Pender Growth Fund Team

David Barr is the CEO of Pender. He is also the Portfolio Manager of several of Pender’s funds. The Pender Small Cap Opportunities Fund, managed by David, has won a Lipper Fund Award for Best Canadian Small/Mid Cap Fund over both three and five year performance periods for 2015 to 2017. The Lipper awards recognize consistently strong, risk-adjusted performance relative to peers. The Pender Small Cap Opportunities Fund has also received Fundata’s FundGrade® A+ Award for the last seven consecutive years, 2012 to 2018. The Pender Value Fund, which he also co-manages with Felix Narhi, received Fundata’s FundGrade® A+ Award in 2016 and 2017. These awards recognise funds that have maintained “an exceptional performance rating over the entire previous calendar year”. David began his investing career in 2000. He initially worked in private equity which gives him a unique background to investing capital. At the end of 2007 he became a partner at PenderFund Capital Management Ltd and was appointed Chief Investment Officer with the objective of launching Pender’s mutual fund business. In April 2016 David was appointed President and CEO of Pender upon the retirement of Kelly Edmison. In July 2021, the role was split, with Carlo Desierto joining Pender as President. David holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of British Columbia and an MBA from the Schulich School of Business. He earned his Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 2003 and is an active member of the Vancouver chapter. He is a past President of CFA Vancouver, having also served on its Board of Directors for four years. David has been interviewed for his opinions on small cap, the technology sector and value investing by the Financial Post, The Globe & Mail, Morningstar and other media. He is a regular guest on BNN Bloomberg. In December 2012 Mr. Barr was recognized as one of British Columbia’s “Top Forty Under 40” business leaders by Business in Vancouver.