Builders Fund

December 31, 2023

Fund Overview

  • The Builders Fund is a fund-of-funds that invests mainly in Steadyhand’s four stand-alone equity funds — Steadyhand Equity Fund, Steadyhand Global Equity Fund, Steadyhand Small-Cap Equity Fund, and Steadyhand Global Small-Cap Equity Fund. Its an all-stock portfolio designed for growth-oriented investors.
  • The underlying fund mix is managed by Chief Investment Officer Salman Ahmed, with Chair and co-founder Tom Bradley as co-manager.

Portfolio Specifics

  • The fund gained 10.9% in 2023. Its performance was behind the Canadian and global indexes, due in part to our lower exposure to technology stocks, specifically the so-called ‘Magnificent 7’, that benefited from growing enthusiasm around AI and accounted for nearly two-thirds of the U.S. market’s gain.
  • Investments are allocated roughly 1/3 towards companies based in Canada and 2/3 towards foreign businesses. The bias to foreign companies reflects a broader opportunity set outside of Canada, particularly in important industries like healthcare, technology, and consumer products and services.
  • The largest area of investment, industrial goods & services (31% of the portfolio), includes a diverse mix of companies such as railways CN Rail and Canadian Pacific Kansas City, RPM International (specialty coatings and sealants), Saab (aerospace, defense, and radar specialist) and Badger Infrastructure Solutions (hydrovac services). Performance of the group was strong in 2023.
  • Financial services companies make up 18% of the fund. Large holdings include Visa, TD Bank, and S&P Global. We also own a group of leading insurance companies, including RenaissanceRe, AIA Group, and Steadfast. CME Group (derivatives marketplace), FirstCash Holdings (pawn stores), FinecoBank (Italian online bank) and TMX Group (market exchanges) provide additional diversification.
  • The technology sector is another important area of investment, comprising 15%. Our focus is on established industry leaders such as Microsoft, which is our largest holding. Other investments include Samsung Electronics (diversified technology), Qualcomm (chips for smartphones), Adobe (software), and Synaptics (human interface hardware and software). Our holdings performed well, on balance, but didn’t keep pace with the mega-cap AI-related stocks that drove the sector.
  • The portfolio has some exposure to commodity stocks (8%), including Franco-Nevada (gold), TotalEnergies (oil & gas), Interfor (lumber), Cameco (uranium), and Capstone Copper (copper miner), but resource companies represent a smaller component of the fund due to their inherent cyclicality.

Positioning

  • Refer to the underlying funds for details on their positioning.

Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with mutual fund investments. Important information about the Steadyhand funds is contained in our Simplified Prospectus. Please read the prospectus before investing. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently, and past performance may not be repeated.