Investing and Roof Repair: Both Aren’t Easy

House roof with missing soffit

Toronto had a flash severe thunderstorm yesterday. Trees were down all over our neighbourhood, and I thought our house and property were spared until my wife pointed out a small piece of our roof’s soffit that had blown away. [FYI…soffit is a large aluminum plate with small perforated holes installed under the outside edge of the roof, under the gutter. It has several functions: it protects, it is aesthetic, and it allows ventilating the attic.]

The missing piece was on the ground intact and, while I have no formal education or experience in installing soffit, I considered getting up on a ladder and figuring out how to put the piece back myself.

My wife – who is much smarter than me – immediately advised against it, but I considered it nonetheless. Why would I pay someone hundreds of dollars for what looked like 10 minutes of work (especially as prices for everything seem to be going up these days), when I’m fairly sure I can figure this out myself?

I got a few quotes, ranging from $225-$450 (!) to do the work. I then took a second look at what it would take for me to do it myself. I would have to get our ladder on a steep angle to reach the spot and if something were to go wrong – and I estimated a small-ish 5% probability that something could…there is no doubt I would be risking my life. Fixing this clearly wasn’t as easy as I thought. So, I immediately accepted the $225 quote and am waiting for the work to be completed.

What does this story have to do with wealth management or investing?

I’ve been noticing a trend in recent years and even, surprisingly, in very recent days (even amongst some of the most challenging market and investing environments any of us have seen in our lifetimes), of highly reputable financial journalists from highly reputable publications making comments along the lines of: “investing is easy.”, “why pay x% for advice when you can just do it yourself”, “just buy ETFs, it’s cheap and easy”.

The above ignores the fact that while people are smart, they may not be knowledgeable about finance and investing, nor the emotions involved in finance and investing; they may not have lived through (or paid attention to) severe past market volatility; they may not know what the acronym “ETF” means and even if they do, they may not know which of the literally thousands of ETFs they should choose from. And finally, almost no articles I read make any mention of any other investable assets other than standard stocks and traditional bonds.

There is a world of finance and investing knowledge that comes from living and breathing it 24/7, for – in my case – almost twenty-five years. And our clients rely on us to help them navigate these markets, select ETFs (hint: exchange-traded funds), find other asset classes that act differently than stocks and bonds, and grow and protect their hard-earned assets.

If you are confident and comfortable, there is no problem going-it alone. But if you are unsure of how to manage your investments, please don’t be convinced that paying an advisor (a tax-deductible fee) to do so, is a poor decision. Investing isn’t easy. And I suspect many people who – for the past few years thought it was – may now be rethinking that decision. Like my decision with my broken soffit, don’t risk your life (savings) trying to do it yourself.

———————————–

Stay tuned for another article on this theme when I review Benjamin Graham’s book, the Intelligent Investor. Warren Buffett calls it “By far the best book on investing ever written”. You may be surprised by what I think the Father of Value Investing was actually trying to teach us.

Exploring Venture Debt on The Unlimited Podcast by Ginsler Wealth

On Episode 5 of The Unlimited Podcast, Brian Ginsler speaks with Alkarim Jivraj, CEO of Espresso Capital, a venture debt manager based in Toronto.

While most have heard of, and are familiar with, venture capital, in this podcast we dive into the venture debt asset class.

In this episode, we learn how Espresso got its name; “Venture Debt 101”; how venture companies service their venture debt; the benefits of venture debt for lenders; the risks of venture debt; loss metrics; and how Espresso sources deals.

This episode can be found here or find us in your favourite podcasting app, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts 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 First Quarter 2022 Client Letter

(An audio version of this letter can now be found as Episode 4 of The Unlimited Podcast by Ginsler Wealth. Use the link provided or find us on your favourite podcast app.)

 

To Ginsler Wealth’s Clients:

Well…I was right.

In my last quarterly letter, I said “uncertainty is the only thing I know with certainty”.

In the three months since I released that letter, in the words of Chamath Palihapitiya from the All-In Podcast on Friday, April 1st…

“We’ve had massive exposition of inflation; we’ve had massive disruptions to the supply chain; we’ve had the beginning of a war whose end is somewhat indeterminate today, that’s causing a bunch of spikes in a bunch of really critical commodities the entire world needs; we’ve had a Federal Reserve that went from hiking 50 or 75 basis points to hiking 200-250 basis points by the estimated average; and so all of these things have happened yet the market is basically at an all time high plus or minus 5%. That really doesn’t hang together at some really basic logical level.”[i]

And Balaji Srinivasan, speaking on The Knowledge Project with Shane Parrish on April 5th, reminded listeners of past events:

“Every single thing over the last twenty-something years, …, 9/11 was a surprise; WMDs in Iraq, that was a surprise; the collapse of Bear Stearns and then Lehman Brothers, that was a surprise; the Snowdon revelations were a surprise; …, Trump was a surprise; Covid was a surprise; …, everything’s a surprise…”[ii]

And of course, in February 2022, Russia’s terrible invasion of Ukraine was a surprise.

All the above is simply to reinforce that trying to predict and forecast the future is very hard, or in my opinion, impossible. I therefore remind you that at Ginsler Wealth, we organize your financial affairs and investment portfolios with the goal of being prudent and resilient, while striving for reasonable returns. I will note that Chamath’s comment above also reinforces a comment from a message we sent out on February 24, the morning after Russia invaded Ukraine…equity markets are resilient, even in the face of challenges, and as it relates to your investments, we encourage you to keep calm and carry on…with your long-term investment plan.


RUSSIAN OIL AND ESG INVESTING

If there is one thing the war in Ukraine has brought to the forefront, it is the world’s (and in particular, Europe’s) heavy reliance on Russian oil. As an oil-rich country and producer, Canada’s energy-heavy stock market has actually performed very well relative to its global peers. That being said, in addition to sourcing oil supplies from countries other than Russia, we believe this crisis will be yet another catalyst for countries to seek alternative clean and renewable sources of energy.

Coincidentally, over the past quarter, we welcomed a new client family that pushed us (actually…mandated us) to build an ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance) focused portfolio for them. Many of the core strategies and managers we utilize were already signatories to the UNPRI (United Nations Principles of Responsible Investing) and employ ESG factors in their investment process. However, we now have a more robust and comprehensive portfolio of strategies we can employ for clients that meet rigorous ESG criteria. If you would like to learn more about ESG investing with Ginsler Wealth, please let us know.


NEW MORTGAGE STRATEGY

In addition to a select few new strategies employed through our ESG project detailed above, after five months of due diligence, we were pleased to begin allocating client assets (where appropriate) to a new Canadian private mortgages investment. Through a related entity, this manager originates over $1 billion of mortgage loans each year and through its investment vehicle, will lend directly to a small subset of those borrowers. The mortgage portfolio is diversified by asset class and geography within Canada and pays a target 8% annualized distribution (paid monthly), with the opportunity for a “top up” at the end of the year (in 2021 the strategy returned 9.3% in the lower fee class Ginsler Wealth clients get access to). The manager provides Ginsler Wealth with complete transparency into every single loan in the portfolio and access at all times to a full electronic data-room.

For investors holding this investment within a corporate structure, the interest income may be treated as active business income (talk to your own accountants about this!) and therefore subject to the lower active business corporate tax rates versus passive income tax rates.

Perhaps most unique, the manager’s main principals have currently invested ~$22 million in a class of units in first loss position (and contractually must have at least $15 million in first loss position). Notwithstanding the fact that there have been no/$0 losses to date, this means that the mortgage pool would have to suffer $22 million of losses before its investors would face any loss of principal. This is a rare find.

We have found this strategy to be a good addition for clients seeking high income from their portfolio. As always, we are happy to discuss this strategy with you should you wish.

 

THE UNLIMITED PODCAST BY GINSLER WEALTH

One of my early roles in my wealth management career was overseeing the “manager of managers” program at one of Canada’s leading multi-family offices. In order to share manager updates with clients, we would record a phone call with each manager, burn them all onto CDs, and put the CDs in the mail to clients who could listen to the manager interviews at their leisure.

As an alternative to sending you all physical CDs (😊), we decided instead to launch a podcast. The Unlimited Podcast, as the name implies, will not be limited only to interviews with investment managers. While investing and financial concepts will certainly be a big component of the podcast, the goal is to bring you insight and expertise on a variety of topics from experts that you, and other listeners, may find interesting.

One of our clients told me that my last quarterly letter was too long! So, for those who prefer to listen to my (long-winded) letters as opposed to reading them, the podcast will also include audio versions of these letters.

The first live interview podcast was released last week and contains my interview with David Vankka, President and Partner of ICM Asset Management, and Portfolio Manager of the ICM Crescendo Music Royalties Fund. We review the music royalties asset class, dive into a Taylor Swift case study, and discuss why music royalties could be a good addition to traditional stock and bond portfolios.

More details of the podcast can be found here or find us in your favourite podcasting app, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Amazon Music.

 

“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth”
                                                                                                     – Mike Tyson

Mike Tyson once famously said the quote above prior to a fight with Evander Holyfield (Tyson lost by the way). In organizing your financial and investment affairs, we do so knowing that we will be “punched in the mouth”, we just don’t know when or by who. Or in other words, we know surprises are coming. And we believe we are ready for them.

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

Sincerely,

Brian singnature

Brian Ginsler
President & CEO

 

 

 

GW Welcomes Safal Bhattarai to the Team

GW was pleased to welcome Safal Bhattarai, CPA, CGA, FCCA (UK), CFA, to our team this past quarter. As you can see, Safal has earned a variety of professional accounting, investment, and finance designations. Our regular business cards may not be big enough for all his accreditations! Safal joins us from another wealth management firm and will work closely with Brian on financial and portfolio matters, along with playing a major role in our manager research, due diligence, selection, and monitoring process. We look forward to having you meet Safal in due course.

 

 

[i] All-In Podcast. April 1, 2022. Available here: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbGxpbmNoYW1hdGhqYXNvbi5saWJzeW4uY29tL3Jzcw/episode/ZTczOTUyMGQtN2U2Yi00ZjgxLTk2NGYtYTU4ZWNiYjFkNjA3?hl=en-CA&ved=2ahUKEwjBldTMv__2AhUMVc0KHVrxAh0QjrkEegQIAxAF&ep=6

[ii] The Knowledge Project with Shane Parrish. April 5, 2022. Available here: https://fs.blog/knowledge-project-podcast/balaji-srinivasan-2/

Introducing The Unlimited Podcast by Ginsler Wealth

Ginsler Wealth is pleased to announce the launch of The Unlimited Podcast, a new podcast featuring interviews with investment managers we may work with, but also a variety of investing, financial and other experts our listeners may find interesting.

In addition to interviews, the podcast will also feature audio versions of our quarterly letters and other key publications.

The first live interview – just released – features David Vankka, President and Partner of ICM Asset Management, and Portfolio Manager of the ICM Crescendo Music Royalties Fund. We discuss the music royalties asset class, and why it could be a good addition to traditional stock and bond portfolios.

More details of the podcast can be found here or find us in your favourite podcasting app, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts 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.

Buffett’s 2022 Annual Letter Highlights

Warren Buffett’s Annual Letter was released on Saturday, February 26, 2022. A couple of highlights and recurring themes:

1. Illustrating both his (and his team’s) talents, Berkshire’s overall gain since inception in 1965 is 3,641,613% vs the S&P500 at a “paltry” 30,209%.

2. Buffett reiterates that he and Charlie Munger “are not stock-pickers; we are business-pickers”. Or in other words, they are not trying to time the market in their business purchases. They buy business based on their “expectations about their long-term business performance…”

3. While not mentioning other companies that may be structured to avoid paying U.S. taxes, he makes a point to detail the significant amount of corporate tax Berkshire pays to the “U.S. Treasury”, now approaching $9 million PER DAY. He appears genuinely pleased to pay this much tax as in his words: “In fairness to our governmental partner, our shareholders should acknowledge – indeed trumpet – the fact that Berkshire’s prosperity has been fostered mightily because the company has operated in America.” (And repeats another rallying cry from previous letters: “Never bet against America”).

4. He details his satisfaction that one of his main businesses (“Giants”, as he calls them) has a great record of “societal accomplishment” (his way of expressing ESG I guess). It is great to see one of the world’s largest investors and pools of capital focused on this area.

5. Finally – my favourite – dissecting Berkshire’s public company portfolio…as potential lessons for other investors: Buffett concentrates his best ideas and holds for a very long time. Some stats on Berkshire’s public equity portfolio:

– % of Top 1 holding (Apple): ~44%
– % of Top 5 holdings: ~74%
– % of Top 10 holdings: ~86%

How many stocks do you or your managers hold? And how many can one group really know extremely well?

See the above and more here: https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2021ltr.pdf

(Illustration by Senor Salme – source: Barrons.com)

 

Keep Calm and Carry On: A Message from the CEO

Keep Calm and Carry On Poster

Keep Calm and Carry On

In 1939, facing a second World War, the British government produced the now famous poster – intended to raise the morale of the British public that was threatened with widely predicted mass air attacks on major cities.[1]

I am very cognizant that comparing investing to living with the threat of (or in the middle of) a war is clearly not “apples to apples”. In light of what is happening in Ukraine today, and the resulting effects on world stock markets and assets, I nonetheless feel that this message is a good one, and is Ginsler Wealth’s best investment advice for how to navigate this very challenging situation.

Climbing the Wall of Worry

In my last quarterly letter, I stressed that uncertainty is the only thing I know for certain. Throughout history there has never been a time without uncertainty and there has rarely been a time without significant negative world events. Just looking back over the past 30+ years (see chart below[2]), there has been a variety of reasons for investors to worry. In all cases – using world equity markets as a guide – the world has climbed, or overcome, this wall of worry. The COVID-19 pandemic is a fantastic example of the resilience of citizens, countries, and asset prices.

A Timeline of Negative World Events

“Diversification is the Only Free Lunch in Finance”

Famed economist and Nobel Prize laureate Harry Markowitz coined the above phrase. While correlation of assets tend to move in relative sync during times of crisis, it is precisely at these times when investors should be reviewing their own personal risk tolerances. Most people have a very high risk tolerance when assets are moving higher, but not necessarily the same corresponding risk tolerance during asset corrections. This is why we spend a lot of energy seeking alternative asset class strategies and managers that can employ hedging tools, with the goal of protecting downside while striving for reasonable upside.

 

I do not know what will happen next in the world in either the short or long term, but by keeping calm, by looking at history as a guide, and by ensuring your portfolios get the benefit of our best thinking and diversification, we will carry on.

Sincerely,

Brian singnature

 

[1] Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keep_Calm_and_Carry_On

[2] https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e9897bf5015cd3482e23b0e/t/601cf657906c2f5f825637b1/1612510816684/Wall+of+Worry_+Branded.pdf

Ginsler Wealth Fourth Quarter 2021 Client Letter

(An audio version of this letter can now be found as Episode 2 of The Unlimited Podcast by Ginsler Wealth. Use the link provided or find us on your favourite podcast app.)

 

To Ginsler Wealth’s Clients:

The new omicron variant was certainly an unwelcome and perhaps unexpected holiday development. I do hope the holiday season found you and your loved ones happy and healthy.

“Uncertainty is the only thing I know with certainty.”

With the arrival of the end of the calendar year comes the requisite financial and market forecasts for the new year. On December 30, 2021, the Globe and Mail ran two articles, one directly on top of the other:

The first, written by my dear friend David Rosenberg entitled, Here’s what investors should expect in 2022, details the potential for a 30 percent equity market correction. The second, written by BMO Capital Markets’ Chief Investment Strategist was titled Why the bull market will be alive and well in 2022. Its content is self-evident by its title.[i]

Which of the above will prove prescient, I don’t know. Nor can I identify the best forecasts from the many other experts who have weighed in. So instead of trying to be right, at Ginsler Wealth we aim to be prudent.

Because the only thing I know with certainty is that there are uncertain roads ahead, we build your portfolios by incorporating a variety of investment strategies with the collective goals of both reasonable performance and commensurately reasonable downside protection. To be clear, the other thing of which we are fairly certain is that over the longer term, equities will remain the best performing asset class and will always be an important and sizeable component of most clients’ investment portfolios. However, the cost of achieving higher returns through equities is always their accompanying volatility.

So how do we strive for equity-like returns[ii] while aiming to protect capital? Among others, we do so in a number of ways:

  1. Investing in exchange traded funds, for extremely low cost, broad market exposure (no capital protection component here),
  2. Selecting equity managers that use a variety of strategies to hedge market exposure and reduce volatility,
  3. Utilizing equity managers with strategies that focus on dividends and income,
  4. Allocating capital to hedge funds that aim to take a “market neutral” approach to investing, and
  5. Finding managers with unique and often non- or less-correlated investment strategies.

As an example of the last approach, we have recently begun allocating capital to a specialized SPAC (“Special Purpose Acquisition Corporations”) arbitrage strategy. We believe this strategy is unique in that it has a track record of delivering equity-like returns with principal protection qualities, low downside volatility and low correlation to equity and fixed income markets. In fact, to date, 99% of the fund’s closed positions have resulted in positive realized returns. We believe this strategy’s long-term target return is between 8-10%. As an added benefit, due to our scale, all Ginsler Wealth clients—regardless of the size of their allocation—are able to invest in the fund’s lowest fee class. In a recent Globe and Mail piece entitled How SPACs can tone down your risk, Larry MacDonald[iii] writes on this type of strategy: “…buying and selling pre-acquisition SPACs can be a virtually riskless way to earn positive returns in bear and bull markets.” Our job, as always, is to find the managers with the experience to execute well.

How to Build a Goldilocks Portfolio

This past quarter, a new client asked us to build a portfolio for his family with the following characteristics:

  • Limited direct equity exposure
  • High single digit target returns
  • Tax efficient
  • Downside protection

While we thought of calling this portfolio the “Unicorn” portfolio, given the difficulty in finding such a magical collection of investments, we ultimately named this portfolio the “Goldilocks” portfolio by mixing a few asset classes (i.e., not too much, not too little, just right) with the goal of achieving the client’s objectives. The resulting portfolio blends an income-oriented equity strategy (with hedging capabilities), the SPAC strategy mentioned above, a venture debt strategy (closed to most outside investors), a market neutral hedge fund (closed to most outside investors) and a long/short public real estate focused investment strategy. We utilized the family’s registered (non-taxable) accounts to hold the income-producing securities, while keeping capital gains-oriented holdings in taxable accounts. Through a combination of asset allocation, security selection, and asset “location” decisions, we believe we have built a portfolio that meets the client’s needs[iv]. We will be reaching out to all clients as part of our normal portfolio review process and will be happy to discuss this Goldilocks portfolio in more detail.

Incidentally, this past quarter, we reviewed upwards of 40 or so additional investment strategies and ultimately made allocations to two new strategies (both of which we have known and followed for many years). The bar remains very high.

Digital Asset Activity

We remind you that digital asset exposure generally only comprises a very small, single-digit proportion of our clients’ (where applicable) investment portfolios. However, we continue to spend a disproportionate amount of our time and energy on this space. We remain bullish on the long-term outlook for digital assets broadly and the underlying technology more specifically. This was a particularly active quarter for Ginsler Wealth in the following ways:

  1. We worked with Digital Asset Council of Financial Professionals (DACFP) to bring its certificate program to Canadian advisors at a special, Ginsler Wealth discounted price. We believe it is incumbent on financial advisors to truly understand this space (this goes for the media as well!) prior to making client recommendations. I was also featured on DACFP TV, where I discussed Ginsler Wealth’s approach to digital asset investing.

DACFP GW discount code

  1. We spent an extraordinary amount of time performing due diligence on a Singapore-based digital asset fund manager. Due to the 12-hour time difference, this included many late-night Zooms with the company. When we say we “search the world” for investment strategies for our clients, we really mean it! The core strategy that we have begun allocating to returned 295% for the year through November 2021. While we do not expect this level of return to be repeated, we are confident that we have found a group that are truly experts in this space.
  1. Finally, we were pleased to get clients access to participate in a highly oversubscribed private investment in Sygnum Bank AG, the world’s first fully-regulated digital asset bank, alongside other major international investors. You can read the announcement and company press release.

Digital asset investing is not appropriate for all clients, but we are always available to discuss the asset class with you.

———

As we begin 2022, I am hopeful that the end of the COVID pandemic is in sight, as we learn to live with whatever variant or variation of the virus remains. From a financial perspective, I am hopeful that world economies will remain resilient. Most of all, I am hoping that you and your families are, and will remain, happy and healthy.

But, in these uncertain times, hope is not a strategy. We will remain unrelentingly focused on managing your wealth and investments carefully and prudently. Because, unfortunately…we can’t forecast the future.

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

Sincerely,

Brian singnature

Brian Ginsler
President & CEO

 

 

Alphabet Soup and Tax Savings

RRSPs (Registered Retirement Savings Plans)

Reminder that March 1, 2022 is the deadline to contribute to your 2021 (last year’s) RRSP. The maximum RRSP contribution limit for 2021 is $27,830. However, check your CRA account to confirm your personal contribution room. If you have good visibility into your 2022 earnings, we also encourage you to make your 2022 (this year’s) contribution now to benefit from tax-deferred investing as early as possible. The maximum RRSP contribution for 2022 is $29,210. We can help you determine your best course of action in this regard.

TFSAs (Tax Free Savings Accounts)

Similarly, you now have another $6,000 of TFSA contribution room to utilise. The TFSA is a wonderful way to invest tax-free, forever. For those that have not yet established a TFSA, you may have up to $81,500 of lifetime contribution room. We recommend all our clients make use of this tax saving opportunity.

RESPs (Registered Education Savings Plans)

Finally, for those saving for their children’s education via a RESP, for those who are eligible, you can now earn 2022 CESGs (Canada Education Savings Grants – i.e., “free money from the government”) on your contributions. At Ginsler Wealth, we love helping our clients get free money.

 

 

 

 

[i] Both articles are only available to Globe and Mail subscribers. Apologies if you are unable to access them.

[ii] While equity markets of late have been returning high double-digit returns, please recall that the historical, long-term compound annualized total return of the S&P 500 has been approximately 10% since 1928. Source: https://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/New_Home_Page/datafile/histretSP.html.

[iii] This article is also only available to Globe and Mail subscribers. The article references a SPAC strategy offered by a Calgary-based firm. Ginsler Wealth is not familiar with such strategy nor its principals.

[iv] 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.

Brian Ginsler First Advisor to Receive DACFP Certificate in Blockchain and Digital Assets

Show image DACFP prepared

September 2021 – The Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals (DACFP), an organization committed to giving financial professionals the knowledge and skills they need to provide their clients accurate, relevant, timely and valuable advice about blockchain and digital assets, have announced that Brian Ginsler is the first advisor in Canada to receive the DACFP Certificate in Blockchain and Digital Assets.

Brian Ginsler commented, “I believe having at least a base level of understanding of blockchain and digital assets is a critical addition to an advisor’s toolkit. This course, offered by Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals, is a fantastic start. This asset class will not be appropriate for many. But at Ginsler Wealth, we believe, where appropriate, our clients should have exposure to what could play a role in the future of money (bitcoin), smart contracts/Web 3.0 (#ethereum) and more.”

Speak to us to learn more about how digital assets might (or might not) fit into your overall portfolio.

Brian Ginsler Announces Launch of New Independent Wealth Management Firm, Ginsler Wealth

Tagline Stars JPG

Brian Ginsler, a Canadian wealth management industry leader, is pleased to announce the official launch of a new, independent wealth management firm, Ginsler Wealth Management Inc. (“Ginsler Wealth”).

Ginsler Wealth was created as a direct response to growing demand from high net worth families for a comprehensive solution for their overall wealth management needs. Ginsler Wealth provides financial planning services, which include tax, estate and insurance planning, along with an open-architecture investment management platform that brings a universe of investment opportunities to clients, without the sale of proprietary products.

“Ginsler Wealth is a new wealth management experience,” said Brian Ginsler, President & CEO. “We exist to serve successful families that embrace independence and the flexibility it provides; families that want unconstrained wealth management solutions; and families that expect a higher, more personal level of service. Think of it as your wealth…unlimited.”

Ginsler Wealth’s founder, Brian Ginsler, is a wealth management industry veteran. After completing his MBA at Harvard Business School, Ginsler achieved his Chartered Financial Analyst and Certified Financial Planner designations and has held leadership roles in investment banking, wealth management & family office, investment management and alternative lending. Ginsler is a registered portfolio manager. He was the first advisor in Canada to achieve the Certificate in Blockchain & Digital Assets from the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals in New York (“DACFP”).

Ginsler Wealth’s services fall into four categories:

  1. Planning – Cashflow & budgeting; tax, insurance, estate and retirement planning.
  2. Investing – Goal setting, asset mix determination, investment manager & strategy selection, reporting.
  3. Coordinating – External advisor & investment manager oversight, review of private investments, consolidated reporting.
  4. Living – Lifestyle concierge, information services, strategic business advice, philanthropic planning.

Ginsler Wealth believes high net worth families can no longer be constrained by traditional investment portfolios simply comprised of stocks and bonds. Ginsler Wealth client portfolios include real estate investments, alternative investments, investments in private deals and private companies, and exposure to digital assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.

As the first advisor in Canada with a certificate in Blockchain & Digital Assets (i.e., “cryptocurrency”) from DACFP, Ginsler Wealth is uniquely positioned to advise Canadians on adding digital asset exposure to their overall portfolios.

In addition, Ginsler Wealth has introduced a unique fee structure: “We strive for direct alignment with our clients in everything we do,” said Brian Ginsler. “We believe our standard management fee is lower than our competitors; if we don’t do a good job for our clients, we get paid less than our competition. Our performance oriented fee structure allows us to do well only if our clients do well.“

Ginsler Wealth is a new alternative for those seeking an independent, unconstrainted wealth management alternative. “Our independence ensures we solely serve our clients and enables us to be unconstrained in our ability to search the world for the most appropriate solutions,” said Ginsler.

 

About Ginsler Wealth Management Inc.

Ginsler Wealth Management Inc. (“Ginsler Wealth”) is a new wealth management experience. We exist to serve successful families that embrace independence and the flexibility it provides; families that want unconstrained wealth management solutions; and families that expect a higher, more personal level of service. Think of it as your wealth…unlimited.

Ginsler Wealth is a registered portfolio manager and exempt market dealer in the province of Ontario.