Blog

Cutting Through the Noise


March 11, 2014

By Scott Ronalds

Closet Indexing

clo∙set in∙dex∙ing (verb) The practice of a fund manager building a portfolio that closely resembles an index for fear of losing assets or his job if performance fails to stay close to the index. Associated with low conviction, low active share, and underperformance. The aforementioned term is taken from The Steadyhand Dictionary, which is a collection of investing terms and colloquialisms. Some are ...

Read More

March 6, 2014

By Scott Ronalds

Mind the Gap

Timing the market is a mug’s game. You might get it right once or twice, but over the long term, switching in and out of funds based on recent returns and ‘expert’ forecasts will likely do your portfolio more harm than good. The proof? Look no further than Morningstar's ...

Read More

February 24, 2014

By Scott Ronalds

Steadyhand vs ETFs

Exchange traded funds (ETFs) have become a popular investment option in Canada, as they offer simplicity, low fees and market-like returns. Yet, there are important tradeoffs with these products that investors should be aware of. In an updated paper, we ...

Read More

February 20, 2014

By Scott Ronalds

The Benefits of Diversification - 2013

The benefits of diversification - no explanation required. The table was inspired by a blog from Canadian Couch Potato.

Read More

February 18, 2014

By Scott Ronalds

Morningstar Stewardship Grades

Morningstar recently updated our Stewardship Grade for 2013. Once again, we scored an ‘A’, and were one of only three firms to receive the top grade. Morningstar is a leading provider of independent investment research. They first introduced Stewardship ...

Read More

February 17, 2014

By Scott Ronalds

Presentation Summary: Where to From Here?

We wrapped up our cross-country client presentations this month after visiting five (very cold) cities. If you weren’t able to attend one of our sessions, or are looking to revisit some of the themes we touched on, we’ve produced a summary of the presentation ...

Read More

February 11, 2014

By Scott Ronalds

Bruce: RRSP Contribution

The banks are running lots of cute, reassuring ads these days. To Bruce, they’re as painful to watch as his sinking Canucks. But they’re a reminder to him that it’s RRSP season. Bruce contributed $6,500 to his account back in June and plans to add another $10,000 this week. His wife Courtney also intends to contribute $10,000. With the strong run in the markets last year, they’re not sure where to invest the money, so they stopped by the office for some advice. We reviewed their ...

Read More

February 5, 2014

By Scott Ronalds

The 12th Man

Every NFL football team is allowed to field 11 players. The Seattle Seahawks are an exception. They play with 12. The “12th Man”, however, isn’t a player per se. He’s 67,000 fans. He’s the raucous group that packs CenturyLink Field to cheer on his beloved Hawks. The 12th Man is a passionate, energetic fan, well-versed in football. He knows when to be silent (when the home team has the ball) and when to ...

Read More

January 30, 2014

By Scott Ronalds

Tom on BNN

Tom was on BNN yesterday morning discussing some of the chapters from his new book, It’s Still Not Rocket Science. Some of the topics reviewed included: the four most dangerous words in investing (it’s different this time), China, getting back into the ...

Read More

January 29, 2014

By Scott Ronalds

How is Steadyhand Doing?

We encourage investors to undertake a thorough performance review once a year, every year. And we walk the talk. We’ve updated our annual assessment of our funds’ performance that uses the framework laid out in our paper How is Your Portfolio Doing? ...

Read More

January 13, 2014

By Scott Ronalds

Bradley's Brief - Q4 2013

From our Quarterly Report: When I think about risk management for clients and the firm, one item is increasingly showing up on my sheet - client expectations. I’m confident that stocks will deliver solid long-term returns and Steadyhand will be a good steward ...

Read More

January 7, 2014

By Scott Ronalds

Factors That Drive Lifetime Returns

Another sketch for the archives from Carl Richards. Richards is an American fee-based financial planner and author. His sketches appear in the New York Times Bucks Blog ...

Read More

January 1, 2014

By Scott Ronalds

Readers' Choice: Top Blog Postings of 2013

From stocks to interest rates to real estate to resources, there was a lot to write about in 2013. There was also a lot of noise to cut through, and we were busy doing our part. Below is a list of our most popular blog posts last year, as judged by you, the readers ...

Read More

December 16, 2013

By Scott Ronalds

The Steadyhand Holiday Letter

It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes, or bags. “It”, of course, is the Steadyhand Holiday Letter. 2013 has been a memorable year in the markets: Stocks have pushed forward without a flinch. Indeed, there’s been no sign of a stock market Grinch. Bonds were weaker, which is no surprising ...

Read More

December 10, 2013

By Scott Ronalds

Volatility Meter

It’s one thing to explain to investors that capital markets move in unpredictable ways and diversification can dampen a portfolio’s volatility in the short term, but it’s quite another to actually show them. Which is why we’ve built a Volatility Meter for our website...

Read More

December 4, 2013

By Scott Ronalds

Let's Not Get Carried Away

It’s been a great four years, but let’s not get carried away with this market. It’s time to be patient. This was one of the messages Tom emphasized on BNN this morning. With the strong run in the markets, stock valuations are now at the upper end of a normal range...

Read More

November 28, 2013

By Scott Ronalds

Best Canadian Balanced Fund ... Again

At the annual Morningstar Canadian Investment Awards last night in Toronto, Serena Ryder was the star of the show (although it was tragic she only did one song), but Steadyhand did OK too. Our Income Fund was recognized as the Best Canadian...

Read More

November 27, 2013

By Scott Ronalds

Year-end Distributions

The year-end distributions for all our funds (with the exception of the Savings Fund) will be declared on December 13th and paid on December 16th. The Savings Fund will pay its regularly-scheduled monthly distribution on December 31st. As a reminder...

Read More

November 25, 2013

By Scott Ronalds

Less is More

I enjoy periodically perusing the list of new investment products, as there’s usually a good laugh in there somewhere (remember the FocusShares ISE-Reverse Wal-Mart Supplier ETF, and my favourite, the HealthShares Dermatology and Wound Care ETF)...

Read More

November 18, 2013

By Scott Ronalds

Go Long

Long term. À long terme. A largo plazo. Langfristig. However you say it, it’s one of the most widely used terms in investing. It’s also one of the most vague. Long term means different things to different people. To some investors, it’s a few years. To Warren...

Read More

November 7, 2013

By Scott Ronalds

Emmylou: Portfolio Review

We last heard from Emmylou around this time last year, when she needed to set aside some money for a ‘sabbatical’ to Europe. She spent the summer exploring and had a rich experience on the continent. She recently checked in on her Steadyhand portfolio...

Read More

October 24, 2013

By Scott Ronalds

BlackRock: Creating a Better Mutual Fund?

The world’s largest provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is launching its first mutual funds in Canada. BlackRock (the parent of iShares) announced this month a suite of seven balanced funds, the BlackRock Strategic Portfolio Series, which will be built...

Read More

October 21, 2013

By Scott Ronalds

Hard Assets: Picasso, Chateau Margaux and Tom Brady?

Hard assets can be a good source of diversification in a portfolio, as their prices or market values can have a low degree of correlation to stocks or bonds. Commodities like gold and oil can act as a hedge against inflation (although not always). The same goes for...

Read More

October 10, 2013

By Scott Ronalds

Bradley's Brief - Q3 2013

From our Quarterly Report: Five years ago we were right in the middle of it. Lehman Brothers had gone down and the financial crisis was taking hold. It was a period that will be forever fused in my memory, as I suspect it will for our clients. But even with

Read More

September 9, 2013

By Scott Ronalds

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

One of the things I love about our office is our neighbours. Situated in the diverse Armoury District, we’re surrounded by art galleries, architects & builders, chocolatiers, the best cheese shop and Belgian waffle makers in the city and numerous European luxury car dealerships. The other day a shiny bright-orange Lamborghini was being unloaded off a flatbed truck in front of our office. I couldn’t resist the opportunity...

Read More