Blog: Cutting Through the Noise

Federal Government Gets a Failing Grade on Transparency

Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on May 17, 2012

In this space, we talk a lot about transparency, and we try our best to walk the talk. There was a piece by Barrie McKenna in the Globe and Mail this week about the Federal government’s transparency around financial reporting. The conclusion: If the...

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Get More Active

Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on May 16, 2012

We don’t spend a lot of money advertising at Steadyhand (at the end of the day, investors pay for it). If we did, you might see something similar to IA Clarington’s latest campaign on Active Mind. But with a Steadyhand spin, of course. As part of their campaign...

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Natural Gas

Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on May 14, 2012

We’re in one of the greatest bear markets of all time. In natural gas, that is. The commodity’s price has fallen from over $10 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) in July 2008 to about $2.50 today. Last month, it touched $1.90, representing a decline of roughly 85% from peak to trough. Natural gas is used to heat and cool homes and...

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Covered Call ETFs: Are They for You?

Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on May 12, 2012

A long-standing investment strategy is back in vogue. “Covered call writing” is designed to generate income from a stock by selling a call option against it (the right to buy the stock at a set price in the future). While the strategy has been around forever...

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Finding a Better Balance

Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on May 10, 2012

In recent presentations, we’ve been discussing a slide that shows the industry diversification of the Founders Fund versus the S&P/TSX Composite Index. We’ve been doing this admittedly ‘apples to oranges’ comparison because it highlights what the portfolios...

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Job Opportunity: Office Manager

Excerpt from Neil Jensen's blog on May 10, 2012

We are currently seeking candidates for a permanent, part-time or full-time Office Manager. As part of this diverse role, the team member will be involved in many facets of our business, including maintaining the office, managing vendors, coordinating client...

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Five Years of Undexing

Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on May 7, 2012

Our Small-Cap Fund is at the top of its game. Over the past year (ending April 30th) it has gained 13.6% while the market, as measured by the BMO Small Cap Index, has fallen -13.8%. It’s been zigging as the market’s been zagging. Over the past five years the fund has gained 6.2% per year, while the small-cap index and the S&P/TSX Composite Index are up 1.3% and 1.1%, respectively. What's more, the fund's annual returns since...

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Shades of Gray

Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on May 3, 2012

iShares fixed income turns 50. The global leader in exchange traded funds (ETFs) recently launched their 50th U.S.-based fixed income ETF (iShares offers 22 fixed income ETFs in Canada). Investors can access a wide array of products, including 8 different...

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Industry Changes - The Next 5 Years

Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on April 30, 2012

The wealth management industry has changed a lot since we started Steadyhand five years ago. The banks have strengthened their hold on asset management, low-cost ETFs and high-cost structured products have become more prominent (and numerous) and lower-volatility income products are now the big seller. Some of the changes have been good for client returns, while others were more attuned to company profits...

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Why the Smart Money is Cutting Back on Bonds

Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on April 28, 2012

As your buy side correspondent, I make a point of reading a whole stack of investment manager reports each quarter. I particularly focus on managers who think long term (no frequent traders), are prone to non-consensus views and aren't afraid...

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Canadian Real Estate - More Reasons for Caution

Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on April 25, 2012

Last Sunday, while flying to the hottest housing market in Canada (Toronto), my airplane reading surfaced a couple more statistics about Canadian housing, both of which point towards caution. In their quarterly report, Mawer Investment Management noted...

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5 Means 7

Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on April 23, 2012

At the end of this month we’ll be rewarding our earliest clients with an additional fee rebate, as our first ‘tenure discounts’ come into play. Clients who hold our funds for 5 years receive an additional 7% reduction on their total fees. This discount is in addition to any rebates they receive based on the size of their accounts with Steadyhand. The tenure discount will apply every year until investors hit their 10th anniversary...

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