Cutting Through the Noise
January 26, 2010
The discipline of writing 800-900 words for the Globe and Mail every two weeks means that stuff gets left on the cutting room floor. But as I’m learning, that’s usually where it belongs. Having said that, I did want to add an addendum to my last installment...
Read MoreJanuary 23, 2010
There's no question about it. The defining feature of the capital markets right now is the search for more yield. Individuals are doing it. Institutions are doing it. And new product development is totally focused on it. I get an e-mail almost every day announcing a...
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 MoreJanuary 9, 2010
A lot is written about how to pick a money manager, but it's also important to know how to be a good client. A manager-client relationship should last a long time and be rooted in confidence, empathy and stability. Both sides are working toward a common...
Read MoreJanuary 7, 2010
Mercer, the pension and benefits consultant, reported this week that the funding status of Canadian pension plans improved dramatically in 2009. Its ‘pension health index’ moved up from 59 to 74, meaning that for a typical plan, 74% of the pension liabilities...
Read MoreJanuary 6, 2010
There is an interesting business case playing out in the U.S. right now with Kraft Foods attempting to takeover Cadbury. The saga started 4 months ago when Kraft made a hostile bid. Cadbury’s board rejected the cash and shares offer, but by then the...
Read MoreDecember 29, 2009
I love reading sports statistics and box scores (the Suns beat the Lakers last night and Nash had 16 points, 13 assists and was 5 for 11 from the field), but I’ve never been much for economic data. Yesterday on the plane, however, I was scanning the economic...
Read MoreDecember 26, 2009
We'll be turning the calendar to a new decade in a few days and I've been asking people for their take on it. The response has been underwhelming. Seems nobody has thought about it and a few were even caught off-guard, saying only, “Has it really been 10...
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 16, 2009
Maybe the hardest conversations we have today are with prospective investors who got out of equities in 2008 or early this year and did not get back in. What do they do now? There is really just one answer to the question and then a bunch of execution issues...
Read MoreDecember 14, 2009
John Bogle starts his latest book, Enough, with a great story. Kurt Vonnegut and Joseph Heller were at a party hosted by a hedge fund manager. Mr. Vonnegut muses that their host makes more money in a day than Mr. Heller earned from his wildly successful novel...
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 MoreDecember 10, 2009
Interest rates have a profound effect on portfolio returns. The level of rates sets a base for on-going income and changes in rates affects security prices. As rates drop, bond prices rise and vice versa. The 25-year bull market for bonds and stocks that...
Read MoreDecember 8, 2009
When I was working at Richardson Greenshields in the 80’s, my partners and I watched as all of our big competitors got bought up by the banks – Gundy went to CIBC, DS to Royal, McLeod to Scotia and Nesbitt to BMO. As one of the largest independents left...
Read MoreDecember 3, 2009
Chris, Sher and I were out meeting prospective clients last week and there were a few questions/concerns that came up over and over again. For the most part we have discussed them in the blog, but it struck me that we could be more direct in...
Read MoreDecember 2, 2009
If this month is like previous years, the content in the business publications and industry research will get less and less relevant as we move towards the New Year. Around Christmas the papers and on-line sources will be peppered with fluffy year-end pieces...
Read MoreNovember 28, 2009
Note to reader: I have an axe to grind. I own and operate a low-cost mutual fund company – and I'm hopping mad about the HST. The impact of Ontario and British Columbia's harmonized sales tax will be negative for investors. No matter who you...
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 19, 2009
In my recent article, The Party is Rolling Again, so be Cautious, I throw a little cold water on the market rally we’re enjoying. I think it’s important to reiterate how a view like this relates to an investor’s asset mix. The key line in the article is near the end – “I've...
Read MoreNovember 18, 2009
Invesco Trimark announced this week that it is offering a new series of mutual funds based on existing exchange traded funds (ETFs) offered by an affiliated company, U.S.-based PowerShares (both companies are owned by the asset management...
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 15, 2009
Here I go again. Just when everyone is starting to enjoy themselves, I'm getting uneasy. It's time for investors to temper their expectations for returns and prepare for some bumps in the road. This doesn't mean the cycle isn't playing out as it should. The...
Read MoreNovember 12, 2009
The manager of our Global Equity Fund, Edinburgh Partners Ltd. (EPL), has had a personnel change that is of interest to Steadyhand clients. Christine Montgomery has left EPL and joined another firm in Edinburgh, Martin Currie. While the firms are comparable...
Read MoreNovember 10, 2009
In the Economics Focus column in the October 31st Economist magazine, the question is asked, “Why are the banks so averse to raising equity?” It’s a great question, particularly in the aftermath of last year’s worldwide banking meltdown. It has been a...
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