Builders Fund

December 31, 2024

Fund Overview

• The Builders Fund is a fund-of-funds that invests mainly in Steadyhand’s four stand-alone equity funds — Steadyhand Equity Fund, Steadyhand Global Equity Fund, Steadyhand Small-Cap Equity Fund, and Steadyhand Global Small-Cap Equity Fund. Its an all-stock portfolio designed for growth-oriented investors.
  
• The underlying fund mix is managed by Chief Investment Officer Salman Ahmed, with Chair and co-founder Tom Bradley as co-manager.
  

Portfolio Specifics

• The fund rose 14.1% in 2024. It was a good year in absolute terms but the portfolio didn’t keep pace with the markets. Many of our holdings had excellent returns but we have less exposure to megacap technology companies (the runaway leaders in the year), which held back performance.
  
• Investments are allocated roughly two-thirds towards foreign businesses and one-third towards companies based in Canada. The bias to foreign companies reflects a broader opportunity set outside of Canada, particularly in important industries like healthcare, technology, and consumer products & services.
  
• The largest area of investment, industrial goods & services (30% of the portfolio), includes a diverse mix of companies such as railways CN Rail and Canadian Pacific Kansas City, RPM International (specialty coatings and sealants), SAAB (aerospace, defense, and radar specialist) and Badger Infrastructure Solutions (hydrovac services). Performance of the group was mixed in the year.
  
• Financial services companies make up 18% of the fund. Large holdings include Visa and S&P Global. We also own a group of leading insurance companies, including Munich Re Group, AIA Group, and Intact Financial. CME Group (derivatives marketplace), TMX Group (market exchanges), and DBS Group Holdings (banking) provide additional diversification. Many of these holdings were strong performers in 2024.
  
• The technology sector is another important area of investment, comprising 15%. Our focus is on established industry leaders such as Microsoft. Other investments include Qualcomm (chips for smartphones), Samsung Electronics (diversified technology), Constellation Software (software), and Astera Labs (connectivity solutions for data centers). Performance of the group was mixed.
  
• The portfolio has only modest exposure to commodity stocks (6%), due to their inherent cyclicality. Holdings include Torex Gold Resources (gold producer), Capstone Copper (copper miner), TotalEnergies (oil & gas), Interfor (lumber), and Cameco (uranium). Returns were mixed, with lumber and oil being weak spots.
  

Positioning

• Refer to the underlying funds for details on their positioning.
  

Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with mutual fund investments. Important information about the Steadyhand funds is contained in our Simplified Prospectus. Please read the prospectus before investing. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently, and past performance may not be repeated.