Is it offence or defence that wins?

As we’re near the fourth-year anniversary of the Raptors’ historic play-off run, here’s a nice memory. It’s the Eastern Conference Finals series with the Milwaukee Bucks. Game 5, middle of the fourth quarter. It’s been a battle. The series is tied two games apiece, so each team is desperate. The Bucks have a few seven-footers who can shoot, plus a 6’-11” player who can dribble like a point guard. The Raptors have two guards who stand a foot shorter. But it’s not height that’s the mismatch in this game. It’s defence. This is from the league’s actual notes from the midpoint of that crucial quarter: “They’ve held the Bucks to six points in almost six minutes of play.”

In other words, the Raptors were holding an elite group of professionals to a scoring rate normally seen in a contest between fourth-graders. There were many stories that led to the Raptors having a six-hour parade past several million fans last June, but fourth-quarter defence was THE story.

Across all sports, you see champions that emphasize scoring, but you almost never see a champion that is weak defensively. The same is true in investing: winners focus on delivering up-capture and reducing down-capture.

At Sun Life Global Investments, we look for sub-advisors that are strong on both sides of the ball – offence and defence. We think advisors should learn more about the Sun Life MFS Funds. And consider how their clients could benefit from the process. While we don’t expect a parade to follow the funds immediately, we’d like to build on their well-informed fan base. Is it offence or defence that wins? Maybe you don’t have to choose.