by Tom Bradley

Yup, we’ve been doing this for a decade now. Time flies when you’re having fun.

It’s been an interesting decade to be an investment manager. We had the worst banking meltdown I’ve seen in my career. Governments and central bankers interfered with markets and the economic cycle like never before. Interest rates went lower ... and lower ... and then stayed there. And of course, the stock markets provided their usual roller coaster ride, with 2008/09 being the lowlight and the great bull market that followed being the highlight.

We’ve often talked about assessing investment results over a full market cycle. Dare I say, our history represents a full cycle – it has encompassed all types of markets. And over that period, Steadyhand clients with balanced portfolios earned in the range of 5% to 6% per year (before taking any fee reductions into account).

As co-founder of the firm and its Chief Investment Officer, I’m pleased with these results. Our goal is to deliver long-term returns that are better than what our clients can achieve elsewhere. There are a few firms that had better fund returns, but if actual client returns are used in the comparison (i.e. after all fees and transactions), I think there would be even fewer running ahead of us.

I don’t mean to imply that we were running on all cylinders throughout the period. Salman and I, and our four fund managers, have learned valuable lessons and have lots to improve on. Please note that our Quarterly Report, which will be available to clients tomorrow, includes a detailed review of how our returns stack up.

Going beyond the results, there are a number of personal takeaways from our first decade. First off, I’m proud of our team. They’ve grown together and as owners in the business have been totally dedicated to you, our clients. It has been their energy, personality and commitment to our mission that has shaped the character and culture of the firm.

Hand-in-hand with our people comes the 3,000 clients who have joined us. We don’t take the quality of our client base for granted. You’ve entrusted your money with us and shared your experiences and life lessons.

More than anything, however, I’m proud of the fact that we’ve succeeded (so far) in addressing the biggest weakness in the wealth management industry. Because of our undexing philosophy, tight fund line-up, investment managers, fee schedule, communications and personal advice, we have a client base that stays on plan. There has been no slippage between how our funds did and how our clients did. We’ve lived up to our name.

While you’ve been sticking to the plan, we have too. We’re constantly trying to improve the firm, but our investment approach and business practices have not changed.

Not surprisingly, we’re in the mood to celebrate and share what we’ve learned. I’m hoping all our clients can join us for one of our 10 Years Wiser events that we’re hosting in May in Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Winnipeg and Ottawa. The name may be a little presumptuous (wise?), but as I said at the top, it was a rich period to learn about investing and ourselves.

Management fees and expenses all may be associated with mutual fund investments. Please read the prospectus before investing. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. The indicated rates of return are the historical annual total returns including changes in unit value and reinvestment of all distributions and do not take into account sales, redemption, distribution or optional charges or income taxes payable by any securityholder that would have reduced returns.