Why this $1-billion money manager bought Pembina, PrairieSky and sold Netflix

Chris Kerlow, senior portfolio manager and investment advisor with Langsford Wealth Counsel at Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management (Canada), told The Globe and Mail that volatility provides more opportunity than threat to the way his team manages portfolios, which oversees $1.2 billion in assets. His portfolio combines Canadian dividend stocks, U.S. growth stocks, international equities and alternatives, including a managed futures fund, a long-short credit strategy, a merger arbitrage fund and U.S. dollar fixed income. The model growth portfolio, roughly 55% equities, 20% fixed income and 25% alternatives, was up 14.2% year-to-date and 20% over the past year as of Aug. 31, net of fees, with a three-year annualized return of 17.7% and 14.9% since inception in October 2022.

The largest recent energy position is Pembina Pipeline Corp. (PPL-T), which Kerlow added at the start of 2026 and increased in August after a pullback. He cited high oil prices as a risk heading into the year and a desire to raise energy and energy infrastructure exposure. The thesis centers on the Greenlight Electricity Centre, a 932-megawatt natural gas-fired facility supporting Meta Platforms' Alberta data centre project, which he sees as a precedent for further infrastructure buildouts. He also pointed to Pembina's stake in the West Coast Oil Pipeline, a one-million-barrel-a-day line linking Alberta to the West Coast, which he believes is not fully priced in. The stock yields about 4.5%.

Kerlow bought PrairieSky Royalty Ltd. (PSK-T) in June, coinciding with the first memorandum of understanding to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, when oil returned to the US$70 range. He views the royalty model, covering about 10 million acres of mineral title lands in Western Canada, as capital-light. Well count on its royalty acreage reached 178 in the second quarter, up from 117 a year earlier, lifting funds from operations 38%. The dividend yields about 3%.

Other holdings include Biogen Inc. (BIIB-Q), first bought in December 2025 and added to in mid-July. Kerlow argued that pressure from the off-patent multiple sclerosis franchise overshadows growth from its drug portfolio, including Alzheimer's treatments, and said he favours health care as an overweight in U.S. portfolios.

On the sell side, Kerlow exited Netflix Inc. (NFLX-Q) in July, having bought it in mid-March 2025. The shares fell after Netflix bid for Warner Bros. in December; he expected the bid to fail and the stock to recover, which it did, but it has not regained its pre-offer level. Citing competition from YouTube and higher spending on original content, he decided to exit. Separate coverage in the publisher's context section reports that Bill Ackman's Pershing Square also bought Netflix shares in 2026, a different investor and not part of Kerlow's account.

This interview has been edited and condensed.