Cutting Through the Noise
June 6, 2014
Last week, the yields on Spanish 10-year bonds hit 2.82%. According to the Financial Times, this is the lowest since the early 1990’s. Also last week, an auction of 10-year Italian bonds came at a yield of 3.01%, which is the lowest since the introduction of the ...
Read MoreJune 3, 2014
"Bradley says nobody can call the market in the short term, but here he is with 15% of the fund sitting in cash. Isn’t that market timing?” With cash earning next to nothing and stock markets going up, we’ve been getting a few comments like this about the Founders ...
Read MoreMay 22, 2014
dol∙lar cost ave∙rag∙ing (noun). A strategy of buying a fixed amount of an investment (such as a mutual fund) on a regular, pre-determined schedule. The investment is purchased regardless of price, which helps take emotion out of the process. Dollar cost averaging can help smooth out the path of returns of an investment, as more shares, or fund units, are purchased when the investment’s price is falling and less are ...
Read MoreApril 24, 2014
An investor’s long-term mix of stocks, bonds, cash and other investments that will provide her with the best opportunity to achieve her objectives. It should take into consideration an investor’s goals, risk tolerance, and investment time horizon. An investor should not alter her Strategic Asset Mix unless she experiences a change in her personal circumstances such that her investment objectives, risk ...
Read MoreApril 16, 2014
David Toyne (our Toronto guy) pointed me to an interesting story the other day about doing a job right. David’s a fan of Terry O’Reilly and his radio series Under the Influence. He was listening to a recent episode in which O’Reilly was reciting stories from some of ...
Read MoreApril 11, 2014
From our Quarterly Report: Looking to the future, the advice we’re giving our clients has increasingly focused on risk management. Rising stock prices have resulted in increased valuations and a renewed thirst for risk assets. The current stock market run ...
Read MoreApril 10, 2014
There has been a lot in the news over the past day or so about the Heartbleed bug. We were alerted to the issue on Monday evening, the same day the bug was announced on heartbleed.com. That evening we checked all of our major systems, including our ...
Read MoreApril 9, 2014
di∙wor∙si∙fi∙ca∙tion (noun). The practice of owning too many securities or investments such that a portfolio starts to look very similar to the broad market and has no sense of direction. Also known as Overdiversification. The term is taken from The Steadyhand Dictionary, which is a collection of investing terms and colloquialisms. Some are widely used, some aren’t used enough, and some are seen ...
Read MoreMarch 31, 2014
Are you passionate about helping Canadians be better investors? Do you want to help change the landscape in the wealth management industry? If you can say yes to ALL these questions, you should check out this job posting for an Investor Specialist ...
Read MoreMarch 25, 2014
short term∙i∙sm (noun) (1) To focus on short-term market moves, economic news or company fundamentals. (2) To act on recent events without considering the longer-term implications. (3) To veer off course from an investment plan based on prevailing trends or fads. (4) Investors plagued by short-termism often damage their portfolios by buying high and selling low. (5) A chronic condition ...
Read MoreMarch 11, 2014
clo∙set in∙dex∙ing (verb) The practice of a fund manager building a portfolio that closely resembles an index for fear of losing assets or his job if performance fails to stay close to the index. Associated with low conviction, low active share, and underperformance. The aforementioned term is taken from The Steadyhand Dictionary, which is a collection of investing terms and colloquialisms. Some are ...
Read MoreFebruary 24, 2014
Exchange traded funds (ETFs) have become a popular investment option in Canada, as they offer simplicity, low fees and market-like returns. Yet, there are important tradeoffs with these products that investors should be aware of. In an updated paper, we ...
Read MoreFebruary 17, 2014
We wrapped up our cross-country client presentations this month after visiting five (very cold) cities. If you weren’t able to attend one of our sessions, or are looking to revisit some of the themes we touched on, we’ve produced a summary of the presentation ...
Read MoreJanuary 30, 2014
Tom was on BNN yesterday morning discussing some of the chapters from his new book, It’s Still Not Rocket Science. Some of the topics reviewed included: the four most dangerous words in investing (it’s different this time), China, getting back into the ...
Read MoreJanuary 29, 2014
We encourage investors to undertake a thorough performance review once a year, every year. And we walk the talk. We’ve updated our annual assessment of our funds’ performance that uses the framework laid out in our paper How is Your Portfolio Doing? ...
Read MoreJanuary 24, 2014
There are times throughout the investment cycle when people want more precision. They want to know what the market is going to do this year, or even this month. These moments most often come in January when year-end investment reports and media coverage are full of predictions for the next year. The need to know also arises after ...
Read MoreJanuary 13, 2014
From our Quarterly Report: When I think about risk management for clients and the firm, one item is increasingly showing up on my sheet - client expectations. I’m confident that stocks will deliver solid long-term returns and Steadyhand will be a good steward ...
Read MoreDecember 16, 2013
It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes, or bags. “It”, of course, is the Steadyhand Holiday Letter. 2013 has been a memorable year in the markets: Stocks have pushed forward without a flinch. Indeed, there’s been no sign of a stock market Grinch. Bonds were weaker, which is no surprising ...
Read MoreDecember 10, 2013
It’s one thing to explain to investors that capital markets move in unpredictable ways and diversification can dampen a portfolio’s volatility in the short term, but it’s quite another to actually show them. Which is why we’ve built a Volatility Meter for our website...
Read MoreDecember 9, 2013
We had a meeting last week to kick start preparations for our winter client tour, ‘Where to from here’. The discussion came around to performance reporting. When we start the tour in Winnipeg on January 27th, the 5-year returns will no longer include 2008 and...
Read MoreDecember 5, 2013
We are currently seeking candidates for a temporary, full-time administrative support assistant in Vancouver. As part of this diverse role, the team member will do whatever it takes to make our team efficient, and our clients feel welcome. The role begins...
Read MoreNovember 28, 2013
At the annual Morningstar Canadian Investment Awards last night in Toronto, Serena Ryder was the star of the show (although it was tragic she only did one song), but Steadyhand did OK too. Our Income Fund was recognized as the Best Canadian...
Read MoreNovember 27, 2013
The year-end distributions for all our funds (with the exception of the Savings Fund) will be declared on December 13th and paid on December 16th. The Savings Fund will pay its regularly-scheduled monthly distribution on December 31st. As a reminder...
Read MoreOctober 31, 2013
It’s been a dramatic year in the capital markets. Interest rates moved up meaningfully in the spring and stocks have been on a roll all year. Indeed, U.S. and international stocks have been going up steadily for two years. Enough has happened that it’s time...
Read MoreOctober 10, 2013
From our Quarterly Report: Five years ago we were right in the middle of it. Lehman Brothers had gone down and the financial crisis was taking hold. It was a period that will be forever fused in my memory, as I suspect it will for our clients. But even with
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