by Scott Ronalds

What if you learned that the Michelin Man drives on Goodyears. Or Ronald McDonald’s guilty pleasure is a Whopper. Or Mr. Clean prefers Clorox.

You’d be crushed. And rightly so. These lovable characters are known for eating their own cooking, so to speak. You may be surprised to learn, however, that not all investment providers share these same values (i.e. own the same funds they sell their clients).

At Steadyhand, you can rest assured that our interests are well aligned with yours. One of our key business principles is co-investment - the practice of investing alongside our clients. We feel there’s no better way to illustrate a commitment to our investment philosophy and business approach, and ultimately our clients, than to put our money where our mouth is.

We take it a step further by publishing every year the firm’s co-investment levels. The latest figures are in and we can report that (as of June 30th) every employee continues to have a significant portion of their financial assets in our funds. On average, the team has 91% of their financial assets invested in the Steadyhand funds. In dollar terms, the team and our families have $34 million invested in the funds.

These numbers are worth highlighting because they mean that we’re experiencing the same fund performance, fees, client reporting and communications that you are. As we often say, we’re on a multi-decade road trip together, and co-investment is a key element of trust.

An investment adviser who doesn’t eat their own cooking is like Tony the Tiger digging into a bowl of Shredded Wheat. It’s just wrong.

Note: For a more general overview of co-investment and why it’s important, see our piece Showing you the money.