Ginsler Wealth Third Quarter 2026 Client Letter – Cholesterol Edition

(An audio version of this letter is available on The Unlimited Podcast by Ginsler Wealth. Use the link provided or find us on your favourite podcast app: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / YouTube)

 

To Ginsler Wealth’s Clients:

This past January, I visited Medcan for my annual Comprehensive Health Assessment, where I rotated through a series of stations for a full “top to bottom” check. Since I hadn’t eaten since the night before, Medcan sent me to the blood test first, after which I was allowed to eat their coffee and food. My trick each year is booking the earliest appointment so I can enjoy both breakfast and lunch on them. Given the cost of the assessment, I feel it is only fair!

For full disclosure, Medcan is part of Ginsler Wealth’s Partners Program, and provides our clients with a discount on the Comprehensive Health Assessment and many other medical tests and services.

After all the stations and tests, I met with the doctor to go over the results. This is usually where I lie back and soak in all the compliments about my excellent health. So, I was surprised when my usually pristine bloodwork showed a few “out of range” cholesterol markers.

I immediately said to the doctor, “This is a mistake. Test my blood again right away.” He laughed and explained that it doesn’t work that way and that I should change my diet and re-test in a few months. The key reductions were dairy and red meat.

I was already a reasonably healthy eater (I thought), but I was adamant that I was not going to solve this issue simply by starting daily cholesterol medication.

So, I built an app (of course!). With embedded AI, I could take a photo of a food label, a plate, or even a whole restaurant menu and be told what was OK to eat and what to avoid. It also kept a running total of the key nutritional metrics I needed to track.

For three months I had no pizza, no hamburgers, no steak, no desserts, no French fries, no chocolate bars, no potato chips, no soda pop, and no juice. And I ate a lot of avocados!

By my blood test three months later, the cholesterol numbers had returned to normal.

I have since relaxed the restrictions a bit. If restaurants thought I was a pain before, I am now even worse!

I am grateful for the annual checkup that caught this, and glad I acted quickly.


OUR COMPREHENSIVE WEALTH ASSESSMENT

When a new family comes to Ginsler Wealth, one of the first things we do is our own version of a Comprehensive Health Assessment, or should I say, “Comprehensive Wealth Assessment”.

We want to see everything. What do you own, and why? Are different investments actually diversifying one another, or do your various advisors and managers hold many of the same securities? Is the overall portfolio consistent with what you are trying to accomplish?

Sometimes everything looks great. Sometimes we find a few things that need attention. And sometimes we see the portfolio equivalent of very bad bloodwork.

For prospective clients, we show them exactly what we see. Some, like me after my Medcan appointment, get serious. They decide something needs to change and often change advisors (to us!). Others look at the results…and continue doing exactly what they were doing before.

In an old Seinfeld episode, Jerry’s mother, unable to comprehend that anyone might not like her son, exclaims: “How could anyone not like you?”

I admit I sometimes have my own version: “How could anyone not become our client?”

Apparently, it happens. You can show someone their portfolio cholesterol, but you can’t make them eat the avocado.


YOUR PORTFOLIO NEEDS A CHECKUP TOO

You are already a client, so you are covered. But to be clear, we give your portfolio a checkup all the time, not just when you join and not just once a year. We monitor your investments, meet regularly with the managers we invest with, and continuously ask whether every investment still deserves its place in your portfolio.

As I discussed with Ira Gluskin during his interview of me last year, one important difference between us and many large financial institutions (and even some of our smaller peers) is that we do not manufacture investment products that we then need to sell to you. We have no proprietary mutual funds, structured products, or “house” investments that must remain in your portfolio. So if we conclude that an investment no longer makes sense, we can change it.

And every time we meet, we check the other side of the equation too: Has anything changed with you?

Are your goals the same? Do you need more liquidity, or less? Has your tolerance for risk changed? Has something changed in your family, business, or tax situation?

In other words, before we take your financial blood pressure, we ask: How are you feeling?


WHAT WE’VE BEEN DOING THIS QUARTER

In my last quarterly letter, I wrote about the portfolio analyses we were conducting and the changes we were considering and implementing. That work has continued throughout this quarter. Most recently, we have been focused on reviewing and in many cases adding or increasing exposure to high-quality bonds. Here is why.

As is always the case, there has been no shortage of uncertainty in the world and markets. The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has kept energy prices elevated. Inflation has remained stubborn enough that the Bank of Canada held its policy rate at 2.25% in September, while the U.S. Federal Reserve actually raised its policy rate by 0.25% to a target range of 3.75%-4.00%.[i] At the same time, U.S. economic growth has remained resilient, helped by enormous investment in AI infrastructure. If that sounds contradictory, welcome to investing.

Given that uncertainty, one area that is starting to look interesting again is an asset class that hasn’t been particularly exciting for the last few years and hasn’t contributed much to portfolio returns: higher quality bonds (also called Investment Grade bonds).

As bond yields have moved higher, lending money to strong, financially healthy companies has become much more compelling. As I write this, the portfolio yields on some of the core fixed income strategies that we use are approaching 6% – while still maintaining a focus on high quality (as opposed to High Yield or Junk) bonds.

In addition, the yield on the 10-Year U.S. Treasury bond relative to the earnings yield of U.S. stocks (represented by the S&P 500) is the highest in the past 25 years.

If we can now earn a reasonable return from lending money to high-quality businesses, we don’t necessarily need to take significant credit risk to make fixed income worthwhile. For our clients with a relatively lower risk profile (and others where appropriate), we have started to increase allocations to traditional corporate bond strategies.

We generally want fixed income to play a different role than equities. We own equities for meaningful long-term growth and accept that the ride will sometimes be bumpy. Fixed income can provide income, greater predictability and, ideally, some ballast when other parts of a portfolio are struggling. We also expect our recent gold allocations to act defensively should times of stress arise (or continue!).

Speaking of gold, in September, Huan and I visited the secret vault in Toronto that stores the physical gold owned by the gold fund we invest in for you. Good news: the gold is there, it’s real, and we saw it with our own eyes! Bad news: I am very weak and could barely lift a bar. Any Ocean’s Eleven-type heist plans died on the spot.

 

HEALTHCARE ON THE UNLIMITED PODCAST

Healthcare also took over The Unlimited Podcast recently.

Last month, I spoke with my old grade-school classmate Mara Lederman, Co-Founder of Signal 1, whose company helps hospitals govern and monitor the fast-growing number of AI tools being deployed throughout healthcare.

Coming later this month: Dr. Brett Belchetz, emergency-room physician, Co-Founder and CEO of Maple and (his biggest claim to fame) Advisory Board member at Ginsler Wealth! As an emergency room doctor, Brett saw patients waiting too long and doctors stretched too thin, and decided that technology could change how care is delivered. Maple now provides millions of Canadians with access to virtual healthcare. According to Brett, Maple is “the single busiest place of healthcare in all of Canada right now.” Follow the podcast so you don’t miss it.[ii]

Both made big career pivots: Mara from professor to AI entrepreneur and Brett from ER doc to tech entrepreneur. Their stories are worth a listen.

 

—————-

You should know, and have experienced, that your portfolio health assessment does not end when you become a client.

If we already manage your entire investment portfolio, we are doing this work continuously. If we manage only a portion of your investments and you would like us to review everything else you own, send it to us. We are happy to provide a complete “second opinion” (as the doctors say) of your overall portfolio at any time. (This offer is open to non-clients as well by the way).

Unlike Medcan, there is no additional annual charge. Consider it year-round care.

And of course, because wealth is hard (#wealthhard), we are always available to help with your overall financial fitness.

While your health is unquestionably more important than your wealth (so keep eating those avocados), we’ll leave the former to the doctors and continue to take care of the latter. No waiting room required.

Thank you for your continued trust, support, and confidence. We are available 24/7 should you need us.

Sincerely,

Brian singnature

Brian Ginsler
President & CEO

 

 

 

 

 

 

[i] https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20260916a.htm

[ii] Quote taken from The Unlimited Podcast episode: Reinventing Canadian Healthcare with Brett Belchetz. Release date pending. October 2026.

Ginsler Wealth Second Quarter 2026 Client Letter – Anniversary Edition

(An audio version of this letter can be found as Episode 70 of The Unlimited Podcast by Ginsler Wealth. Use the link provided or find us on your favourite podcast app: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / YouTube)

 

To Ginsler Wealth’s Clients:

If you have been reading my letters consistently, you may recall back in Q3 2025 I mentioned that we were taking steps to become a U.S. Registered Investment Adviser with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). We spent considerable time and money to do so and in November of last year we were granted such registration[i]. Once the license was in hand, we spent a meaningful part of the first half of 2026 ensuring all U.S. compliance requirements were in place – essentially running two compliance functions and defaulting to the “more restrictive” policy of each country. Our operations team dove deep into learning new U.S. systems and learning about all the various U.S. account types and their nuances. Finally, our investment team spent countless hours evaluating the entire universe of investment options in the U.S., and – with the significant assistance of powerful AI tools – conducted “next level” manager and investment research, correlation analysis, and vast Monte-Carlo simulations[ii] – with the goal of offering a spectacular investment portfolio offering for U.S. clients.

And during this past quarter…I killed it all. Shut it down. And gave up our U.S. registration.


HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

The end of this past quarter marks the five-year anniversary of the official launch of Ginsler Wealth (the anniversary of being granted our Canadian license[iii] from the Ontario Securities Commission). Unlike other advisors who “move a book of business” from one bank or firm to another, Ginsler Wealth officially started with $0.00 assets under management. We earned our first monthly AUM (assets under management) fee of a whopping $165.03 in August 2021.

Since that time, we have grown to help a select group of approximately 100 Canadian families from across the country. Some as their full Personal CFO (also called “family office”), where we look after any and all aspects of their financial lives (because #wealthhard); and the majority where we manage some or all of their investable assets, while also helping with wealth and financial planning matters.

I am particularly proud that in five years, we have generated almost $70 million of investment gains for our collective client base.

I also have a wonderful team of professionals who work tirelessly for you, with a genuine desire to make your life easier – usually specific to finance, wealth, and investing, but often in other areas as well. And our significant adoption of AI – which I believe is ahead of others in our industry – empowers this team to do even more for you. (If you want a brief glimpse into our use of tech and AI, see this clip from my presentation “A View Inside a Tech-Enabled Wealth Firm” to other investment firms at the 2026 d1g1t Client Forum this past May.)

Because we place client service above all other priorities, if there is one area where I have spent little time in the last five years it is on active business development, or “sales”. But what I’ve realized, and what I instill in my team, is that if we do the best job possible for you – and treat your other advisor team (e.g., accountants, lawyers, etc.) similarly – you just might tell your friends about us. And that is exactly what has driven the growth of our firm. So please accept my heartfelt thanks for your kind referrals and introductions – and if you ever come across someone who could use the kind of help we provide, I hope you’ll think of us (again).

If you are still wondering why I shut down our U.S. license, I suppose the simplest answer is: it’s all your fault. You, our existing Canadian clients.

At the beginning of my first client letter I wrote the following:

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.

And at the end of that very same letter I wrote:

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.

So when I saw the time, energy, and talent our team was dedicating to building a potential future U.S. business, I realized something important: that same time, energy, and talent belonged here. With you.

Not because the U.S. opportunity was unattractive. It was attractive. Maybe very attractive. But the more we pursued it, the clearer it became that the best use of our next chapter was not to become a broader firm serving more markets. It was to become an even better firm serving the people and families who already placed their trust in us.

After all, I promised I would.


THE NEXT FIVE YEARS?

Similar to how I started this letter, those that are consistent readers will also know that I have a tendency to remind you that I don’t have a crystal ball and “it’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future” (in the immortal words of Yogi Berra).

That is especially true today. The way we deliver wealth management, and conduct investment research, planning, reporting, and client service will almost certainly look different five years from now. When we do imagine the future of serving you, AI runs through all of it. But AI is changing so fast — improving, surprising us, and occasionally humbling us, almost by the day — that I won’t pretend to know exactly what our firm will look like or how we’ll work five years from now. What I can tell you is that we intend to stay on the leading edge of it, the way we’ve tried to be from the start.

So rather than predict what we’ll look like in the next five years, let me tell you what you might expect from us as it relates to your investments, in the next five months or so…


Portfolio Changes, Adjustments, Deletions, and Additions

We have refocused our full efforts around correlation analysis and other analysis (using both AI and RI – “Real” Intelligence) to our Canadian portfolios. Our collective investment team has identified (what we believe to be) ways to further optimize your current portfolios and have already begun taking steps to implement these changes. These changes – always done with each client’s specific goals, objectives, and risk tolerances in mind – may include:

  • Redistributing assets among your current strategies by adjusting their weights,
  • Selling certain holdings entirely and redistributing the proceeds, and
  • Introducing new investment strategies to your portfolio(s).

The above is a multi-month process as it cannot occur “at the snap of a finger”. Our team has a detailed implementation plan that is being followed to thoroughly review each client account and prudently make changes (if applicable).


What’s New?

A few of the new strategies we are implementing and/or reviewing in detail for potential inclusion in our client portfolios include:

U.S. Top 20 Companies

(Not new, but…) we maintain our thesis on investing in the biggest and best companies in the U.S. (the largest 20 S&P 500 companies) and are increasing allocations in many portfolios. Notably absent from the S&P 500 “Top 20” list is recently IPO-ed SpaceX. We are considering a market-weight allocation to SpaceX in client portfolios, but continue to watch its financial and share price performance post-IPO prior to finalizing our decision. In short, we’re happy to let this one orbit a while before we commit.

Global Small Capitalization Equity Strategy

We are looking to broaden our equity portfolios with a legendary value manager’s global small-cap fund. Unlike Canadian-focused small-cap strategies, which often have to choose from very small, relatively illiquid companies, the “small-cap” definition outside of Canada can extend to companies with market capitalizations as large as US$7.5 billion, and thereby allows for meaningful diversification with far fewer potential liquidity issues. The fund under review has an approximate 13% 10-year annualized return track record[iv] and is a likely inclusion in client portfolios in Q3 (following completion of our rigorous due diligence process that has been ongoing for well over a year-and-a-half).

Global Diversified Royalties Strategy

As you know, we love the music royalties fund most of our clients own, and we continuously seek similar, less- or non-correlated asset classes. One of the largest private market investors in the world is bringing its US$2 billion diversified royalties fund (media/music, pharma/life sciences, energy transition, and more) to Canada and so far, we like what we see. But our due diligence is ongoing.

Gold

Our firm has not historically invested directly in gold (admittedly, we missed that “trade” over the past few years), but through our AI-assisted historical analysis and continued discussions with gold experts (including my recent podcast episode featuring Peter Grosskopf – one of Canada’s foremost gold experts), we are seeing the uncorrelated nature of its performance and potential for portfolio inflation protection.

Critical Minerals/Materials

I have previously written about our desire to capture the upside of the AI revolution. It is clear to me that (em)powering the world with AI – whose demand will likely be insatiable – will require an abundance of critical materials the likes of which the world has never seen. For example, according to Dan Dreyfus, CEO of Bornite Capital – a global investment fund with a core focus specifically in commodity related sectors – in his presentation at the All-In Liquidity Summit last month[v] – “We need copper for everything. … Going back in human history, we have mined 700 million tons of copper over the past 10,000 years; over the next 18 years, we are going to need 700 million tons of copper. We’re going to need as much copper as we’ve mined in the last 10,000 years.” And copper is just one of the many critical materials the world is going to need in abundance. We have identified a strategy focused on gaining exposure to some of the most critical materials and may include this in client portfolios – again and as always – where appropriate.

All the above is just part of the picture. Managing your portfolio is continuous work – we’re constantly reviewing your existing holdings and adjusting them, alongside evaluating new strategies – and far more gets reviewed than ever makes it into your account. As always, we only make changes where they make sense for your specific goals, objectives, and risk tolerances.

 

—————–

Looking back on our first five years, I am grateful for many things: the trust you have placed in us, the team we have built, the investment gains we have helped generate, the problems we have helped solve, and the relationships we have formed along the way. But I am also grateful for something else: the clarity that came from making a hard decision.

Walking away from the U.S. opportunity was not a retreat from ambition. It was a recommitment to purpose. We do not need to be everything to everyone, everywhere. We need to be exceptional for the Canadian families we serve — and for the Canadian families we may be fortunate enough to serve in the future.

You’ve come first for the last five years. You’ll come first for the next five, too. My name is still on the door. I promise.

Thank you for your continued trust, support, and confidence. We are available 24/7 should you need us.

Sincerely,

Brian singnature

Brian Ginsler
President & CEO

 

 

 

 

[i] Throughout this letter, I use the term “registration” and “license” to essentially refer to the same thing: a registration with a securities regulator.

[ii] A Monte Carlo simulation is a way to estimate a range of possible outcomes by running many trials using different assumptions. Instead of relying on a single forecast, it tests thousands of scenarios to show what could happen under varying conditions, helping investors understand both the likely results and the risks around them.

[iii] Ginsler Wealth Management Inc. was granted registration by the Ontario Securities Commission as a Portfolio Manager and Exempt Market Dealer on July 2, 2021.

[iv] As of May 31, 2026.

[v] Dan Dreyfus: America’s Critical Minerals Crisis is Here. Liquidity Summit 2026. Presented by All-In. June 9, 2026.

 

All that Glitters with Peter Grosskopf on The Unlimited Podcast®

“There’s a lady who’s sure all that glitters is gold…”
– Led Zeppelin

In this episode of The Unlimited Podcast®, Brian speaks with Peter Grosskopf, shareholder and advisor at Forthlane Partners, to explore the current investment case for gold and where the precious metal may be headed. They break down how gold can function as a portfolio’s “anchor” and insurance, the rise of gold digitization, how gold and other metals fit into the AI boom, and much more.

Peter Grosskopf is a shareholder and advisor at Forthlane Partners, where he supports the investment team’s Real Assets strategy. He is also the founder of Argo Digital Gold, Chairman of SCP Resource Finance, and sits on the boards of Agnico Eagle Mines, the World Gold Council, and Alaris Private Equity. With over 35 years of experience in financial services, Peter served as CEO of Sprott Inc. from 2010 to 2022, growing assets under management from $5 billion to over $20 billion, and previously co-founded Newcrest Capital, which was acquired by TD Bank Financial Group in 2000. A self-described libertarian who began his career as a junior commodities and gold trader, Peter is widely recognized as one of Canada’s leading authorities on gold and resource investing. He holds both an HBA and MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, along with the CFA designation.

Stairway to Heaven story source: Spitz, B. (2021). Led Zeppelin: The biography. Penguin Press. The full Led Zeppelin story can be found here.

This episode can also be found here or find us in your favourite podcasting app, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and YouTube.

If you like what you hear, please don’t hesitate to rate us kindly. And if there are particular topics you’d like covered, please let us know.

The Executor Playbook with Michael Kulbak on The Unlimited Podcast®

 Everyone says they have a simple estate…until they don’t.

In the third episode in our Wealthhard mini-series on wills, estates, and planning for the inevitable, Brian speaks with Michael Kulbak, founder of Kulbak Trust Solutions, about what actually happens after someone dies…and what executors are really left to deal with.

Michael is a Toronto-based professional executor and estate trustee. He is a Chartered Professional Accountant, a Trust and Estate Practitioner, and has prior experience as a Chief Financial Officer, director and officer of both private and public companies. Today, through Kulbak Trust Solutions, he works with individuals, families and advisors as a professional executor, agent to executor, trustee, and attorney under power of attorney for property.

In this conversation, Michael walks through the real-life chaos of estate administration: funeral arrangements, frozen bank and investment accounts, probate delays, tax filings, family dynamics, beneficiary conflicts, vulnerable beneficiaries, “vulture syndrome,” and the constant executor experience of having to “hurry up and wait”. He also explains why even a “simple” estate can take 18 to 24 months—and hundreds of hours—to administer properly. Brian and Michael also discuss practical steps people can take now to make life easier for their executor later.

This episode is for anyone who has been named an executor, anyone thinking about who to name as executor, and anyone who assumes their estate will be “simple.” Because as Michael makes clear: being asked to act as executor may be an honour, but it is also a job.

This episode can also be found here or find us in your favourite podcasting app, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and YouTube.

If you like what you hear, please don’t hesitate to rate us kindly. And if there are particular topics you’d like covered, please let us know.

Ginsler Wealth First Quarter 2026 Client Letter – Mike Tyson Edition

(An audio version of this letter can be found as Episode 67 of The Unlimited Podcast by Ginsler Wealth. Use the link provided or find us on your favourite podcast app: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / YouTube)

 

Everyone has a plan ’till they get punched in the mouth.
– Mike Tyson

To Ginsler Wealth’s Clients:

If you grew up in the 1980s like me, and had an original Nintendo gaming system, you probably recognize this string of numbers: 007 373 5963. If seeing those numbers gives you flashbacks to being punched in the mouth, read on…

And if you have no idea what the heck I’m talking about, read on as well.

In the mid-1980s, Mike Tyson exploded onto the boxing scene with a ferocious, crowd-captivating style, rapidly becoming the youngest heavyweight champion in history while dispatching opponents—often in the first round—with unprecedented speed and power. His aura of invincibility and mainstream appeal made him a cultural phenomenon, extending beyond sports into global celebrity. By 1987, his dominance and popularity were cemented in pop culture with the release of Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!, bringing his intimidating presence into millions of homes.

My autographed photo of Mike Tyson’s Punch Out.

My home was one of them. Like most of my 11- and 12-year-old friends, I played Punch-Out religiously. In the game, you had to defeat a ladder of increasingly difficult fighters before reaching Tyson at the top:

Glass Joe → Von Kaiser → Piston Honda → Don Flamenco → King Hippo → Great Tiger → Bald Bull → Soda Popinski → Mr. Sandman → Super Macho Man → Mike Tyson

It wasn’t easy and took a ton of time, and that was if you could make it through.

And then rumours started circling around the rough and tough school yard at Associated Hebrew Day School: there was a secret code you could enter when the game powered on that would get you right to Tyson! 007 373 5963.

I must have fought Tyson a hundred times. First, lasting less than 5 seconds, but eventually beating the greatest boxer in the world. It turns out that when you can play out being punched in the mouth over and over, you can learn how to anticipate it, accept it, manage through it, or avoid it.

Tyson’s quote was trash talk directed at his opponents. Every fighter stepped into that ring with a strategy, a game plan, and a team of coaches who had studied his every move. Then Tyson threw a punch. Plan over.

But here’s the more interesting question: what about Tyson himself when he was the one getting punched in the mouth? Because he did get punched in the mouth. Literally. And his answer to that question is actually what this letter is about. He knew it was coming, he accepted it, he anticipated it, he tried to avoid it, and he managed through it. In short, he had a plan for being punched in the mouth — in his job.

And so do I — in mine.


KNOW IT: 2026 STARTED WITH A BANG

My first day back after the holidays began with a bad snowstorm. But having been away for a few weeks, I was eager to get into the office and start the new year with a bang. Little did I know that was exactly what was going to happen.

As I sat stopped at the last stoplight before reaching my office, I saw in my rearview mirror a car approaching quickly and ultimately sliding into the back of my car.

I pulled over on the side street, spoke to the perpetrator, got a picture of his license plate, drivers license and insurance, shook his hand (he didn’t mean to do it of course) and was at my office 2 minutes later.

My previous experience with minor fender-benders (all not my fault, of course), meant that I was able to handle what might otherwise have been an unnerving situation with calm, efficiency, and care.

(Admittedly, when I got the call from my daughter after just getting her license that she was rear-ended while at a stoplight – that was certainly a punch in the mouth.)

Similarly, the start of 2026 has felt unnerving and unprecedented for many investors. Trump’s surprise capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and recent and ongoing war with Iran were both unpredictable events. Plus, the relentless AI narrative feels as if the world is changing daily right before our eyes. How can an investor manage when things are different this time?

Well, they are not. We only have to look back to the same period last year to see similar market reactions to Trump’s tariffs and other unsettling or unpredictable world events. The chart below shows the performance of U.S. and Canadian equity markets this past quarter relative to their respective performance in the first quarter of 2025. The lines and ending points look eerily similar.

I am not suggesting that the rest of 2026 will turn out the same as 2025 (remember, I don’t have a crystal ball). But as investors, we know that the world is always unnerving and unpredictable. Knowing what he was getting into, I doubt when Buster Douglas entered the ring with Mike Tyson in February 1990, he thought to himself: “This is going to be easy.” And this was likely especially the case when Tyson knocked him down in the 8th round. But looking back after he defeated Tyson by KO in the 10th round in one of the biggest upsets in sports history, I’m sure things looked great in the rearview mirror.

As I’ve repeated too often (including my last quarterly letter about why wealth is hard), over the long-term, markets have always gone up. But investors have to be ready for many punches, jabs, hooks, and a few knockouts. It’s only when you look back over a long time period (or make it through 10 rounds of fighting!) that you realize you’ve won.


ANTICIPATE IT

Tyson undoubtedly had a plan for being punched in the mouth because he undoubtedly anticipated that might happen. Similarly, when we perform due diligence on any investment strategy, we must do so with the anticipation that something could go wrong with the strategy itself or external factors that could lead to problems.

Currently, private real estate and private credit funds around the world are facing a wave of redemption requests. But because the underlying assets are less liquid (it’s hard to sell a building in a day), even some of the world’s largest investment firms—like Blackstone, BlackRock, Apollo, and Blue Owl—are limiting withdrawals (the industry calls this “gating”). The issue isn’t necessarily collapsing fundamentals of the
underlying assets, but a mismatch: investors want liquidity at the same time, and the psychology of “gating” can actually accelerate redemption requests.

A few of the “private” strategies we utilize have also been caught up in this acceleration of redemption requests. While no one likes to be told they can’t get their funds immediately, the reality is that in the absence of this “gating” situation, we wouldn’t have been looking to redeem anyway.

Our initial and ongoing diligence gives us comfort that the underlying assets are strong. For example, the private real estate funds we are in own hundreds of apartment buildings across Canada (and some in the U.S.) that are close to fully occupied, with tenants paying rent and investors continuing to receive distributions each month.

In all instances, we are in direct and regular communication with the CEOs of these firms. Each has a plan to increase liquidity for investors. Anticipating that a problem could always arise, ensuring any holding is never an outsized portion of a client’s portfolio, and really understanding the underlying assets, gives us comfort to expect this situation to eventually resolve as and when investors see some liquidity flowing their way.


(TRY TO) AVOID IT BY “CHASING CHICKENS”

In Rocky II, Rocky’s trainer Mickey tells him that to build his speed, he needs to “chase the chicken”, and if he can “catch this thing, you can catch greased lighting”.

While Rocky replies, “I’m a fighter, I ain’t a farmer,” this past quarter, after about six months of diligence, we have turned to the farmers (and their chickens) to help our clients avoid some of the punches that the more traditional investment markets will inevitably throw at their portfolios.

More specifically, we have started to allocate to a fund that lends money to Canadian farmers.[i] As Robb Nelson, CEO of Farm Lending Canada, said during our recent podcast discussion, farmers are the best borrowers because their farms have been in their families for generations, they sit on a street that is likely named after the family itself, and they will do everything in their power not to lose the farm.[ii] Perhaps it is no surprise, therefore, that Robb’s farm lending fund has never lost a penny of principal or interest in its history.[iii]

While Rocky tells Mickey that he feels like “a Kentucky Fried Idiot” chasing the chicken, we are always extremely excited to find truly uncorrelated (or less correlated) investment strategies to add to client portfolios.


MANAGE THROUGH IT

Once you are in the ring, you have to rely on your preparation to manage through. And sometimes it is clear that forces around you are changing and require adapting or embracing on the fly.

One of those relentless forces right now is AI. I have written about our focus on AI repeatedly. Our first AI-related podcast was back in January 2023 (centuries ago in “AI terms”), after we had already started investing in the space.[iv] Our approach with any new or important transformation is to learn and understand as much as possible – to help us determine what it means for our clients, their portfolios, and our business. We have certainly done this with AI.

This past quarter, I had the opportunity to visit NVIDIA’s headquarters in Santa Clara, California and hear directly from some its most senior leaders about what’s happening in AI – and the relentless demand for its use, limited only by the world’s supply of power. The message coming out of that NVIDIA visit was hard-hitting: according to NVIDIA’s CEO, Jenson Huang: “there will be a billion times more tokens generated in 5 years”[v]. (FYI: Tokens are units of data – like words – that AI processes and generates).

And I strongly believe we are ahead of the curve relative to most companies, and certainly most in our industry. Perhaps that is why the organizers of Future Proof Citywide – a large-scale conference held in Miami Beach dedicated exclusively to AI’s impact on wealth and investment management – asked me to speak about Ginsler Wealth’s implementation of AI, and in particular ginsler.ai, my AI clone. We continue to experiment with AI inside our firm with the goal of improving operations, efficiency, and speed for the benefit of our clients.

AI elicits both excitement and fear. In February, “a piece of AI science fiction rocked the stock market”[vi]. Using one of my favourite phrases, Derek Thompson’s “Nobody Knows Anything” article serves to calm down the fear. And my friend and Harvard Business School classmate, Myoung Cha (formerly Head, Apple Health Strategic Initiatives) explains why – yes – AI will likely eliminate some narrow, task-based jobs, but…by making cognitive work dramatically cheaper, it will also expand demand for that work, often creating more total activity, not less.

Since AI can now code everything (I’ve personally now coded one game, two apps, and multiple reporting dashboards), one would naturally think coding jobs would be eliminated swiftly. But the exact opposite is happening:

In other words, the future of work isn’t fewer jobs—it’s different jobs, with humans shifting from doing the work to directing, judging, and expanding it.

Whether you view AI with excitement or fear — or some combination of both — the right response isn’t to freeze. It’s to prepare, adapt, and keep moving forward. Which, come to think of it, is probably exactly how Buster Douglas approached getting into the ring with Tyson.

—————–

And by the way — remember the question I asked at the top? What does Tyson do when he’s the one getting punched in the mouth?

Here’s his answer, in his own words, about that fight with Buster Douglas:

That’s one of my best…because I took some [expletive] shots. Nobody would’a took them shots.
Boxing is like this game of life.
Suppose I let that discourage me.
Imagine if I said, ‘man, maybe I should give it up. Maybe I don’t got the heart for this no more.’
I would never do that.
Suppose I did that instead of saying ‘Man, that’s nothing. I’ll be champ in 6 months.’

And eventually he was. Twice.

Even getting knocked out by a 12-year-old Brian Ginsler couldn’t stop Mike. And we won’t stop fighting – or at least working really hard – for our clients either. No matter what punches get thrown our way.

Thank you for your continued trust, support, and confidence. We are available 24/7 should you need us.

Sincerely,

Brian singnature

Brian Ginsler
President & CEO

 

 

 

 

 

[i] As usual, any allocation is made taking into account each client’s individual goals, objectives and risk tolerance. So any particular investment may not be appropriate or suitable for certain clients.

[ii] This is a summary of some of Robb’s main points. The full podcast with related content can be found at: https://ginslerwealth.com/farm-lending-with-robb-nelson-on-the-unlimited-podcast/

[iii] According to Robb Nelson and Farm Lending Canada.

[iv] This initial investment was in an AI-focused venture capital fund, and therefore was only suitable for certain clients.

[v] Source: Presentation by Justin Hodgson. Head of AI Factories, NVIDIA. February 2026.

[vi] Derek Thompson. Nobody Knows Anything. https://www.derekthompson.org/p/nobody-knows-anything

[vii] Source: Citadel Securities, Indeed. Sourced from: https://be-curious-not-judgmental.com/2026/02/28/the-jevons-paradox-of-ai-what-programmers-and-medical-scribes-reveal-about-the-future-of-work/

Farm Lending with Robb Nelson on The Unlimited Podcast

In this episode of the Unlimited Podcast, Brian speaks with Robb Nelson, CEO of Farm Lending Canada, to explore how private lending supports Canada’s agricultural sector and why it can be an attractive investment opportunity.

Brian and Robb discuss how farm lending helps fill gaps left by banks, why farmers are particularly great borrowers, where this fits in an investor’s portfolio, and more.

Farm Lending Canada is a Canadian agricultural lender that provides financing solutions to farmers who may not fit traditional bank requirements. They focus on short term “transition” loans that help farmers stabilize their finances and eventually return to conventional lenders. Beyond lending, they also support farmers with advice around growth, structure, and succession planning, acting as both a capital provider and a partner in navigating financial challenges.

Robb Nelson is the CEO of Farm Lending Canada and a founding principal of Agri Roots Capital Management. He has over 35 years of experience in finance, including more than 25 years focused on private lending in agriculture, residential development, and housing.

An entrepreneur at heart, Robb has built and exited several successful businesses and has spent much of his career structuring private debt solutions. He co-founded Farm Lending Canada in 2001 and has helped grow it into a national platform.

This episode can also be found here or find us in your favourite podcasting app, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and YouTube.

If you like what you hear, please don’t hesitate to rate us kindly. And if there are particular topics you’d like covered, please let us know.

Ginsler Wealth Fourth Quarter 2025 Client Letter – Wealthhard Edition

(An audio version of this letter can be found as Episode 63 of The Unlimited Podcast by Ginsler Wealth. Use the link provided or find us on your favourite podcast app: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / YouTube)

 

To Ginsler Wealth’s Clients:

Back in my investment banking days, I spent a great deal of time working on prospectuses for companies going public or raising additional capital in the public markets. One principle governed that work above all others: “full, true, and plain disclosure,” the standard for communicating clearly with investors.

So when I mentioned in my last quarterly letter that our firm’s main colours are black and yellow because I am partially colourblind, that was “true” and “plain” disclosure — but admittedly, not “full” disclosure.

While no regulator or investor is looking for further disclosure on our firm’s colour palette, here is the full story:

In 1986, I arrived in Algonquin Park for my first summer as a camper at Camp Arowhon, where my uncle Elly was the camp director. Every morning after breakfast in the Main Lodge, with the entire camp gathered together, my uncle would begin the day’s announcements the same way.

“Good morning campers.” And the entire camp, in unison, would respond: “Good morning uncle Ellyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee,” the “eeee” rising higher and higher until everyone ran out of breath.

At nine years old, on my very first morning at camp, I felt like a real big shot — because uncle Elly was actually my Uncle Elly. (And by the way, Uncle Elly was also partially colourblind.)

And every morning at breakfast, Uncle Elly and many of the campers and staff would wear their iconic golden yellow Camp Arowhon sweatshirts. The same “Arowhon Yellow”[i] painted on every canoe I paddled for hours each day as I trained to become a 1st Class Canoeist and eventual canoe instructor; the same Arowhon Yellow canoes that rest at my favourite place on earth – Arowhon’s canoe dock – that I stare at every day on the large photograph that hangs on the wall directly across from my office desk.

I still have just one of those yellow sweatshirts — carefully stored and protected, the way you’d safeguard something irreplaceable.

And so, when it came time to brand Ginsler Wealth, it felt natural — beyond the fact that black and yellow work well for both mine and my Uncle Elly’s eyes — to choose a colour introduced to me through him, and one that has long been a reminder of what results from discipline, perseverance, and hard work.

So, when Uncle Elly passed away this past September, having pictured him in his yellow Camp Arowhon sweatshirts for all these years, I was surprised — as executor of his estate — to find no evidence of any Arowhon Yellow in his closet. I suppose they are disappearing gems; just like him.

True, plain, and now full, disclosure.


WEALTH IS HARD

Fast forward to the middle of this past quarter — the fourth quarter of 2025 — and I’m on a plane headed to Montreal to see one of our multi-family office clients. At Ginsler Wealth, we work with families holistically, across both investment management and the broader world of wealth management — everything that isn’t just investing. For some families, that means being deeply embedded in their financial lives, coordinating and overseeing virtually everything on a day-to-day basis. This is what we refer to as family office services.

As I settled into my seat, waiting for the plane to take off, I pulled up the latest product reveal presentation by Wealthsimple’s CEO, Michael Katchen. He’s been doing these “Steve Jobs-like” launches a few times a year now, as his firm — a genuinely impressive one — continues to roll out new banking and investing features at low or no cost for millions of Canadians.

As his announcements unfolded, my mind drifted to what we had been doing for families over the past quarter and year…

I had personally been acting as executor for Uncle Elly’s estate, with my team assisting — a complex, time-consuming responsibility that few people are prepared for when they’re suddenly thrust into it. We had also experienced the passing of one of our dear clients and were helping her children navigate the same kinds of complications. At the same time, we were supporting several families going through divorces, particularly spouses who had never been responsible for managing the family’s finances. These are not moments when wealth feels simple.

One of those spouses texted me this past quarter:

“I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your help and support. When I say I would have been lost without you, I mean it. Knowing you were – and are – looking out for me – made all the difference. It allowed me to breathe and make an excruciating situation a little easier. You went so beyond the call of duty. I am very well aware of that. And I will never forget that.”

(The quote shown is from a current client. No compensation was provided. We are not aware of any material conflicts of interest. [ii])

There are many more examples like these — too many to list here.

Back on the plane, now taxiing toward the runway, it finally clicked. Watching a firm brilliantly promote how simple wealth can be for many Canadians, while thinking about the real-world complexity we were helping families manage every day, I thought to myself: Wealthsimple? No…Wealthhard. And as the plane lifted off the ground, I clicked “buy” and secured the wealthhard.com domain name.

See me explain the whole story on video here.

 

To be clear, none of this detracts from the remarkable work Wealthsimple is doing to democratize banking and investing in Canada. They are a great solution for most Canadians; just not for the families we serve.

Wealthhard is our way of naming a reality we see every day. It’s a micro-brand that highlights our family office services — work many of you already experience in part, and some of you experience in full — and a recognition that as success grows, wealth rarely gets simpler. It gets harder.

 

THE INTERVIEWER BECOMES THE INTERVIEWEE

The Wealthhard site also features several clips from a recent (video) interview I did with Ira Gluskin on The Unlimited Podcast. I’m usually the one asking the questions, but this time the roles were reversed. Ira pressed me on my path through the investment and wealth management industries, my years at Gluskin Sheff, and the founding of Ginsler Wealth and the services we provide today. Having run his own family office alongside his partner Gerry Sheff, Ira has a deep appreciation for the family office model — and, as always, he brings his own thoughtful colour commentary to the conversation.


THE WEALTHHARD GAME

Just for fun — and to illustrate why wealth (and investing) is hard — I experimented with “vibe-coding” (a term I never expected to apply to myself) and built a simple wealth management game using various AI tools. Conceiving, coding, and publishing a fully functioning web game in just a few weeks was a mind-blowing experience, and a strong validation of the excitement surrounding AI right now (hint: I don’t think it’s hype).

While fun, I did this deliberately to ensure that our team at Ginsler Wealth continues to learn how to use the tools of the future. I’m not aware of any wealth management firm that has ever coded and released an online game — but then again, we’ve never been particularly interested in doing things the way everyone else does.

Test your investing skill and see if you can make the leaderboard. You might discover that investing is much easier with hindsight.


INVESTING IS EASY

I can’t write a year-end letter without addressing the investing environment and how we’ve been positioning portfolios.

As the Wealthhard game illustrates, investing is easy when viewed in hindsight (you’ll see what I mean when you try the game), and 2025 highlighted again that if you just held the leading technology companies – or the U.S. market more broadly – and didn’t flinch when…

  • trade wars and tariff threats resurfaced,
  • markets sold off on fears of slowing growth,
  • inflation data surprised to the upside,
  • interest rates stayed “higher for longer,”
  • AI valuations were repeatedly called a bubble,
  • geopolitical conflicts escalated,
  • tech stocks experienced sharp pullbacks,
  • headlines warned of recessions, corrections, or crashes,
  • investors rotated out of risk assets, and
  • sentiment swung from euphoria to fear (and back again) …

…you would have experienced strong results in 2025.

Of course, we know many investors did flinch (particularly around President Trump’s “Liberation Day” in March/April) because investing is easy in hindsight, but very difficult in real time.

Against that backdrop, and both leading into and throughout 2025, we made several deliberate portfolio adjustments. We increased exposure to international and emerging markets; added new Canadian and U.S. equity mandates with a greater “value” orientation; introduced a new quantitative fixed-income strategy; and continued allocating to an alternative options-income strategy. For various reasons, we also fully exited at least two of the strategies we had been allocating to for years. For certain clients, where appropriate, we invested in three venture capital funds focused on either AI, Israeli technology, or both.

As in most years, some core holdings performed very well, while others — particularly some of the value-oriented equity managers — lagged on a relative basis (though all remained positive). We like to remind both ourselves and our clients that if all holdings in your portfolios are moving up at the same time, they can do the same in the other direction. Consistent with that philosophy, as 2025 came to a close — and as we continue into early 2026 — we have been adding to several of the recently underperforming strategies. If and when broader markets and growth-oriented stocks falter, we expect these diversifying strategies to play a more important role.[iii]

That work sits alongside our ongoing effort to identify additional high-quality, durable, and less-correlated investments to add to our lineup. We are close on a few, but as always, our due diligence continues.

As we enter 2026 (and like all previous years that came before it), nobody knows what the future holds (or as Barry Ritholtz put it on The Unlimited Podcast in October: “Nobody knows anything.”), which is precisely why our approach has always been to stay diversified, disciplined, and humble about what markets will do next, because investing is only easy in hindsight.

———————————–

Looking back, becoming a camper at Uncle Elly’s camp did more than give me great memories — it shaped how I think about mastery. Learning to become a 1st Class Canoeist in those unmistakable Arowhon Yellow canoes required discipline, hard work, and serious focus and commitment. There were no shortcuts. And it wasn’t simple or easy. Years later, I see the same lessons reflected in our work at Ginsler Wealth. Managing investments is hard in real time. Managing wealth — across families, life events, and generations — is even harder. Both demand clarity, organization, and the ability to remain disciplined when outcomes are uncertain.

So as we welcome 2026, I’ll wish you an easy year ahead, and assure you we will do our best to make your wealth management needs a little less hard.

 

The view from my desk: Kandy Gallery. Neil Dankoff’s Vintage Boathouse. Canoe dock, Camp Arowhon in Algonquin Park, Ontario.

 

Perhaps that brings us back to where this letter began. I’ve always known that colour as “Arowhon Yellow”; my team now calls it Ginsler Wealth Yellow — and I like the sound of that. Thank you for your continued trust, support, and confidence. We are available 24/7 should you need us.

Sincerely,

Brian singnature

Brian Ginsler
President & CEO

 

[i] The colour is actually not a custom or proprietary Camp Arowhon colour. According to Joanne Kates, owner and former Director of Camp Arowhon, “It was called Alaska Gold, and from an ordinary paint company.” And the “Ginsler Wealth Yellow” is an approximation and not precisely either Alaska Gold nor “Arowhon Yellow”.

[ii] As a Registered Investment Advisor regulated by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) we are required to include prominent disclaimers directly alongside any testimonial or endorsement.

[iii] Of course, investing involves significant uncertainty and nothing detailed herein should be deemed any guarantee of future performance.

 

Role Reversal: Ira Gluskin Interviews Brian Ginsler on The Unlimited (VIDEO) Podcast

In a special role-reversal VIDEO episode of The Unlimited Podcast, legendary Canadian investor Ira Gluskin returns—this time as interviewer. Ira (co-founder and former CIO of Gluskin Sheff) sits down with Brian Ginsler to unpack Brian’s personal path through investment banking and family office work, the lessons that shaped Ginsler Wealth, and why a truly holistic “personal CFO” model matters for successful families.

Brian explains how Ginsler Wealth seeks to deliver smoother long-term outcomes through deep diversification beyond traditional stocks and bonds, why aligning fees with clients is core to the firm’s philosophy, and how the family office service removes complexity from taxes, estate planning, cash-flow logistics, and life’s curveballs. Ira also pushes Brian on business building, pricing, and the future impact of AI—leading to a great behind-the-scenes look at how the firm operates and where it’s going.

If you’ve ever wondered what Ginsler Wealth really does, how a multi-family office differs from a traditional wealth manager, or why Brian built the firm the way he did, this is the episode.

This episode can also be found here or find us in your favourite podcasting app, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music.

If you like what you hear, please don’t hesitate to rate us kindly. And if there are particular topics you’d like covered, please let us know.

How NOT to Invest with Barry Ritholtz on The Unlimited Podcast

If you want to learn how to invest, this episode of the Unlimited Podcast isn’t for you. Brian sits down with renowned investor Barry Ritholtz to talk about his new book How Not to Invest. They explore Barry’s irreverent communication style, the creation of Ritholtz Wealth Management, his belief that “nobody knows anything,” and much more.

Barry Ritholtz is one of the most influential voices in modern finance known for blending behavioural insight with data-driven analysis. As co-founder, chairman, and CIO of Ritholtz Wealth Management (founded in 2013), he oversees a multibillion-dollar advisory firm built on transparency, fiduciary duty, and client alignment.

He’s also a celebrated writer and media figure. Barry created the award-winning blog The Big Picture (founded in 1998, relaunched on TypePad in 2003), which has drawn tens of millions of readers and remains one of the most respected financial blogs online. His commentary has appeared in Bloomberg Opinion, The Washington Post, and across major financial media outlets, including Bloomberg Television.

Barry authored the bestseller Bailout Nation (2009), a sharp critique of the 2008 financial crisis, and his latest book How Not to Invest: The Ideas, Numbers, and Behaviors That Destroy Wealth and How to Avoid Them (March 2025) continues his mission to help investors avoid costly mistakes.

He also hosts Bloomberg Radio’s Masters in Business podcast, featuring long-form interviews with leading investors, economists, and business thinkers.

Barry holds a B.A. in Political Science (with a Philosophy minor) from Stony Brook University and a J.D. (cum laude) from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. He lives on Long Island, New York, with his wife and two dogs.

This episode can also be found here or find us in your favourite podcasting app, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music.

If you like what you hear, please don’t hesitate to rate us kindly. And if there are particular topics you’d like covered, please let us know.

Ginsler Wealth Third Quarter 2025 Client Letter – The Coldplay Edition

(An audio version of this letter can be found as Episode 60 of The Unlimited Podcast by Ginsler Wealth. Use the link provided or find us on your favourite podcast app: Apple Podcasts / Spotify)

 

A warning sign
I missed the good part, then I realised
I started lookin’ and the bubble burst
I started lookin’ for excuses
                                                                      –Warning Sign, Coldplay

To Ginsler Wealth’s Clients:

First of all, don’t read into the lyrics above that I think the markets are in a bubble and they are about to burst—I don’t. The lyrics pertain to my Coldplay story below.

Second of all, this letter won’t focus on the Coldplay “affair” controversy that was all over social media this summer.

Third of all, I did attend the Coldplay concert in Toronto with my actual wife, and I have pictures to prove it.

That Coldplay concert in early July was very good – a huge spectacle from a band that knows how to engage with the audience and put on a great, big, “stadium” show. But my favourite part (and the part this story pertains to) was at a more subdued, acoustic part of the show. The band left the stage for a break and Coldplay’s lead singer, Chris Martin, moved to the stage extension directly in the middle of the stadium floor and called an audience member up on stage. After engaging with her over her nice sign, he told her that he would play any song she wanted.

She selected Warning Sign (see…lyrics above).

With just a piano on stage, Chris fumbled a little, noting he was trying to remember how to play the song. The audience member then offered, “I can choose something else if you want.”

And this was the best part: Chris said, “No, this is my job,” asked for a guitar, and then played and sang the requested song on his own. He nailed it. No big spectacle, no big lights, no backing band. Just Chris doing his job. And it was done well.

 

DOING OUR JOB

As I reflected on Chris Martin doing his job, I got to thinking about what we are doing to do our job for you. This past quarter we focused our education efforts (via my podcast) and our investing analysis around AI, we saved our clients money (again), and we broadened our reach and strengthened our team. All for you.


Call it Magic[i] (AI Theme Again)

My last quarterly letter touched on the topic of AI – who isn’t talking about AI these days? With that in mind, it is our job to not only talk about it, but to understand it, use it, and take action in your portfolios to capitalize on it. We also took it one step further this past quarter…we educated you about it as well.

If you haven’t done so already, I highly encourage you to listen to my interview with Jordan Jacobs, Managing Partner of Radical Ventures – perhaps the world’s best AI-focused venture capital firm. There is no person (that I know) that is better positioned to tell us what is happening and what might happen in the future as a result of AI. One of his boldest predictions is that within a few years, 90-95% of white-collar workers will be performing their jobs with the help of an AI agent. If you don’t know what that means, again, please listen to the podcast episode.

We believe Jordan is likely to be right and that IDC Research is likely directionally correct that investments in AI solutions and services could yield a global cumulative impact of $22 trillion by 2030.[ii] This past quarter, we focused significant time on how best to invest in and capture the upside of AI. For certain clients, we have already invested in one or more of Radical’s venture funds.[iii]

We also looked at capitalizing on the energy infrastructure that will be needed to deliver and run AI. We sought out and reviewed a number of private and public infrastructure funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and companies. However, we have determined that private infrastructure comes at high cost and significant liquidity constraints, and public options are currently trading at valuations that are too high, in our view. As such, we have not made any investments in AI infrastructure yet, but we will keep looking.

As a result, our current approach is to increase exposure to publicly traded companies we believe will benefit most from AI — not just the Magnificent 7, but also the other top twenty S&P 500 companies. These firms have the size, scale, global reach, and resources to either benefit from or empower the world with AI (or both): think NVIDIA, which is powering the AI revolution with hardware; Microsoft and Google, which essentially power every business in the world; Apple, which (together with Google’s Android) empowers individuals via cell phones and other devices; Facebook, which has significant control over social media and messaging activity; Tesla — the world’s most technologically advanced auto and soon-to-be robotics company; and Amazon, the world’s largest retailer, which along with Microsoft provides cloud services to much of the business world. Outside of the Magnificent 7 we find other world leaders like Berkshire Hathaway (nice diversification relative to tech), JPMorganChase (the largest bank in the U.S.), Walmart, Oracle (another AI cloud infrastructure leader), Visa/Mastercard, etc.

It is well-known that these top companies have dominated the market for the last 10 years and have contributed a dramatic proportion of the U.S. market’s earnings and return. See chart below.[iv]

S&P 500 – Top 10 Companies Share of Earnings and Market Capitalization
(June 1990 – June 2025)

As a result, many experts like to decry the concentration of the S&P 500 in these top names. We believe their dominance will continue. In fact, looking back 35 years, a consistent trend has been the outsized contribution of the largest companies to the market’s overall earnings and market capitalization (see same chart above). As such, for many clients, where appropriate of course, we have focused more of your equity allocation in the top twenty S&P 500 companies.

It is our job to try to position portfolios to capture future gains. We won’t always be right, but that’s why we diversify.

 

If you never try, you’ll never know[v] (Generating More Risk-Free Return)

As we’ve discussed in prior letters, our job is to find “risk-free” return for clients wherever and whenever possible. Risk-free return can often come in the form of negotiating lower fees and/or expenses. This past quarter we negotiated fees and expenses with two managers.

In the first instance, we successfully convinced the manager to allow all our clients that hold their fund to switch to their “Institutional” class, which has a management fee that is 0.35% lower than the class we were in. This required significant back-and-forth and then careful work by our investment and operations teams to ensure a smooth transition. But we LOVE saving our clients money, or phrased differently, we love getting our clients 0.35% higher returns with zero additional risk taken. This is our job.

As for the second manager, as part of our due diligence process, we always dig deep to understand the full cost of investing, not just their management fees but also any expenses borne by the fund under review. In this case, we believed the expenses being charged to the fund were too high. After much discussion, the manager agreed to “cap” the expenses and fund any excess above the cap themselves. Our actions could save unitholders in excess of 1% a year.[vi] I am especially pleased by this outcome, because our efforts benefit not only our clients but also all investors in the fund, thanks to our advocacy. Frankly, I am surprised that every other advisor that has put their clients into that fund did not raise the same issue for the benefit of their clients. This is our job.

 

You are my universe, and I just want to put you first[vii] (Broadening our Firm’s Reach and Team)

For your benefit, we continue to broaden our firm’s reach, systems, tools, and team.

Over the past year (and past quarter), we became licensed to serve clients more broadly across Canada — including Quebec, British Columbia, and Alberta. In addition, we are currently taking steps to become a registered Investment Advisor with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), as we know some of our clients wish to eventually move to the U.S. and/or have U.S. investing needs.

I am also pleased to announce the addition of Gila Ossip to our team as Family Office Advisor. Our practice of assisting families with their overall financial needs (what we call “Family Office Services”) continues to grow, and I am confident that Gila’s CPA, CA background and entrepreneurial experience will be of great assistance.

Finally, as mentioned last quarter, we launched our new client portal earlier this year. Some of you have not yet activated your portal access. We believe the new portal experience is fantastic and gently encourage you to activate and log in at your convenience. Should you wish to have a member of our team assist you in this endeavour, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

 

 Nobody said it was easy…oh, take me back to the start[viii] (The Benefit of Independence)

To do our jobs well, we also need to be learning from our peers and become aware of new technology and tools to serve you better. In early September, I attended a large independent advisor conference in California where I did just that (as the U.S. is often many years ahead of Canada). I also participated in a panel discussion on the benefits of independence for advisors and their clients (see article here).

Brian @FutureProof:


Brian speaking on the state of independence in Canada:

There is a clear trend of advisors wishing to “go independent”; but it is increasingly rare in Canada to do what I did in 2021: launch a new, completely independent investment or wealth management firm from scratch. The regulatory, compliance, operations, and technology burdens are not easy to manage. Frankly, I’m glad it’s hard (Nobody said it was easy![ix]). There remain few fully founder-owned (or partner-owned), independent wealth management firms in Canada. We like being one of the few. This allows us to do our job with a singular, unwavering focus on doing what is best for our clients.

—————–

Our firm’s main colours are black and yellow, chosen because I am partially colourblind, and those two colours are very clear to me. So, it seems appropriate to end a letter focused on launching my independent firm and “doing our job” for you as follows:

I came along
I wrote a song for you
And all the things you do
And it was called “Yellow”
                                                                      –Yellow, Coldplay

Thank you for your continued trust, support, and confidence. We are available 24/7 should you need us.

Sincerely,

Brian singnature

Brian Ginsler
President & CEO

 

 

[i] Coldplay lyric. Magic.

[ii] IDC Research. IDC Predicts AI Solutions & Services will Generate Global Impact of $22.3 Trillion by 2030. https://my.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS53290725

[iii] Reminder that venture capital investing is very risky and only appropriate for investors with a high risk tolerance for this type of investment. Also note that Radical’s funds have high minimum investment requirements and therefore unfortunately limits our ability to prudently allocate many of our clients to its funds.

[iv] Apollo Global Management, Inc., Apollo Chief Economist Torsten Slok. July 10, 2025.

[v] Coldplay lyric. Fix You.

[vi] Note that we have not yet completed our due diligence on this strategy and as such, no clients are currently invested in it. The expense savings would initially start in excess of 1% but would be forecast to decrease as the fund size increases and expenses become a much smaller percentage of the overall fund assets.

[vii] Coldplay lyric. My Universe.

[viii] Coldplay lyric. The Scientist.

[ix] ibid.