it's Sunday morning, and I decided to look into the AOTG Fund (AOT Growth and Innovation ETF) to identify high-conviction opportunities. My research process for this fund is built on a specific methodology: finding active managers whose philosophy aligns with my own, then "cherry-picking" the best individual plays for my personal watchlist. 1. The Core Philosophy: Digital Products & Profitability After hosting CEO John Tinsman on the podcast, his strategy became clear: the fund exclusively targets "Digital Product" companies. These are businesses characterized by: - Extreme Scalability: Low overhead for every new unit sold. - Elite Margins: Superior unit economics compared to physical goods. - High Profitability: A focus on companies that aren't just growing, but are actually winning on the bottom line. 2. My Selection Process John has essentially done the heavy lifting by building a curated list of companies that fit this high-margin criteria. My role was to filter that list down further based on: - Circle of Competence: I only looked at companies I personally understand. - Valuation Gaps: I am hunting for massive price drops in these high-quality names to find an asymmetric entry point. - Concentration: Out of the 10+ companies I’ve added to my watchlist, I may only pull the trigger on one. This is the "discovery" phase of my research. 3. The "Hybrid" Portfolio Approach I am currently deciding how to position AOTG within my USD RRSP. My logic for paying an expense ratio for an active fund is simple: Time vs. Optimization. - The Active Fund (AOTG): I’ll hold the fund for its active rebalancing and John’s ability to find opportunities I don't have the time or energy to track daily. - The Individual Plays: I will take 1 or 2 stocks from the fund that I have the highest conviction in and invest more heavily to capture the alpha. Summary for My Watchlist This is a repeatable workflow I use often: find a high-conviction active fund, utilize their research as a "top-of-funnel" filter, and then drill down into specific names for individual ownership.