Veritas Investment Research
Veritas Investment Research is a Toronto-based, employee-owned independent equity research firm with no investment banking or trading revenue. It is known for forensic accounting-based research on Canadian companies and for early warnings on Nortel, Yellow Pages and Valeant.
Activity24M
RatingsPrice targetsKey figures
- Stocks covered
- 112M
- Actions
- 112M
- Ratings / Price targets
- 0 / 1
- Median upside
- +15.3%
- On record
- Dec 2021 – May 2026
Overview
Veritas analysts, many of them chartered professional accountants, cover Canadian and selected U.S. companies. Recommendations are roughly evenly split between Buy and Reduce/Sell. As of August 2026, the firm reported that its V-List model portfolio had outperformed the S&P/TSX Composite by 275 basis points a year since its October 2004 launch, measured using compound annual returns.
Anthony Scilipoti and Michael Palmer co-founded the firm in Toronto in 2000, initially as Private Financial Research Corp.; forensic accountant Al Rosen chaired the early firm. It built its reputation on critical reports on companies including Nortel, Royal Group Technologies, Biovail and Valeant. In 2016 Scilipoti launched affiliate Veritas Asset Management; both firms belong to the 100% employee-owned Veritas Group of Companies.
Milestones
- 2000
Founded in Toronto as Private Financial Research Corp.
- 2004
Launched V-List model portfolio
- 2016
Launched affiliate Veritas Asset Management
Firm facts
- Legal name
- Veritas Investment Research Corp.
- Type
- Independent research
- Founded
- 2000
- Headquarters
- Toronto, Canada
- Parent
- Veritas Group of Companies
- President & CEO
- Anthony Scilipoti
- Head of Research
- Dan Fong
- Rating scale
- BuyReduceSell12 months
- Website
- veritascorp.com
Research philosophy
We believe the decision to buy or sell a security is based on whether the underlying risk or opportunity is correctly reflected in the company’s valuation.
Veritas examines both financial and nonfinancial information for risks and opportunities it calls Flammable Items: factors that could trigger a substantial change in a stock's value. Its approach emphasizes cash generation and obligations outside the balance sheet, reflecting the view that companies fail when they run out of cash, even if they report accounting profits.
Rating methodology
Recommendations are Buy, Reduce or Sell over 12 months, with no Hold. Veritas Quality Ratings score each company out of 25 on five risk metrics. The firm values stocks with discounted-cash-flow models stating what they are worth today, not in 12 months.
Coverage12M
Sectors
Most covered24M
| Stock | Rating | Target |
|---|---|---|
 Magna International Inc.MGA | — | $68 |
 Shopify Inc.SHOP | — | $80 |
Most active analysts
- Desmond Lau1 notesSHOP
Recent actions
| Date | Stock | Rating action | Target | Analyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 4 | Magna International Inc.MGA | Target | $68 | |
| Oct 23, 2024 | Shopify Inc.SHOP | Target | $80 | Desmond Lau |
| Dec 23, 2021 |  Sunrun Inc.RUN | Target | $20 | Dimitry Khmelnitsky |