Cutting Through the Noise
February 24, 2010
The notion of “active share” is in the news again. Coined by a pair of Yale professors in 2007, active share is a measure that indicates just how actively managed a fund really is. In other words, it is a gauge of how much a fund looks like, or overlaps, a certain...
Read MoreFebruary 16, 2010
It’s Day 5 of the Games. As we’re lucky enough to be in the heart of the action here in Vancouver (or unlucky enough depending on your viewpoint), it’s time for a few observations: Canadians are bursting with pride and patriotism. Which is a good thing, no matter how you look at it. There have been a few early disappointments for the home team (Manny Osborne-Paradis...
Read MoreFebruary 10, 2010
Seth Godin is a renowned author, marketer and blogger. He has great insights and observations on human behavior and the business world. In a recent blog, Hunters and Farmers, he examines the differences between the two types of individuals. In Seth's...
Read MoreFebruary 8, 2010
Tom was on BNN this morning (Feb 8) with Marty Cej and Frances Horodelski. Topics of discussion included: What to do at this stage in the market; How to reflect caution in your portfolio; and ETFs. The seven minute piece brings together some key messages from Tom’s...
Read MoreFebruary 4, 2010
February 3, 2010
Don Cranston, one of the founding partners of CGOV Asset Management (the manager of our Equity Fund) was in town last week enjoying some of our rain. We put Don in front of the microphone and asked him a few of the questions that are at the top of investors’ minds these days: How and why does CGOV incorporate foreign holdings into the fund? What were some of the...
Read MoreJanuary 28, 2010
If you’re an income investor, T-Bills and GICs aren’t helping you much these days. And the prospects for government bonds are nothing to get excited about. In order to achieve a more desirable return, you may find yourself reaching for yield, or moving up the...
Read MoreJanuary 21, 2010
Morningstar’s Manager of Fund Analysis, David O’Leary, recently published an article titled Six Changes We Would Like to See in the Canadian Mutual Fund Industry. O’Leary acknowledges that by and large, Canada has an investor-friendly fund industry. Yet...
Read MoreDecember 17, 2009
Dear clients, friends, and those who came across our company searching for a camcorder that doesn't shake: It was a memorable year for Steadyhand and Canadian investors. Following a disastrous 2008 in the equity markets, it looked as though the...
Read MoreDecember 11, 2009
A quick reminder that with the exception of the Savings Fund, the year-end distributions of all our funds will be calculated on December 15th and paid on December 16th. The distribution for the Savings Fund will be calculated on December 31st. Distributions...
Read MoreNovember 26, 2009
Tom will be on Business News Network (BNN) tomorrow morning (November 27th) from 9-10 AM eastern time. He’ll be sitting in with Marty Cej and Frances Horodelski on Market Morning. Black Friday just got a whole lot brighter...
Read MoreNovember 23, 2009
Recent data out of the U.S. suggests that American retail (individual) investors have been watching the stock market rally from the sidelines. According to a report by Morningstar USA, investors have pulled an estimated $4.4 billion out of U.S. equity funds so far this...
Read MoreNovember 16, 2009
From: jsmith@mega-bank.com. To: NewProductCommittee@mega-bank.com. Date: Mon 11/16/2009 1:08 AM Subject: This Year’s Meal Ticket. Just woke up with a brilliant idea!! I’m putting it in an email while the juices are flowing. Still working on the name...
Read MoreNovember 4, 2009
Housing stocks make me squeamish. It was painful to watch them fall like a rock over the last couple of years as the U.S. real estate market imploded. A number of companies faced bankruptcy or saw their share prices slashed due to stretched balance sheets...
Read MoreOctober 30, 2009
We could’ve had some fun with a list of the scariest Halloween costumes this year. Bernie Madoff, Allen Stanford and Jon & Kate come to mind. But we thought it would be more educational, and just as fun, to highlight some of this year’s scariest investments...
Read MoreOctober 29, 2009
In a recent article written about Steadyhand titled "Mischievous Strangers and a Steadyhand", Karin Mizgala draws a connection between Tom Bradley and Charles Dickens. Very flattering. Especially when compared to some of the other comparisons...
Read MoreOctober 20, 2009
Tom recently sat down with Larry Lunn, the Chairman and founder of Connor, Clark & Lunn (CC&L), to talk shop. At the front end of the podcast, Larry discusses where we are in the economic recovery and his view on [the hot topic of] inflation. He then addresses...
Read MoreOctober 18, 2009
Tom was on Business News Network (BNN) on Friday talking about finding a balance between domestic and foreign investments (his Saturday Globe column focuses on the same topic). Canadian investors have an emphasis on Canadian securities...
Read MoreOctober 9, 2009
In this podcast, Tom and I review the third quarter of 2009. It was another strong period for equities. U.S. stocks posted their best quarter in a decade, while the TSX and many overseas markets posted double-digit returns. A rising loonie negatively impacted...
Read MoreSeptember 15, 2009
Nokia is an interesting story. To many North Americans, the company is viewed as a has-been. While its cell phones may have been all the rage a decade ago, its star has fallen considerably as Apple and RIM have taken over as the market leaders thanks to...
Read MoreSeptember 8, 2009
The Globe and Mail ran an article yesterday on how money market funds are holding up given the historically low interest rate environment (The Best and Worst Places to Park Your Cash). The article highlighted our Savings Fund as the top performing fund...
Read MoreAugust 24, 2009
In this podcast, Tom expands on his latest Globe and Mail column, which focuses on the traits that he looks for in a money manager. More specifically, he highlights two things that he watches for and studies very intently: 1) the temperament of the...
Read MoreJuly 21, 2009
If you look up the term ‘credit crisis’ on Google, you’ll get close to 50 million results. Over the past year or so, you would be hard pressed to find two more commonly used words in the business world (other than the usual expletives that abound in falling...
Read MoreJuly 10, 2009
In this podcast, Tom and Scott review the second quarter of 2009. The equity markets rebounded sharply in the quarter, with many stocks posting strong gains. The corporate bond market also enjoyed a long-awaited recovery, as yields declined...
Read MoreJune 18, 2009
Christine Montgomery from Edinburgh Partners, the manager of our Global Equity Fund, has been traveling in North America this week meeting with companies (research) and clients (hand-holding). We dragged her out of the San Francisco fog and welcomed her to...
Read More