By Ginsler Wealth
The podcast currently has 46 episodes available.
During his first year at Ivey Business School, Brian's career plan changed significantly after taking an Introduction to Finance & Investing course. The insights gained from that class inspired him to pivot from a career in accounting to a focus on finance and investing.
Twenty-five years later, Brian reconnects with Stephen Foerster, the professor who sparked his interest in finance, to discuss Foerster's latest book: "Trailblazers, Heroes, & Crooks: Stories to Make You a Smarter Investor".
Brian and Steve discuss trailblazers Quintus Fabius and Muhammad Ali; heroes Warren Buffett and Harry Markopolos; and crooks Bernie Madoff, Sam Bankman-Fried and Tino DeAngelis; among others. You don't want to miss these stories, which could make you a smarter investor.
Stephen Foerster is an award-winning author and Professor of Finance at Ivey Business School, where he has taught since 1987. He received a BA (Honors Business Administration) from Western University, and an MA and PhD from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He obtained the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 1997 and has taught Financial Management, Investments, and Portfolio Management courses in the HBA, MBA, and Executive MBA Programs. He has won numerous teaching and research awards.
Foerster has also written two textbooks and over 100 case studies and technical notes in the areas of investments and financial management. He has published over 50 articles including in the Journal of Financial Economics, the Journal of Finance and Financial Analysts Journal. Foerster has served on pension and endowment fund boards as well as not-for-profit investment committees.
Timestamps
0:00 Disclaimer and Intro
7:10 Trailblazers & Masterly Inactivity
17:17 Warren Buffet, American Express, & Salad Oil
25:12 The Unsung Hero of the Bernie Madoff Story
35:20 Stephen's Thoughts on Cryptocurrency
37:31 Investing & Tennis Strategy
43:52 Historical Lessons from Market Crashes
47:14 How Might Investing Change?
48:43 Stephen's Critical Advice for Investors
49:53 If Stephen Could Do Anything, What Would It Be?
What does it take to be a Jeopardy! champion? After winning over Canadians' hearts and minds with her standout performance on Jeopardy!'s Tournament of Champions, Dr. Juveria Zaheer returns to The Unlimited Podcast to share her journey. In this episode, Brian and Juveria talk about her road to Jeopardy!, the importance of developing new skills and embracing risks, and the incredible work Dr. Zaheer is doing with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). Tune in for inspiring life lessons, fascinating stories, and more!
Dr. Juveria Zaheer is an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto's Temerty Faculty of Medicine, and a clinician scientist at CAMH. As the medical head of CAMH's emergency department, she plays a critical role in providing urgent psychiatric care to individuals in crisis. Dr. Zaheer is also a renowned researcher and a leading authority on suicide risk assessment and prevention.
In addition to her medical achievements, Juveria recently garnered international attention for her expertise in a different field—trivia! Despite a tough loss on her Jeopardy! debut in May 2023, her strong performance earned her a spot in the Second Chance Tournament later that year. Dr. Zaheer won that tournament, advancing to the Champions Wildcard Tournament, where another victory allowed her to compete in the prestigious Tournament of Champions earlier this year.
Juveria's first appearance on The Unlimited Podcast can be found as Episode 9: The Future of Mental Health Care.
To learn more about or donate to CAMH's "No One Left Behind" campaign, click here.
Timestamps:
0:00 Disclaimer and Intro
4:51 Juveria's "day-to-day" life
6:36 Juveria's Journey to Jeopardy!
11:41 Jeopardy! Behind the Scenes
15:42 Preparing for Jeopardy!
19:07 Honing memory and recall skills
23:23 Jeopardy!'s infamous buzzer
26:01 Juveria's betting strategy
29:19 Juveria's most memorable Jeopardy! moment
31:05 Jeopardy's impact on Juveria's family
34:16 Life lessons for everyday life
36:20 No one left behind
In this special episode of the Unlimited Podcast, Brian welcomes Brent Belzberg, founder and Senior Managing Partner of TorQuest – one of Canada's original private equity firms – to discuss leadership, culture, and the keys to success in both life and business.
Brent has been a supporter and mentor to Brian for almost two decades and we were honoured to have the chance to bring our listeners his story and his wisdom.
Brent founded TorQuest in 2002 after selling Harrowston, Inc., a publicly traded investment fund he started in 1992 to invest in and build businesses. Beyond TorQuest, Brent serves as a Director of Sinai Health System, where he was previously Chair. He is a member of the Investment Advisory Committee at the University of Toronto. His past directorships include CIBC, O&Y REIT, and Four Seasons Hotels. In 2018, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada for his work as a business leader and philanthropist. Brent received Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Medal in 2023 for his significant contribution to Canada and the province of Alberta. Brent received a B.Comm. (Honours) from Queen’s University in 1972 and a J.D. from the University of Toronto in 1975. In 2023, Brent received an honorary Doctorate of Laws (LLD) from Queen’s University.
TorQuest is a private equity firm that focuses on middle-market companies in North America, investing across various industries. The firm collaborates closely with family owners, founders, and management teams, and specializes in entrepreneurship/family succession, corporate carve-outs, recapitalizations, and management buyouts.
Timestamps
0:00 Disclaimer and Intro
3:30 Private Equity & TorQuest
15:16 Success in Private Equity and TorQuest's future
21:02 Brent's outlook on the economy
23:48 How did Brent enter the Private Equity space?
31:49 Culture and Leadership within TorQuest
36:41 Successful partnerships & leadership traits
40:54 Brent's advice for entrepreneurs
48:29 Philanthropy & Brent's legacy
54:10 If Brent could do anything, what would it be?
From Brian Ginsler, Ginsler Wealth CEO:
"A few weeks ago, I experienced what all financial advisor parents dream of. I came home to find my youngest daughter’s Grade 8 Financial Literacy test on the dining room table. She had earned a mark of 95%. I couldn’t have been more proud, and thought about ordering Ginsler Wealth business cards for her right away!
But I might have gotten ahead of myself..."
Private debt is "all the rage" these days, but also beset with some controversy, especially in Canada. Asset-based lending is a form of private debt, and eCapital is a leader in this space. On this episode of The Unlimited Podcast, Marius Silvasan, CEO of eCapital, goes "back to basics" to explain what is asset-based lending, how eCapital mitigates risks typically associated with traditional private debt, and reveals eCapital's secret weapon: its technology focus.
eCapital is a specialty finance company with a focus on providing working capital to small and medium sized businesses in the U.S., U.K., and Canada. eCapital finances 6,000+ clients through factoring and asset-based lending facilities and provides ancillary services such as credit cards, fuel cards, bill pay, and other treasury services. The business was founded in 2006 and employs 700+ people globally.
Prior to his leadership role with eCapital, Marius was CEO and Director of ONE Bio Corp and Tele Plus World Corp, accumulating over 20 years of experience in structured finance, syndication and mergers and acquisitions. As a Forbes Finance Council Member, he is an emerging thought leader on financial services and corporate leadership. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Master of Business Administration from HEC University in Montreal.
Timestamps
0:00 Disclaimer & Intro
3:51 Marius' journey to eCapital CEO
6:14 What eCapital does for SMBs
12:12 Examples of industries using eCapital
15:40 Mitigating risk with eCapital's loans
29:48 eCapital's technological applications
33:18 eCapital's growth strategy
38:41 What economical challenges is eCapital seeing?
43:01 How does eCapital differ from other lenders?
45:39 Ensuring liquidity within eCapital
48:11 How should investors evaluate private debt firms?
51:20 If Marius could do anything, what would it be?
Small-capitalization ("small-cap") equity investing requires a specialized investment and trading skillset. Since its inception in 2018, Bedford Park Capital has proven its proficiency in this area. Bedford's President & CEO Jordan Zinberg joins Brian to explain what small-cap equities are, what it takes to be a successful small-cap investor, and why some of the risks of small-cap investing may actually be opportunities in disguise.
Jordan Zinberg is the President and CEO of Bedford Park Capital Corporation. Jordan has over 20 years of investment industry experience, including portfolio management and trading, and has served as a director of both private and public companies. Before founding Bedford Park Capital, Jordan was a Managing Director and Portfolio Manager at a prominent Toronto-based investment management firm. Prior to that role, Jordan spent 7 years at one of Canada’s largest investment dealers. He holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business as well as several industry licenses and certifications. He also holds the Chartered Investment Manager designation and is a fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute.
Timestamps
0:00 Disclaimer & Intro
4:11 Jordan's journey to founding Bedford Park
7:57 What are "small-cap" equities?
12:19 What makes small-cap equities attractive?
16:02 Finding companies that meet Bedford's criteria
19:02 Difficulties purchasing small-cap equities
21:59 Positives & negatives of small-cap equities
26:59 How Bedford found one of their best holdings
33:03 Jordan's outlook on the economy and stock market
35:48 Behind the scenes at BNN
38:42 If Jordan could do anything, what would it be?
39:57 Outro
On Tuesday, April 16, the government of Canada revealed its 2024 Federal Budget with major changes that impact investors, savers and business builders - most significant of which being an increase to the capital gains inclusion rate.
In this "breaking news" episode of The Unlimited Podcast, we bring back the "Tax Ninja", Alexandra (Ali) Spinner, to help break down the key changes and provide some guidance for immediate and long-term actions and plans. Ali can also be seen discussing the Federal Budget changes on BNN Bloomberg.
Key changes covered include:
Ali is a Partner in Crowe Soberman’s Tax Group, a member of the firm’s Management Committee, and leader of the High-Net-Worth tax practice. Ali has more than 20 years of experience in public accounting and tax and estate planning. Her practice focuses on helping wealthy families and high-performance professionals structure their affairs in a tax-efficient manner. Ali’s broad technical expertise includes domestic, cross-border, and international tax matters for individuals, trusts, estates, and corporations. She is experienced in complex estate and trust planning, post-mortem planning, corporate reorganizations, and the preparation of Canadian tax returns and compliance forms. In 2022, she was elected as a Fellow of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario.
Timestamps
0:00 Disclaimer & Intro
2:15 Highlights of the budget changes
13:00 Why change capital gains tax rates?
20:54 Impacts on the general public
29:44 Who will feel the largest impact?
34:01 Canadian departure tax
36:11 Exemptions, incentives, and philanthropy
42:21 Outro
43:33 Ginsler Wealth's full theme song
You may have heard the joke about two economists walking down the street and seeing a $20 bill lying on the sidewalk. The first economist says, "Look at that $20 bill." The second says, "That can't really be a $20 bill lying there, because if it were, someone would have picked it up already." So they walk on, leaving the $20 bill undisturbed.
The notion above is that there can’t be “free money” lying around in plain sight. The markets are efficient and opportunities like the above cannot exist.
Brian Ginsler begs to differ...
For the original transcript of this letter and to see weblinks and other media, please visit https://ginslerwealth.com/ginsler-wealth-first-quarter-2024-client-letter-free-money-edition/
As a follow-up to Episode 33: Insurance 101 with Simon Kay, this episode features Zak Goldman and Jonah Mayles from Sterling Park providing an "Insurance 201" lesson for our listeners, with a focus on the tax and wealth creation advantages of whole life insurance.
Whole life insurance is a permanent insurance policy that grows in value over time by participating in distributions from the insurance company’s pool of investments. This type of policy offers a significant opportunity to boost wealth and estate value, for two key reasons:
For someone with a corporation, the additional after-tax value of dollars invested in a whole life insurance policy can be potentially double what could be achieved without the use of insurance.[iii]
Brian and the "Dynamic Duo" of Zak and Jonah explain whole life insurance and how it works, compare the after-tax result of using insurance vs. not, and provide insight into how to know if an insurance policy is right for you.
Zak is a founding partner of Sterling Park. He has advised affluent clients and business owners for over 20 years. He holds the Family Enterprise Advisor™ (FEA) designation and an MBA from the Rotman School of Business at the University of Toronto.
Jonah is a partner at Sterling Park and is the tax, legal and estate planning guru in the firm. Before joining Sterling Park, Jonah was a tax lawyer at Fraser Milner Casgrain and Torkin Manes where his practice focused on business succession planning, estate planning, advising on and drafting family trusts and structuring/implementing tax-efficient sales and purchases of businesses.
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.
[i] The tax-free nature of whole life insurance may not be absolute under certain circumstances, including in shorter duration insurance policies. This letter is meant only to provide a high-level overview of the benefits of whole life insurance and is not comprehensive. Please speak with Ginsler Wealth Financial Services Inc., a FSRA licensed insurance agency, or your own insurance advisors for more specific details.
[ii] Ibid.
[iii] The precise outcome of utilizing these types of insurance policies will depend on the age, gender and medical profile of the insured(s) at time of entering into the policy and the age of death of the unsured(s) amongst other factors. Talk to Ginsler Wealth Financial Services Inc. or you own insurance advisor for more precise details.
Timestamps
0:00 Disclaimer & Intro
5:00 How Zak & Jonah entered the insurance industry
10:42 Term insurance vs. whole life
12:40 Whole life insurance & how it works
22:16 Using insurance to transfer wealth
41:55 Tips for prospective insurance buyers
44:48 Simplifying insurance buying
51:31 If Zak & Jonah could do anything, what would it be?
53:18 Outro & Disclaimer
The automotive industry is undergoing a transformation with the rise of electric vehicles and the introduction of new technologies and new ways of interacting with car buyers--all while operating in a challenging economic environment. Luxury auto dealers are at the forefront of many of these changes. On this episode of The Unlimited Podcast, Brian speaks with Francesco Policaro, CEO of Policaro Group, a luxury auto retailer in the GTA and southern Ontario.
Brian and Francesco discuss automotive industry trends, what a prospective car buyer should know, managing a multi-generational family business, the current state of the economy, and more!
Founded in 1979 by Francesco's father and two uncles, Policaro Group has emerged as a prominent automotive retail group in the GTA and Southern Ontario. Currently, their expansive group encompasses Acura, BMW, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lexus, Porsche, and Volvo. Policaro Group is involved of many aspects of the automotive experience, ranging from helping customers purchase their first car, sourcing exotic super sports cars, and supporting professional racing, all with an incredible focus on the customer experience.
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.
Timestamps:
0:00 Disclaimer & Intro
4:21 Policaro Group's history
8:22 Sourcing luxury cars
15:00 Making the customer experience exceptional
20:16 Technology evolving the automotive industry
27:41 Improving the typical "car buying" experience
36:51 Francesco's favourite cars & super sports division
40:51 Managing a multi-generation family business
44:42 Francesco's economic outlook
48:08 If Francesco could do anything, what would it be?
50:18 Outro
The podcast currently has 46 episodes available.