(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 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.
