Jonathan Mzengeza, MBA 14
Few cases of hyperinflation have gripped the world quite like the extraordinary case of Zimbabwe from 2000 to 2009.
The sheer numbers defy comprehension; by some estimates the monthly rate of inflation topped 13 billion per cent. As the crisis deepened, the government printed a Z$100-trillion banknote — worth, incredibly, only about 40 cents U.S.
For a kid fascinated by currency exchanges, this charged backdrop served as a primer on macroeconomics.
“My dad used to watch the news a lot,” says Jonathan Mzengeza, MBA 14, who was born and spent his childhood and adolescence in Zimbabwe. “The part that captivated me the most was when they showed the foreign exchange numbers. I always memorized how the rates changed — because they changed so rapidly over a short period of time.”
From Africa to North America
The son of an engineer and bioscientist, Mzengeza went to a secondary school that pushed him in subjects like Latin and advanced mathematics. He left home in 2006 to study electrical and computer engineering at the University of Cape Town.
After Mzengeza graduated with honours, he moved to Canada, where his family had resettled, with a plan.
“I knew I wanted to go to business school and work at the same time,” he says. “The John Molson School of Business was the only one that offered the opportunity to do both and study for the CFA charterholder, too.”
Enter the Goodman Institute of Investment Management, where Mzengeza enrolled in 2011 with his CFA Level I exam completed. An entrance bursary, the Lord Shaughnessy MBA Fellowship in Investment Management, helped defray the cost of graduate school.
Based in Toronto, Mzengeza took full advantage of the program’s work-study flexibility, first as a technical analyst at Chubb and then as a research associate at his current employer, CIBC.
“There were two keys that stood out for me with the Goodman program, most notably with respect to the CFA track. One, we had professors with a strong grasp of some of the more complex topics. Two, we had a group of students who supported each other.”
Classmates like Justin Persaud, MBA 14, Michael Storry-Robertson, MBA 14, Vineet Prasad, MBA 14, Stephanie Wakeham, MBA 15, and Max Lenarciak, attendee, inspired and helped him, says Mzengeza.
“Max and I spent many nights after class working on Bloomberg Terminal skills, analyzing companies to invest in and talking about our investment process.”
Another Concordia and Goodman alum, Jeffrey Li, MBA 08, who preceded Mzengeza at CIBC and now works at TD in Toronto, also played a pivotal role.
“Jeffrey was my mentor in the program. He suggested that I apply for a summer internship at CIBC after my first year, which ultimately led to a job offer.”
Li says that when he met Mzengeza, a couple of attributes stood out.
“What impressed me about Jonathan was his quiet intelligence and his hunger for knowledge,” says Li. “He was so humble and on the ball. I remember thinking, ‘This is the kind of guy I would absolutely love to have on my team.’”
Steward of capital
Mzengeza has had a big impact at CIBC. As the portfolio manager responsible for the investment bank’s science and technology mandates, he oversees the CIBC Global Technology Fund, a multiple Lipper Award winner, and the Renaissance Global Science and Technology Fund. Under Mzengeza’s watch, both funds have been five-star rated by Morningstar, the influential investment research firm.
While life under COVID-19 has presented some challenges, Mzengeza’s funds have performed well. He sees opportunity on the horizon — specifically when it comes to a couple of stocks front of mind for many investors these days.
CIBC participated in Zoom’s initial public offering in April 2019 but sold out before the stock soared post-lockdown. Still, Mzengeza has a positive opinion of the company and may get back in if the share price cools. He also considers Canadian darling Shopify a buy, largely on the strength of the company’s ability to give business owners the tools to sell products online.
“Some companies have benefited from people working and shopping from home,” notes Mzengeza. “We’ve invested in a lot of them and that’s probably helped us outperform.”
Shifts in consumer behaviour, such as the growth of e-commerce, the rapid decline of cash and the concurrent rise of contactless payments, have become helpful indicators for the analyst.
“Outside of that, on the enterprise side, there’s also an awareness that some employees can be more productive from home. I think that’s a trend that’s likely to persist and even increase in the future.”
And yet, despite all of this, Mzengeza urges caution.
“My general sense is that a lot of people have not considered the financial impact of the pandemic as much as they should. It looks like the virus is here to stay for a while. As a result, I think some of the exuberance we’ve seen in the market has maybe gone too far. It’s important to take a long-term view.”
