by Tom Bradley David Rosenberg is a thoughtful and experienced economist. He’s in the media often and has a huge following. I know this because my brother-in-law sends me a note every few weeks asking if I agree with his latest article. But David falls into the same trap many other economists and commentators do — he assumes there’s a tight relationship between what’s happening in the economy and where the stock market is going. In a recent Globe & Mail article entitled Why the long-term outlook for Canadian stocks is rosy (in the short term, not so much), David finishes with, “… although ..read more

This article was first published in the National Post on March 18, 2023. It is being republished with permission. by Tom Bradley If I told you about a company that is highly profitable, has a strong balance sheet, has grown steadily by expanding into new business areas, pays a healthy dividend and dominates its market with a few other firms, what would you think its price-to-earnings multiple (P/E) should be? I suspect you’d say it should trade at a premium to the overall market, perhaps a P/E in the high teens or low 20s. Well, not even close. The description above is that of our Big Five ba ..read more

by Salman Ahmed In this video, we discuss what you need to know before you hire or fire your financial advisor. We cover the best questions to ask an advisor using the FIRE criteria: Fees, Incentives, Returns, Experience. We also give you a checklist (at the 5:15 mark) you can use to judge whether an advisor is any good so you can make an informed decision ..read more

by Tom Bradley We find ourselves in another banking crisis. The word ‘crisis’ may seem like an overstatement at this stage, but when it comes to banking, confidence and trust are crucial. Right now, there’s a crisis of confidence. I won’t repeat what’s been covered in the media other than to say that the U.S. government was forced to bail out two banks — Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank. I know little about the smaller Signature, but SVB doesn’t appear to be suffering from the credit problems that typically bring a bank down, at least not yet. Rather, it’s been hurt by balance she ..read more

by Scott Ronalds I was going through an old marketing file and found a gem that never saw the light of day. It came courtesy of a firm we worked with several years ago when we were doing some thinking around our messaging and value proposition. The piece was designed to resonate with Canadians who are nearing retirement. Specifically, those who are a little uncertain about their investment choices and whether they’ll be able to live the life they want after they stop working. The imagery was dynamite, in my humble opinion. It’s got a “Three’s Company” and Jack Tripper vibe, circa 1980. And wh ..read more

This article was first published in the National Post on March 4, 2023. It is being republished with permission. by Tom Bradley One of the delights of driving an electric car is the pasted-in-your-seat acceleration. There’s nothing like it. You push the pedal and the smile on your face is instant. Unfortunately, managing investments isn’t like that. The analogy is more like a driving experience from the past: turbo lag. The power and acceleration may be exhilarating, but there’s a pause before it kicks in. For investors, the impact of a decision often takes time to show up, and, unlike my 198 ..read more

by Tom Bradley When asked what lessons investors learned from the 2008 Financial Crisis, Jeremy Grantham, Co-Founder of GMO (a U.S. investment manager), responded, "In the short-term a lot, in the medium-term a little, in the long-term, nothing at all. That would be the historical precedent." As we exited 2022, we’ve been doing lots of navel gazing about what we learned last year, or more to the point, what we should learn. I started the year with an article on this topic. For that reason, I’ll understand if you don’t want to hear more lessons, but ... the Grantham quote above came from a pos ..read more

This article was first published in the National Post on February 18, 2023. It is being republished with permission. by Tom Bradley One of my rules of thumb is that if something doesn’t seem to make sense, it probably doesn’t. Right now, there are more things than usual going clink, clink ... clunk. Let’s start with a macro example that’s almost over. Last year, central bankers did a 180-degree turn. They went from having their foot on the accelerator to stimulate the economy to hammering the brakes to get inflation under control. Much of the commentary about this reversal has focused on the ..read more

by Scott Ronalds Last week we hosted a webinar on tax planning with subject experts Tim Cestnick (a best-selling author and financial columnist at the Globe and Mail) and Cynthia Kett (a financial planner with over three decades of experience in accounting, tax, and planning). The event, which was part of our Steadyhand Café series where we discuss important and timely topics of interest to investors, focused on tax tips and strategies to help you keep more of your hard-earned money in your own pocket. Tim and Cynthia offered advice on a wide range of topics, including debt and leverage, trust ..read more

New to investing? Need a refresher on the basics? Or are you looking for an easy-to-understand resource to share with your kids to kickstart their financial education? (And help them achieve financial independence earlier!) Check out our latest video, in which Lisa breaks down the three fundamental types of investments — stocks, bonds, and cash ..read more