Cutting Through the Noise
March 30, 2011
Wil Wutherich, the manager of our Small-Cap Equity Fund, is in town this week on a research trip. We booked an afternoon of his time to review the fund and get some further insights on some of the stocks in the portfolio. Topics of discussion include: performance, valuations, and the resource sector, among others. Listen now...
Read MoreMarch 23, 2011
If you drive by 3rd & Burrard in Vancouver, you’ll sometimes hear a loud reverberating sound coming from a stand-alone building nestled between the car dealerships and art galleries. Don’t be alarmed. It’s just us screaming our investment philosophy and industry observations from the rooftop. Some of our neighbours (and competitors) find it annoying, while other observers find it refreshing...
Read MoreMarch 11, 2011
As we watch the horrific destruction in Japan, we are well aware that our Global Equity Fund owns a number of businesses in that country. Roughly 20% of the fund is invested in Japanese stocks. At this time, we don’t have any information or insight to pass...
Read MoreMarch 1, 2011
Tom discussed Longleaf Partners’ annual letter to shareholders in a blog posting yesterday. Today, the grand-daddy of all shareholder letters is in the news – Warren Buffett’s. I’m beating Tom to the punch for a synopsis, as his posts in previous years...
Read MoreFebruary 24, 2011
At our recent client presentations, there was a subtle shuffling of feet and an air of unease when the topic of Japan came up. Japanese stocks have been an area of increasing interest for our global manager (Edinburgh Partners) and we laid out the reasons why: Japanese stocks are cheap on several measures; the proverbial...
Read MoreFebruary 16, 2011
The manager of our Equity Fund, CGOV, recently published a short piece that addresses a timely topic – inflation. With commodity prices rising across the board, investors may be curious as to how certain companies are affected by this trend...
Read MoreFebruary 14, 2011
As for my strategy, I’ve sold some of my non-registered investments and invested the proceeds in my Steadyhand TFSA. I triggered a small capital gain in the process, but the future tax-free growth will more than offset the small tax liability. All of my TFSA...
Read MoreFebruary 9, 2011
Morningstar’s David O’Leary recently wrote a research report on our Small-Cap Fund. The piece, titled There’s a Lot of Potential in this Obscure Fund, is available on Morningstar’s website for subscribers to their premium service. Morningstar also...
Read MoreFebruary 7, 2011
The manager of our fixed income funds (Connor, Clark & Lunn) prepares a Financial Markets Forecast every year that addresses the outlook for the economy, inflation, monetary policy, market valuations and extreme technical conditions in order to set...
Read MoreFebruary 1, 2011
Tom Bradley was recently a guest on the Women’s Financial Learning Centre’s “Let’s Talk Money Podcast” with Karin Mizgala, a co-founder of WFLC. The topic of the show was transparency in the investment industry (or lack thereof). Tom and Karin...
Read MoreJanuary 20, 2011
Assessing your portfolio’s performance is a key element of being a successful investor. Yet, it’s also one of the ‘muddiest’ and more overlooked areas of investing. That’s because a proper performance assessment takes time and is hard to do. Also, the...
Read MoreJanuary 17, 2011
2010 was a good year for both stocks and bonds. Resource-focused and small-cap stocks saw sharp gains, and both the Canadian and U.S. markets turned in double-digit returns. European stocks struggled in comparison, however, due to the well-publicized headwinds in the region (i.e., debt problems)...
Read MoreJanuary 4, 2011
We asked our managers and select employees why they’re optimistic about the stock market in 2011. Let’s just say they had some unique perspectives. Click the link to watch the video...
Read MoreDecember 17, 2010
Our funds paid out their distributions to unitholders yesterday. As a reminder, distributions represent the mechanism whereby the funds transfer to unitholders any interest and dividend income and realized capital gains they accrued over the year...
Read MoreDecember 15, 2010
Although 2010 is coming to an end, we’re left with a lot to remember (and forget), including the Vancouver Olympics, the European debt problems, the vuvuzela, the iPad, the HST controversy in B.C., and the gloomy economic forecasts. While it was an eventful year in business, politics and sports, it was another busy and productive year in the shop as well. In this year's Holiday Letter, we reflect...
Read MoreNovember 29, 2010
The year-end distributions for all our funds (with the exception of the Savings Fund) will be declared on December 15th and paid on December 16th. The Savings Fund will pay its regularly-scheduled monthly distribution on December 31st. As a reminder...
Read MoreNovember 20, 2010
Tom will be on Business News Network (BNN) on Monday morning (November 22) at 9:15 AM eastern time (6:15 AM PST). Later in the day, he'll be sitting in with Amanda Lang and Kevin O'Leary on The Lang & O'Leary Exchange, which airs at 7:00 PM...
Read MoreNovember 3, 2010
Account statements from most Canadian mutual fund companies are so bad that splashing a little colour on the document can propel you to the top of the list. Never mind features that clients are really interested in like performance and fees, just add a little...
Read MoreOctober 21, 2010
We sent our Director of Business Development, David Toyne, to the Money Show in Toronto yesterday to get a reading on what the competition is pushing and the sentiment among investors right now. With his iPhone in hand, he covertly captured...
Read MoreSeptember 30, 2010
As part of the Globe & Mail redesign, my Buy Side column will appear in the Friday paper (as of October 1st). It's published every second week. As always, the columns will be posted on the Blog later the same the day.
Read MoreSeptember 28, 2010
Through the market’s ups and downs over the last few years, one area of stability has been dividends (for investors in Canadian stocks at least). With few exceptions, companies have maintained or increased their dividend payouts, providing...
Read MoreSeptember 21, 2010
I admit it. I occasionally read Vanity Fair. This month’s edition is worth picking up. Not because Lindsay Lohan is on the cover, but because there’s an interesting piece by Michael Lewis on Greece. For those who aren’t familiar with Lewis...
Read MoreAugust 31, 2010
Roger Lowenstein’s latest article in The New York Times is a must-read. In Taking Stock, Lowenstein (a financial author and journalist) draws parallels between the investment environment and mindset of individual investors today to that of the 1970s...
Read MoreAugust 30, 2010
I recently finished reading False Economy – A Surprising Economic History of the World. Along with its New York Times Bestseller status and praise from all the usual suspects (The Washington Post, Financial Times, The Economist, etc.), I was intrigued...
Read MoreAugust 26, 2010
This week’s rerun comes from April 2007. Foreign buyers were on the hunt for Canadian assets, which was stirring emotions and politics at home. Tom weighed in with some unique perspective on the issue. With Potash Corp. now in play, it's...
Read More