Because of my liver condition, we’ve had to assess how Steadyhand’s business plan will change. The reality of the situation is that (1) I can’t travel outside the province until I get the transplant and (2) after my beeper goes off, I will be out of commission for about a month.

I should say right off the top that this personal setback will not change our investment philosophy, value proposition or commitment to our clients. It also won’t prevent us from being outspoken on issues we feel strongly about.

From an investment point of view (is there any other point of view?), Steadyhand’s structure allows us to operate without any disruption to our funds or managers. I have put the investment philosophy in place, which is not something that changes with the ebbs and flows of the market. We’ve chosen fund managers at good firms. And they have managed money the same way for a long time, which is a key reason we selected them.

As the senior investment professional at Steadyhand, however, we must have a contingency plan in place. To that point, we have asked three senior investment professionals to act as an Advisory Board to Neil and the team while I’m temporarily incapacitated. I’m delighted that Tony Hamblin, Larry Lunn and a third individual (who I can't yet announce) have agreed to work with us.

All three of these gentlemen are ‘hall of famers’ in the world of Canadian investing. Tony trained and still mentors some of Canada’s greatest investors. He had a distinguished career at Confederation Life, which despite its corporate troubles, trained many top analysts and portfolio managers. Tony was Chief Investment Officer at Confed prior to co-founding Hamblin Watsa Investment Counsel with Prem Watsa (now part of Fairfax Financial). Although he’s ‘retired’ from the investment business, Tony is still called upon by many people for counsel, including myself.

Larry is the Chairman and President of Connor, Clark & Lunn Investment Management, one of Steadyhand’s investment managers. He founded the firm 25 years ago and under his leadership CCLIM has grown to manage over $21 billion. Larry was also the driving force behind the creation of CC&L Financial Group, which manages $35 billion through its investment management affiliates (including CCLIM).

When we can publicly announce the third member of the Advisory Board, we will do so.

While I’m out of the lineup, the Advisory Board’s role will be to monitor the investment management side of Steadyhand. It will ensure that there are no significant changes with the fund managers that might impact their ability to deliver the goods. The Advisory Board will report to Neil if they have concerns or recommendations for action.

Because I’m ‘grounded’ while I’m waiting for a liver, we are going to be more limited in what we can do to meet our existing and prospective clients. This is a great disappointment to me. Not only do I enjoy meeting people, but at this stage of our development, it’s important that I get out and connect with people.

Nonetheless, I hope to talk to lots of people on the phone and in person here in B.C. in the coming months. In addition to Vancouverites, we’d be delighted if visitors to our fair city come in to see us. Our office hours are 7-5, Monday to Friday. If we know when you’re coming, I’ll make a sure I’m available.