent in equities, 20 percent in fixed income, and 25 percent in alternative assets, reported a 14.2 percent gain year-to-date and 20 percent over the past year through August 31, 2026. The three-year annualized return stands at 17.7 percent, with a 14.9 percent return since the portfolio’s inception in October 2020, net of fees.
Among recent equity purchases, Kerlow highlighted Pembina Pipeline Corp., a Calgary-based energy transportation and midstream services company. Initial purchases began early in 2026, with additional acquisitions in August following a price pullback. Pembina’s appeal lies in its stable infrastructure cash flows combined with growth prospects, notably the Greenlight Electricity Centre—a 932-megawatt natural gas-fired facility supporting Meta Platforms Inc.’s Alberta data center. This project aligns with an emerging data center infrastructure trend underpinned by low-risk cash flow generation. Furthermore, Pembina’s stake in the West Coast Oil Pipeline, a proposed million-barrel-a-day pipeline connecting Alberta to the Pacific Coast, represents an additional catalyst amid a favorable regulatory environment. The stock also offers a dividend yield near 4.5 percent.
Kerlow also added shares of PrairieSky Royalty Ltd., an oil and gas royalty company based in Calgary, in June. The purchase coincided with renewed optimism following the signing of a memorandum of understanding aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which helped bring oil prices back to around US$70 per barrel. PrairieSky’s business model, which involves low capital needs through ownership of rights in roughly 10 million acres of Western Canadian mineral lands, is bolstered by a growing number of third-party operators on its acreage. The company increased the number of wells on its properties from 117 to 178 year-over-year in the second quarter, driving a 38 percent boost in funds from operations. PrairieSky also maintains a dividend yield around 3 percent, supported by a strengthening balance sheet.
In the U.S. healthcare sector, Kerlow has expanded his holdings in Biogen Inc., a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based pharmaceutical company. After initially purchasing the stock in December 2025, he increased his position in mid-July 2026. Despite challenges from declining revenues in its legacy multiple sclerosis drug portfolio due to patent expirations, Biogen has been growing its revenue from a “growth portfolio” that includes treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and other conditions. Kerlow believes these growth prospects offset the setbacks in the legacy business and views healthcare as a sector worth overweighting within U.S. equities.
On the other side of his portfolio, Kerlow recently exited his holding in Netflix Inc., the Los Gatos, California-based streaming entertainment company. After purchasing Netflix shares in March 2025, he sold his position in July 2026. The stock had faced pressure following Netflix’s unsuccessful bid for Warner Bros. in late 2025 and struggles to regain pre-bid price levels amid intensifying competition from platforms such as YouTube and rising original content expenses. These challenges factored into Kerlow’s decision to divest from the company.
Overall, Kerlow’s investment approach leverages market volatility to selectively adjust holdings, emphasizing companies with solid cash flows, growth prospects in infrastructure and healthcare, and disciplined risk management across multiple asset classes.