ABOUT
About Les Douves
Analyzing the Moats of Québec's Best Companies
Les Douves is a publication about how Québec companies develop competitive moats. Each week, we apply a competitive advantage framework to the operating businesses built in this province, like Couche-Tard/Circle K, Bombardier, and the deep bench of less well-known middle-market companies with strong moats. In addition to looking at competitive advantages, we also focus on the operators implementing these strategies.
About Van Hamilton Barbeau
Québec Coverage Shaped by a Value-Oriented Approach
I grew up in Québec City and went to high school at l'Externat Saint-Jean-Eudes, which prepared me for the rigors of Cornell University, where I earned a Bachelor's, an MS from Weill Cornell Medicine, and an MBA from Cornell's Johnson Graduate School of Management. I spent the majority of my career as an investment banker on Wall Street, most notably at Credit Suisse, before transitioning to the buy side. While Québec is my home, my view on investing comes from Graham-and-Doddsville, which is why I've focused on the idea that durable competitive advantages, bought at a margin of safety, compound in ways that markets consistently underprice. Les Douves applies that lens to the companies based in my home province.
