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.

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.

Tax Strategy with Matthew Getzler on The Unlimited Podcast

Let me tell you how it will be
There’s one for you, nineteen for me
‘Cause I’m the taxman
Yeah, I’m the taxman
And you’re working for no one but me.
— Taxman, The Beatles

In this second episode in our Wealthhard series, Brian speaks with ⁠Matthew Getzler⁠, Partner and Co-Chair of the Private Client Services & Tax groups at ⁠Torkin Manes⁠, about the practical tax opportunities still available to high-net-worth families and private business owners.

Matt picks up where Jessica Feldman Chittley left off in You Need a Will (our last podcast episode), and walks through will-related tax tools (avoiding loss of the spousal rollover, probate planning and using wills as succession vehicles, plus U.S. estate-tax traps). He then moves to active planning: estate freezes and refreezes, prescribed-rate loan strategies, and the pragmatic use of Canadian corporations to manage U.S.-situs exposure and defer tax. Along the way he explains the mechanics, the admin rules that can kill a plan, cross-border pitfalls, and real client examples so listeners understand when a strategy makes sense, and when it doesn’t.

Practical, technical and actionable, this episode is for families and advisers who want to keep more of what they build while avoiding common implementation mistakes.

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.

You Need a Will with Jessica Feldman Chittley on The Unlimited Podcast

“If you die without a will… the law has written one for you.”

In this episode of The Unlimited Podcast—the first in our Wealthhard series—Brian speaks with Jessica Feldman Chittley, partner at Bales Beall LLP, about wills and powers of attorney: what they are, why everyone needs them, and how to draft them so they reduce tax and probate, protect minor children, and avoid executor headaches. Jessica explains the real consequences of dying intestate (meaning, without a will), how guardianship and trusts for minors work, and why powers of attorney for property and personal care are urgent. She also walks through the scope of the executor’s role, probate-planning options (e.g., multiple wills, bare-trust structures), and simple but powerful drafting tools that prevent family conflict. Practical, clear and essential listening for anyone who hasn’t reviewed their estate documents in the last few years. And especially for those who haven’t yet organized their wills and/or powers of attorney…What are you waiting for?

Jessica Feldman Chittley is a Partner at Bales Beall LLP who focuses on estate and trust planning and estate administration. She advises individuals, families and private-business owners on tax-minimization at death, drafts wills, trusts and powers of attorney, and guides executors through the administration process. Jessica serves on the Executive Committee of the Ontario Bar Association’s Trusts & Estates Law Section, is a member of Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners and the Canadian and Ontario Bar Associations, and was recognized in The Best Lawyers in Canada (2025) for Trusts and Estate.

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.

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.

The Unlimited Podcast: 2025 Wrapped

2025 was a breakout year for The Unlimited Podcast by Ginsler Wealth — and we’re grateful to everyone who listened, watched, shared, and sent us your notes along the way. Spotify Wrapped gave us a fun look back at the year, and the numbers tell an exciting story.

A year of meaningful growth…

Our community expanded in a big way in 2025:

  • Total audience up 22% year over year
  • New audience up 726% — a huge wave of first-time listeners
  • Followers up 33%, helping the show reach more people with each release

Even better, listening depth grew too. Total listening time increased 20%, and fans listened longer than 88% of other shows, earning us Spotify’s “2025 Marathon Show” recognition.

More video momentum than ever…

Video engagement surged this year. Our episodes were watched 784% more in 2025 than 2024, and the show landed in the top 30% of videos on Spotify. That’s a strong signal that listeners are not just tuning in — they’re sticking with the conversations.

Key Awards

Wrapped also tagged The Unlimited Podcast as:

  • A 2025 Rising Star
  • A 2025 Marathon Show
  • A 2025 Fan Fave

Thank you for being part of it…

If you’ve been listening since the early days, thank you for growing with us. And if you found the show this year, welcome — we’re just getting started.

Follow along wherever you listen (and watch!), and stay tuned for a special year-end episode to close out 2025 strong.

www.ginslerwealth.com/podcast

 

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.