by Scott Ronalds

As we noted in our Q4 Report, everything went right for investors in 2017. Portfolios that were diversified across geographies and industries did well. And with volatility exceptionally low, it was a smooth ride to boot.

2017 was also a great year for Steadyhand. We’re often asked how our investors have fared, how much money we manage, how fast we’re growing, and how many clients we have. Here’s an update on where we’re at.

Performance

When we take all our clients’ statements and average their returns for 2017, their accounts grew by 9.3% in the year (using the money-weighted methodology). Over the last five years, the number is 8.5% (per year).

Assets under management

We now manage $770 million for investors. Our asset base grew by $150 million, or 25%, over the year. The Founders Fund is our largest fund, at $400 million.

Clients

We welcomed aboard 479 new clients in the year. Of those, 249 are working with us directly, and 230 purchased our funds through third-party dealers (e.g. discount brokers).

Our client base is now 3,190 investors strong, stretching from B.C. to Ontario. Our average client is 56 years old and holds two of our funds.

Notable events

We celebrated our 10th birthday in the spring, with presentations/client appreciation events across the country. It was awesome to get a chance to see and talk to so many passionate investors. If you weren’t able to attend one of the events, we recount the Steadyhand story and some of the lessons we’ve embraced over our first decade in our publication 10 Years Wiser.

The birthday celebrations were fun for us, but most of our accomplishments in 2017 were of a less flashy, under-the-hood variety. Of note, the operations team expanded and under Neil’s leadership, we amped up the use of technology in streamlining our internal processes. There’s always more we can do, but we wouldn’t trade our platform for anything.

2018 and beyond

We don’t know what the markets will bring this year (nobody does) or what kind of changes we’ll see in our industry. We feel our investment approach, business practices, and service offering are unique and dare we say, much needed, in an industry where the big banks rule the roost.

We had our best year ever in 2017, but we want more Canadians to know about Steadyhand and we’re gearing up for further growth. The improvements in our operations department give us lots of capacity and we’re in the process of hiring another Investor Specialist.

2018 is sure to be interesting for investors. But then again, every year is!

Management fees and expenses all may be associated with mutual fund investments. Please read the prospectus before investing. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. The indicated rates of return are the historical annual total returns including changes in unit value and reinvestment of all distributions and do not take into account sales, redemption, distribution or optional charges or income taxes payable by any securityholder that would have reduced returns.