(An audio version of this letter can now be found as Episode 1 of The Unlimited Podcast by Ginsler Wealth. Use the link provided or find us on your favourite podcast app.)
To Ginsler Wealth’s Founding Clients:
You won’t see the same salutation on a Ginsler Wealth letter ever again. Because as the third quarter of 2021 has ended, so too has the first full quarter of operations of Ginsler Wealth. So I will start this update by thanking you, Ginsler Wealth’s Founding Clients, for your trust, support, and confidence.
Ginsler Wealth (or “G|W”) was born out of my desire to build a completely independent, unconstrained, and unbiased wealth management firm for successful families. I am not an egotistical person; I didn’t put my name on the door so that I could see my name in lights. I put my name on the door because it ensures that I never forget that I am personally accountable to you. Over time the firm will grow well beyond myself and our current small team (more on that later), but I wanted my clients to know that I am ultimately responsible for their care. I also wanted our firm to have a personality that can be traced back to mine: smart, serious, and unwaveringly ethical…but also humorous, real, and humble.
The latter trait drives our approach to managing your wealth and investments. We know where we excel: managing relationships, pulling the pieces together, identifying opportunities for savings or growth, and constructing and managing a differentiated, diversified investment portfolio. We are also very clear in knowing that we cannot excel at everything. We cannot be the best tax planner, estate planner, insurance advisor or stock picker – because we don’t practice those disciplines 24/7 and haven’t done so for 20+ years. But boy do we know how to find those experts and engage them for the benefit of our clients.
Our humility allows us to put our egos aside and find the best[i] professionals in their fields to help us achieve the best[ii] results for you.
Our humility also allows us to say that we don’t know what the markets are going to do this week, month, quarter, or year. But we know how to construct a diversified investment portfolio – comprised of more than just stocks and bonds – with the goal of weathering the storms that will most certainly come, and delivering returns that are focused on meeting your specific goals and objectives, not on simply beating “the markets”.
On that note, I don’t plan on providing generic updates on the stock and other markets in these letters. There are two reasons for this:
- This is done ad nauseum by other managers, advisors, and the financial media and is often a distraction from the long-term investment plan we have in place; and
- Ginsler Wealth client portfolios are not homogeneous and are often comprised of a variety of asset classes and strategies. As such, summarizing all the goings-on across the variety of strategies in G|W client portfolios would necessitate monopolizing far too much of your collective valuable time.
I will, however, share with you details of investment strategies that we are assessing, reviewing and/or allocating to. So far this year, G|W has reviewed no less than 50 investment strategies for potential inclusion in client portfolios. These have included traditional stock and bond strategies, along with a variety of different/alternative strategies across asset classes such as real estate, private equity, venture capital, venture debt, private debt, and music royalties, to name but a few. Recall that we are unconstrained in our ability to look at anything…not just what is on your bank’s “approved list”.
We are currently receiving significant demand for an “income-oriented” portfolio, especially in this current period of ultralow interest rates. We have assembled a collection of investment strategies that we believe should pay an approximate 5.5% ongoing distribution yield with a target total annual return of 10%[iii]. Reach out if you want to learn more.
We have also reviewed no less than twenty private “deals” or “opportunities” in areas such as real estate, student housing, cryptocurrency businesses, legal technology, food delivery, healthcare, fintech, cannabis, hospitality, and Israeli cyber-security. That last one was, so far, the only investment funded by Ginsler Wealth clients following our significant due diligence. The bar is high. If you have a particular interest in private investments of a certain type, I encourage you to let us know…we see a lot.
In future letters, I also plan on sharing with you examples of some of the non-investment work we do for clients. Every family is different, and every family requires help from G|W in a different way. This past quarter, we have run expense budgets for families with significant wealth, because they are smart enough to want to keep close track of their spending; we have helped families lay the foundation of financial protection through the simple use of life insurance; and through our “lifestyle concierge” service, with the help of our Advisory Board, we have helped clients navigate medical issues for family members to successful resolutions.
But this first letter is meant to just touch on who we are and what we (can) do for you. We’ll dive deeper in subsequent updates. In the meantime, I encourage you to connect with G|W on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to stay updated on day-to-day goings on.
I’ll conclude this first letter where I began…I take the responsibility of caring for your wealth seriously and I am unrelentingly dedicated to your success. That is my promise to you. My name is on the door.
Once again, thank you for your trust, support, and confidence. We are available 24/7 should you need us.
Sincerely,
Brian Ginsler
President & CEO
Business Updates
During the quarter, we moved into our new offices near Avenue and Davenport in Toronto. Those who know me will not be surprised to find a Lego Seinfeld set in my office. For those comfortable meeting indoors, I encourage and welcome you to come by for a visit and experience my barista skills firsthand. All Ginsler Wealth team members are fully vaccinated.
G|W was also pleased to welcome Kathryn Donville to the team as a Client Service Associate. Kathryn is a recent Ivey MBA graduate. Kathryn has investment management blood in her veins having previously worked for a number of years at Donville Kent Asset Management, a successful investment firm founded by her father Jason over 13 years ago. Kathryn will be working closely with our clients to ensure they receive the highest level of personal service.
[i] Full disclosure – the Ontario Securities Commission would not be happy with Ginsler Wealth using superlatives like “the best” since that is theoretically subjective. So let’s just say “very good…”.
[ii] Same as above.
[iii] Of course, no investment results are guaranteed and there is no guarantee that this portfolio of strategies will meet the targets and objectives detailed herein.
