Our approach

There is no substitute for experience

How many days, years or market cycles does it take for someone to become 'world class' or a 'master' in their field of expertise?  Some say as little as 10,000 hours of deliberate practice justifies these titles, while others say a lifetime is not enough.

Siemens and Matties Consulting Group believes that the longer you have practiced, and the more experience you have navigating differing and challenging market cycles, the greater your chances are of successfully navigating what lies ahead.

With a combined tenure of more than 100 years of experience in the Financial Services, Investment, Wealth and Risk Management fields we have the knowledge and experience to help you, your family, your corporation or your pension plan.  Whether it be navigating through all different aspects of Will & Estate Planning, our team has the ability and experience to guide you.  We believe that people and process are what contributes to successful asset management, but that the people are the primary and most important factor.  We have an incredible, experienced, world class team that truly cares about our individual clients, and consistently puts their interests above all else.

Beyond the success and experience of our team lays the security and resources of RBC Dominion Securities, the largest Wealth Manager in Canada, and fifth largest is the world. We have the largest and most experienced team of Analysts, Economists, Strategists and Wealth Management specialists available anywhere in Canada.

We truly believe it is a privilege to have the opportunity to earn our clients trust.  We believe in working hard for our clients and helping them navigate through all the stages of life. We believe we are blessed to have enjoyed long relationships with so many of our clients, and are committed to helping you meet all of your wealth management goals and objectives. We are confident we can accomplish this because there is no substitute for experience.

 

Investment Philosophy

The investment philosophy at Siemens and Matties Consulting Group is one that is anchored on risk management, protection and best practices.  Our experience of successful wealth management through all market cycles has helped us develop strategies that minimize capturing market downside while staying in line with the strong ethical, moral and social guidelines of our individual clients. 

Together with guidance from our Investment Strategy Committee, and our quarterly review of asset allocations, we are confident that we provide a portfolio management and review process that is best of class.  Our disciplined approach and process helps eliminate emotion and is a key factor in gaining and retaining the trust which our clients have placed in our team.  The results are a plan with a history of long-term out performance throughout even the most difficult economic environments. 

 

Asset Class Diversification

No one can reliably predict how a particular asset class will perform in any given year.  Financial markets do not move in concert with one another.  Individual asset classes  (cash, fixed income and equities) will perform differently in any given year, and at any time one asset class may be leading the market while others lag.

The relative performance of some of the more popular asset classes in Canada has varied over the past 10 years. There were years when equities led market returns and years when fixed income led the market.  During many periods you will see an asset class that leads the market under performs all other assets the following year, often creating examples of the previously lowest performers going on to lead the markets in the future. 

Markets will always go up and down in the short term. Investing in a diversified mix of equities, fixed income and cash can help steer you through every market condition and help protect you from short-term market declines.  Asset classes that increase in value can compensate for other asset classes that may be decreasing, thereby helping to reduce risk and smooth out the returns in your portfolio over the long term.

We can review your individual investment goals and objectives together,  review your time horizon and risk appetite helping us discover the risk tolerance that is best suited for you.  This process assists in helping establish the right asset mix based on your individual comforts and needs.

 

Staying the Course

Daily market fluctuations highlight why a combination of discipline and perspective is key to reaching your investment goals.  We believe the best way to achieve this fine balance is by developing a plan and sticking to it through all types of market conditions. This may sound easy, but investors have been put to the test in recent years.

Veering off course from a carefully thought-out plan can turn a temporary loss of confidence into a realized loss on an investment portfolio.  Investors who maintain perspective and stay mindful of their time horizon (the time until the funds are needed) have a better chance of reaching their investment goals than those who react to short-term market fluctuations.

Staying invested and trying not to “enter and exit” the markets when volatility increases can help reduce fluctuations over the long term.  The longer an investment is held in a portfolio, the less chance it has of incurring a negative rate of return. This is because fluctuations in value tend to smooth out over time as the impact of market volatility diminishes.

History has shown us that by maintaining discipline and perspective during market downturns, a patient investor will  be the one rewarded when markets return to an upward path.  

As market volatility increases, investors have a natural tendency to want to move into safer investments, hoping to avoid further losses.  History has shown that this move can result in needlessly locking in losses on investments that, given time, are likely to recover.  A key to overcoming this emotional reaction is  to refrain from trying to time the market.  Selling at the wrong time and missing just a few days of a market recovery could  result in a significant long-term impact on your portfolio. 

Our team firmly believes in utilizing what has been shown throughout history when assessing and developing our highly diversified multi-asset, multi-style, multi-manager portfolios.  There truly is no substitute for experience, no substitute for a strict and historically developed process, and no substitute for staying the course.