Blog

Cutting Through the Noise


December 4, 2007

By Tom Bradley

PPNs V: The Lunacy Continues

Globe and Mail columnist Rob Carrick has recently been pounding the table on the poor investment merit of principal-protected notes (PPNs). In his column in last Saturday’s Report on Business ( A Do-it Yourself Principal Protection Plan ), Rob reiterates ...

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November 30, 2007

By Tom Bradley

Having a 'First Paycheque' Moment? Please Call

It’s the most important moment in one’s investment career - the day they receive their first paycheque. That is the moment that a young person can start a discipline that will last a lifetime - a discipline that will set ...

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November 27, 2007

By Tom Bradley

Thumb Sucking = Better Long-term Returns

Research studies have consistently shown that investors do worse than the mutual funds they invest in. And depending on what study you read, the shortfall is sometimes quite substantial. David Sung, from Nicola Wealth Management in Vancouver, has written an ...

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November 26, 2007

By Tom Bradley

Short-term Market Pain is a Chance for Long-term Gain

The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published November 24, 2007 Over the last few weeks, I've been spending lots of time speaking with clients and other investors. It's been interesting because while I want to talk about Steadyhand, Steve ...

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November 25, 2007

By Neil Jensen

Book Review: Active Value Investing

Canadian Capitalist first brought Vitaliy Katsenelson's Active Value Investing to my attention in this posting . Katsenelson believes that we are in a range-bound market, defined as a market that goes up and down, but ultimately ends up back where ...

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November 22, 2007

By Scott Ronalds

It's Been a Bumpy Week for Financial Professionals

This was just too good to pass up... ...

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November 21, 2007

By Scott Ronalds

Podcast: Edinburgh Partners & the Global Equity Fund - Part II (mp3)

In this podcast, Christine Montgomery, an insurance analyst and portfolio manager at Edinburgh Partners (EP), reviews her firm's investment philosophy, gives an update on the Global Equity Fund and provides some insight into what investors can expect going forward. On a personal note, we discover that EP's insurance analyst is a fan of Led Zeppelin, bypasses Burberry, and prefers St. Andrews over Carnoustie.

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November 19, 2007

By Tom Bradley

Hanging out with Christine

While in Toronto last week, I spent some time with Christine Montgomery and Cathy Alsop from Edinburgh Partners (EP). One of the reasons Christine and Cathy were in town was to present to a group of clients and other investors ...

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November 14, 2007

By Neil Jensen

Steadyhand on Facebook

We've just created a Steadyhand page on Facebook, available here (you'll have to sign up for a free Facebook membership if you don't already have one). Frankly at this stage it is an experiment, but we're inspired in part by ...

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November 14, 2007

By Scott Ronalds

Those Damn Academics

Some mutual fund executives must be getting pretty fed up with the academic world. First there was the study Mutual Fund Fees Around the World published last year by three professors from Harvard Business School, the London Business School and ...

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November 12, 2007

By Tom Bradley

Stick to the Fundamentals and Good Things can Happen

The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published November 10, 2007 As an equity guy, I don't like to admit it, but I recently spent some time with the bond team at Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management. Bondies aren't ...

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November 8, 2007

By Tom Bradley

I'll be Happy With 10% a Year

I don’t know what the market is going to do in the coming months. I do know we will have weak markets at some point (and I suspect they could be quite messy given the extremes we are now experiencing ...

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November 6, 2007

By Tom Bradley

Lump of Coal Award

As I caught up on my reading this weekend, I was perusing an advertising feature that the Investment Fund Institute of Canada (IFIC) placed in the papers last week. The lead article was a review of a survey that IFIC ...

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November 5, 2007

By Scott Ronalds

Show me the Return

Ever wonder why your broker or mutual fund company doesn’t show performance on your account statement? The reason is pretty simple – they don’t have to. There’s a group of financial advisors who are trying to change that. The Investor ...

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November 1, 2007

By Scott Ronalds

Videocast: Wil Wutherich

With the camera rolling, the manager of the Steadyhand Small-Cap Equity Fund (Wil Wutherich) recently sat down with Tom to talk shop. Watch the video to learn more about Wil's background, investing style, and the Small-Cap Fund (note: high speed internet required...

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October 30, 2007

By Tom Bradley

On the Road Again: Please Don't Breathe on Me

After being grounded for five months, I got back on the road last week. Connor, Clark & Lunn was putting on an Investor Day in Toronto for their clients and that was ample reason to get me on a plane ...

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October 29, 2007

By Tom Bradley

Investors Have More Options, so Should Fund Managers

The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published October 27, 2007 My partners and I were bouncing around ideas this week for an advertising program. We weren't coming up with anything too brilliant and even starting to get a little ...

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October 22, 2007

By Tom Bradley

New Point-of-Purchase Document: Our Comments to the Regulators

We have recently submitted a comment to the Joint Forum of Financial Regulators on their proposal (National Instrument 81-406) for a point-of-purchase document for mutual and segregated funds. If you have trouble sleeping, we have posted a copy of our ...

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October 17, 2007

By Scott Ronalds

Update on Tom: Back in the Saddle

We're pleased to announce that Tom's recovery from surgery is going extremely well and he returned to work this week and will once again be a permanent fixture around the office. While the rest of the team will likely have ...

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October 17, 2007

By Tom Bradley

The ETF Diaries - Claymore's Response

On August 13th, we published a piece titled Proud to Shroud II – Claymore Balanced Funds , in which we discussed two new ETFs being offered by Claymore Investments. The new funds prompted us to make two comments. First, these ...

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October 15, 2007

By Scott Ronalds

Hedgies are Bulking Up, But it may not Benefit Investors

The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published October 13, 2007 The first column I wrote for The Globe and Mail was on hedge funds. As a guest columnist, I innocently poked my head up and declared that their fees ...

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October 10, 2007

By Scott Ronalds

ABCP - Another Made-in-Canada Defective Investment Product

There has been a lot written about Canada’s asset-backed commercial paper debacle. Unfortunately, it’s not easy to sort it all out, given that everyone has an axe to grind on the issue. Diane Urquhart is an independent analyst who I ...

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October 3, 2007

By Scott Ronalds

Poolside with David Swensen

I got an email from Neil on Saturday afternoon: From: njensen@steadyhand.com Subject: Words of wisdom from Swensen Body: Read while watching Claire at swimming today (p.60): "Sensible investors pursue diversification as a policy to reduce risk, not as a tactic ...

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October 1, 2007

By Scott Ronalds

We Know They're Mistakes, So Why Keep Making Them?

The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published September 29, 2007 "Wisdom comes from sitting on your ass." According to Warren Buffett's sidekick, Charlie Munger, it's the best road to effective thinking. For the last six weeks I've been laid ...

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October 1, 2007

By Scott Ronalds

Believe Me, I'm Not Making This Up

This month, Lori and I received the following notice with our Visa bill. It comes from the bank that is ‘First for you.’ Take a break this month No minimum payment required this month Because you are a valued cardholder, ...

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