(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 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.
