Cutting Through the Noise
May 30, 2007
Because of my liver condition , we’ve had to assess how Steadyhand’s business plan will change. The reality of the situation is that (1) I can’t travel outside the province until I get the transplant and (2) after my beeper ...
Read MoreMay 27, 2007
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published May 26, 2007 I started out writing this column about the most overused maxims in the investment business today. I had lots of examples to discuss. “ The massive amounts of capital ...
Read MoreMay 23, 2007
Investment Lunch/Breakfast Tired of high fees? Want to learn more about direct investing? Curious about the Steadyhand funds? Join us for lunch on Thursday, June 7 th , or breakfast on Tuesday, June 12 th , for an intimate and ...
Read MoreMay 23, 2007
Over the last few weeks, a couple of warning flags have popped up that reminded me that with closed-end funds and structured products, it’s ‘ buyer beware ’. The first flag was an announcement that Sceptre Investment Counsel was merging ...
Read MoreMay 22, 2007
Starting up a new fund company is hard work. I felt it was time for a little R&R, so I recently headed south to the Mayan Riviera to recharge the batteries. After 3 or 4 days of lounging on the ...
Read MoreMay 22, 2007
At Steadyhand, we couldn’t be more delighted that Bill Holland is continuing to move CI Financial into the banking world. In the Financial Post last Friday, Bill reiterated that “we have to be in most of the business lines the ...
Read MoreMay 18, 2007
In his article in last Saturday’s Report on Business, Rob Carrick dredged up an idea he came up with in 1999 - the ‘Two-minute Portfolio’. It involves investing equal amounts in the two largest stocks in each of the S&P/TSX’s ...
Read MoreMay 15, 2007
We’ve had some good discussions, internally and with clients, about a blog that I posted back in March titled Must-Reads on Investing . The list of books that I compiled covers a fairly broad spectrum of topics, ranging from tips ...
Read MoreMay 14, 2007
Prologue to Globe and Mail Article I wanted to put today’s Globe and Mail article in context with Steadyhand. The process described in the article occurred prior to the decision by Neil and I to go ahead with Steadyhand. Since ...
Read MoreMay 10, 2007
The manager of our Equity Fund, Cranston, Gaskin, O’Reilly & Vernon (CGOV), is holding an Investor Conference Day in Toronto next week that I’ll be attending. Finally, an excuse to head east and get out of this terrible spring weather ...
Read MoreMay 10, 2007
We’ve got an excellent piece from Edinburgh Partners for our Fund Manager’s Corner. As part of his quarterly report, Dr. Sandy Nairn, the founder and President of the firm, provides some excellent background on economic and market cycles. The piece ...
Read MoreMay 7, 2007
One of my favourite investment writers is Jeremy Grantham, who is one of the founders and still a driving force behind GMO, a very successful investment manager. In addition to regularly reading his quarterly piece, I’ve met Jeremy and seen ...
Read MoreMay 4, 2007
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published May 4, 2007 Feeling richer? But are you better off? When Lori and I left Toronto to move west in 1991, we kept our summer cottage in the Haliburton. Back then, we ...
Read MoreMay 3, 2007
This week Premier Ed Stelmach said that Alberta is not interested in moving towards a national securities regulator. His government supports the current regime and the improvements that are being made to coordinate efforts amongst Canada’s 13 regulators (Yes, 13). At ...
Read MoreMay 1, 2007
The Glove and Mail, Report on Business Published April 28, 2007 I get grouchy when I see products being offered that are just plain bad for investors. I've been grouchy a lot lately, particularly with all the high-fee, principal-protected products ...
Read MoreApril 30, 2007
Early on in our business design, we decided to outsource many of the business functions necessary in a mutual fund company. One of the tools we used to visualize how the functions would fit together was a (very loose) variation ...
Read MoreApril 23, 2007
I am the newbie. I joined Steadyhand a couple of weeks ago and work as an Investor Specialist. My role is to talk with investors about Steadyhand. What I’ve found out so far is that Steadyhand is a great place ...
Read MoreApril 23, 2007
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published April 20, 2007 Like everyone else, I don’t like seeing corporate Canada get gutted by foreign buyers. I’ve thought for years that we were getting hollowed out, even if study after study ...
Read MoreApril 17, 2007
In this podcast, we sit down with Jay Menning, a member of Connor, Clark & Lunn's fixed income team, to talk about the Steadyhand Income Fund. Jay discusses the Income Fund's strategy and sheds some light on why it isn't a conventional bond fund. Who said bonds are boring?
Read MoreApril 13, 2007
In our self-congratulatory posting about our official opening, we noted what a beautiful day it was in Vancouver on Tuesday. That nice spring weather is also symbolic of what is going on in the pension world these days. Thursday’s papers ...
Read MoreApril 12, 2007
RBC Asset Management announced on Tuesday that they plan on changing the way they calculate the MERs of their funds. As a refresher, an MER – the expense that we all love to hate – consists of a fund’s management ...
Read MoreApril 10, 2007
Bono once said, "It's a beautiful day; don't let it get away." So we captured it in digital film. After months of preparation and hard work, it was truly a beautiful day in Vancouver as we opened our doors to ...
Read MoreApril 9, 2007
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published April 6, 2007 As we take Steadyhand on the road over the next few weeks, we anticipate that one of the most frequently asked questions we’ll face will be: Why don’t you ...
Read MoreApril 2, 2007
There is plenty of ink devoted to mutual fund wraps these days. Wraps are investment products that package a number of mutual funds together to provide individuals with one simple solution to their investment needs. Firms that sell these products ...
Read MoreMarch 23, 2007
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published March 23, 2007 In the investment industry, I’m what people call a “bottom-up” guy. That means I get my jollies from finding undervalued businesses to invest in, rather than predicting what the ...
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