Cutting Through the Noise
November 5, 2007
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 ...
Read MoreNovember 1, 2007
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...
Read MoreOctober 30, 2007
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 ...
Read MoreOctober 29, 2007
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 ...
Read MoreOctober 22, 2007
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 ...
Read MoreOctober 17, 2007
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 ...
Read MoreOctober 17, 2007
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 ...
Read MoreOctober 15, 2007
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 ...
Read MoreOctober 10, 2007
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 ...
Read MoreOctober 3, 2007
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 ...
Read MoreOctober 1, 2007
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 ...
Read MoreOctober 1, 2007
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, ...
Read MoreSeptember 27, 2007
Wil Wutherich , the manager of the Steadyhand Small-Cap Equity Fund, is leaving his perch in Montreal for a series of research meetings out west. We've booked the evening of Thursday, October 11th , for him to tell the Wutherich ...
Read MoreSeptember 25, 2007
On efficientfrontier.com , William Bernstein recently published an article titled ‘ Comin’ Around Again? ’ in which he made some comments on the proliferation of ETF offerings in the U.S. I think it serves as a good follow-up to our ...
Read MoreSeptember 21, 2007
We've had a few calls and emails lately asking how Tom's doing, so we felt it was a good time to provide a brief update. Tom is recovering well and on-track from his surgery and expects to be back in ...
Read MoreSeptember 21, 2007
With the loonie hitting parity with the U.S. dollar for the first time in over 30 years, the forecasters are once again coming out of the woodwork with predictions on the future direction of the currency. Some are patting themselves ...
Read MoreSeptember 18, 2007
We recently received an email from an investor who posed a few well thought questions about our funds and our company. We thought other investors following the development of Steadyhand may find these questions, and our responses, informative. Q: I ...
Read MoreSeptember 16, 2007
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published September 15, 2007 If you've been a regular reader of this column, you know that I sometimes write about things that are driving my wife crazy. When Lori gets on a rant ...
Read MoreSeptember 12, 2007
Tom has a thing for Principal Protected Notes. He thinks that most PPN’s don’t benefit investors. I feel the same way about another product, the reverse mortgage. Reverse mortgages are a product targeted towards seniors who are house rich but ...
Read MoreSeptember 12, 2007
Richard Croft wrote a good article in yesterday’s National Post about how longevity is the most important factor in determining investment success. “In the end, one strategy or style is probably as good as another...the problem for average investors is ...
Read MoreSeptember 10, 2007
After only two months on the market, Apple has dropped the price of its new iPhone from $599 to $399. Steve Jobs, the company’s CEO, posted a note on Apple’s website explaining the reasoning behind the 33% price slash. Essentially, ...
Read MoreSeptember 7, 2007
If you search for the definition of the word oracle, a lot of interesting definitions come up. Here are a few I handpicked: 1. a) prophet: an authoritative person who divines the future. b) a prophecy (usually obscure or allegorical) ...
Read MoreSeptember 6, 2007
Tom's been busy reading during his recovery from surgery (we've taken away his laptop, but we can't take away his library). He recently dusted off Roger Lowenstein's book, Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist , and added it to ...
Read MoreSeptember 4, 2007
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published September 1, 2007 Are we experiencing another immaculate correction? That’s how I describe the market corrections we’ve experienced while living under the protective umbrella of U.S. President George W. Bush and former ...
Read MoreAugust 30, 2007
As a start-up, we have the luxury of starting with a fresh piece of paper and blazing our own path. We’re not confined by legacy issues, dated technology platforms, archaic policies and procedures, etc. We’ve set up a business that ...
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