Book Review: Panic

Panic is a compilation of articles that shed light on the most severe upheavals in recent financial history – the crash of ’87, the Russian default and subsequent collapse of Long Term Capital Management, the Asian currency...

Hedge Funds are Dead

Be it resolved that hedge funds are dead - or at least the model as we know it needs to change. This is the position that Tom Bradley argued in a debate yesterday at a luncheon held by the Alternative Investment Management Association (Canada’s...

A Tip of the Hat to the 'Capitalist'

Blogger Canadian Capitalist published a complimentary posting on Steadyhand the other day. He highlighted four aspects of our firm that we emphasize on our website and in our conversations with investors: Low cost, Concentration, Co-investment...

Podcast: Uneasy About the Market Bounce?

Stock markets have rebounded 25-35% since the lows reached in March. Feeling uneasy about the recent bounce? In this podcast, Tom expands on his recent Globe and Mail column and provides some advice to investors who are unsure what to do...

Morningstar Study: The Investor Experience

Morningstar recently published a comprehensive report on the ‘investment climate’ for mutual fund investors titled Global Fund Investor Experience. The report analyzes the fund marketplace in a number of countries around the world, highlighting the strengths...

Safety is Expensive

We’ve been advising clients that safety is expensive these days. In other words, investors are getting paid very little for holding low-risk assets such as money market products and government bonds. The counterpoint is that the latter securities...

Podcast: Active vs. Passive Management

Many studies on active vs. passive management draw the conclusion that the latter strategy (more commonly known as ‘indexing’) is superior because it generates higher returns. Notwithstanding the ‘sloppiness’ of some of these comparisons, it is true that many...

Podcast: First Quarter Review

In this podcast, we review the first quarter of 2009 and discuss how our funds have fared in the current market environment. While it was another ugly quarter for equities in general, there were some bright spots, with some stocks posting strong gains...

Steadyhand NHL Playoff Pool

Dig out the white towel and put the razor away. It’s playoff time. Get in on the action by entering the Steadyhand NHL Playoff Pool. Entry is free, and the winner will walk away with a team jersey of their choice. Tom would suggest a Mats Sundin Canucks jersey, of...

Case Study: Pat and Stephanie

Nobody likes looking at their account statement these days. No matter where you’re invested, returns are ugly. But beyond the numbers, there’s often a lot to be desired. We’ve had a number of statements come across our desk lately from investors who are looking...

Steadyhand.com Moved to a New Host

We’ve moved our website to a new host. While you may notice some small changes, including an improved comment feature on the Blog, the site and all its functionality should largely look and work the same. If you notice any oddities or are having any...

Podcast: Warren Buffett's 2008 Annual Letter

In this podcast, we discuss Warren Buffett's recently published annual letter to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway. We posted a series of blogs last week on Buffett's recap of Berkshire's operations in 2008, and Tom's Globe and Mail column on the weekend...

The Risk Today is Not Buying Cheap Equities

We posted a blog in late 2007 ( Edicts from Edinburgh ) that highlighted a few excerpts from an interview that Dr. Sandy Nairn, the CEO and founder of Edinburgh Partners Limited (EPL), did with a U.K. publication, Independent Investor ...

Watching the Saxon Merger

We noted in a blog last August ( It’s Getting Lonely ) that Saxon Financial was sold to IGM Financial (Investors Group) in what was yet another example of a direct seller that has turned its focus to the advisor ...

Buyer Beware: Leveraged ETFs

Gold was up roughly 1.5% in 2008 (as measured by the S&P/TSX Global Gold Index) - a good year relative to most other investments. If you used a slick new breed of leveraged exchange traded funds (ETFs), you could have doubled your exposure...

Podcast: Tom & Wil Discuss the Small-Cap Fund

In this podcast, Tom chats with Wil Wutherich, the manager of the Small-Cap Fund, about the fund's performance in 2008, the current opportunities in the market, and some of the fund's larger holdings...

A Mountain of Cash in the Waiting

We've mentioned in recent blogs and podcasts that there's a lot of money sitting on the sidelines as tired investors have been pulling out of the market. With the year-end numbers now rolling in, here are some figures worth noting: ...

Podcast: Fourth Quarter Review

2008 was an ugly year in the capital markets.  In particular, heavy losses were experienced in the fourth quarter, as widespread de-leveraging and indiscriminate selling took place.  Yet, every major market decline presents opportunities and investors should ensure their portfolios are well positioned for the 'other side of the valley'.

In this podcast we review the fourth quarter and provide our thoughts on the markets going forward.

Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs)

Starting this year, a new savings vehicle will be available to all eligible Canadians who are at least 18 years old.  Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs) will enable individuals to invest money in a tax-free structure throughout their lifetimes. Contributions to TFSAs ...

Readers' Choice - Top Steadyhand Blog Postings of 2008

As 2008 comes to an end (thank god!), we’d like to thank all of the loyal readers of our blog.  We hope you’ve enjoyed our thoughts, opinions, commentaries, criticisms, musings and satires on investing and the industry that we call ...

They Say That Laughter is the Best Medicine

A little Saturday humour to perk you up in these troubling times. The market seems to keep dropping and dropping Because those damn Yankees couldn’t stop shopping Through their homes they’ve borrowed a ton of dough Now they’ve got no ...

Corporate Bonds Assuming Worse than the Worst

This posting is for the bond geeks in the crowd. The manager of our Income Fund, Connor, Clark & Lunn Investment Management, recently did the following analysis on corporate bonds.  If you passively buy a portfolio of 5-yr U.S. investment ...

Year-end Distributions

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 ...

A Lousy Destination

The latest take on principal protected products comes in the form of life cycle funds with capital guarantees.  For those unfamiliar with life cycle funds, they are simply packaged products that have a target end date and shift the asset ...

Weak Markets Needn't be all That Taxing

We all love to hate taxes.  Especially when it comes to our investments.  This explains why some investors are now busy harvesting losses to offset any prior capital gains.  It also explains the growing number of investment products on the ...