Investment Services
Our focus on cash flow and diversification beyond stocks and bonds preserves capital while building wealth.
Nicola Wealth Investment Pools
As fee-based investment advisors, our mandate is to invest in quality assets on behalf of our clients. Our series of Nicola investment pools was created as a cost-effective and flexible way to deliver on that promise.
We have taken our asset allocation model and created a family of investment pools that reflect our belief in extensive diversification and non-correlated asset classes (meaning the asset classes move independently of one another).
Our Private Investment Pools Are Designed To:
- Create true diversification and exposure to various asset classes similar to institutional investors
- Grant access to assets and managers not usually available to retail investors
- Improve trading flexibility and responsiveness to the markets
- Reduce costs and fees for our clients — saving on costs means improving returns
Our Portfolios Focus On Generating Sustainable Cash Flow
- Using an established cash flow strategy tempers the impact of volatile markets
- Cash flow enhances liquidity to help purchase new assets
- Focusing on stable income to reduce reliance on the unpredictability of capital gains
Our portfolio management strategy uses the strength of our in-house management and, where appropriate, combines this with third-party managers who are individually selected for their particular expertise, style, and performance.
Investment Pool Performance
Nicola Asset Allocation Mix (Balanced Portfolio)
Click the links below to open a detailed PDF about that individual asset. PDFs will open in a new window.
Historically Consistent & Stable Returns
Nicola Wealth vs The Marketplace
A Track Record of Stability
Through two major market downturns, Nicola Wealth has kept clients safely on track to reach their financial objectives through our conservative, yet innovative approach to investment management.
The 2001 Dot Com Bust
When the Tech Bubble burst, Nicola Wealth’s diversified cash flow approach eased volatility, mitigating losses versus the public markets and helping investors recover sooner, allowing clients to accelerate their wealth building.
The 2008 Sub-Prime Crash
While 2008’s financial crisis sent public markets tumbling, Nicola Wealth’s extensive diversification buoyed our clients’ portfolios, protected the downside, and participated in the recovery from a stronger position.
Select an index to view its annualized return
Nicola Wealth Core Composite (net of fees)* Morningstar Canadian Neutral Balanced** S&P TSX Composite S&P 500 (CAD) MSCI World (CAD)$1-million invested with Nicola Wealth since January 1, 2000 would have grown to $4.28-million versus $2.77-million for a typical balanced portfolio (Morningstar Canadian Neutral Balanced).
Over that same period, Nicola Wealth’s Composite Return has been 7.00% vs. 4.85% for the typical balanced portfolio.
* The Nicola Wealth Core Composite returns represent the total returns of Cdn. dollar denominated accounts of all fee-paying portfolios with a Nicola Wealth Core mandate. The composite includes clients who are both fully discretionary and non-discretionary. Read full disclosure here.
** This is a proprietary index developed by Morningstar Canada based on the CIFSC Fund categories (cifsc.org). Read full disclosure here.
Better Structure,
Greater Results
Our clients get the lowest investment costs possible by creating a structure that increases purchasing power and effectively lets us buy in bulk.
Direct Ownership Real Estate
Our full-time real estate team seeks out cash-flowing, investment-grade properties to provide our clients with real estate exposure in both the Canadian and U.S. markets through our Nicola Real Estate Limited Partnerships. Nicola Wealth clients collectively enjoy the benefits of owning hard asset real estate in a diversified portfolio, which can be expensive and difficult for many investors to acquire individually.
Nicola Canadian Real Estate Limited Partnership
The Nicola Canadian Real Estate LP features a diversified portfolio of income-producing real estate focused on assets in Canada’s larger urban markets with solid property fundamentals: rental income, debt amortization, value-add, and market appreciation. The Nicola Real Estate LP’s diversified mix of holdings include retail, office, industrial, self-storage and multi-family.
Nicola U.S. Real Estate Limited Partnership
The Nicola U.S. Real Estate Limited Partnership focuses on acquiring, through direct investment or joint ventures, commercial properties in major markets in the Western U.S. and multi-family properties in the South and South-Eastern U.S. The Nicola U.S. Real Estate LP seeks property fundamentals including rental income, debt amortization, value-add, and market appreciation.
Nicola Value Add Real Estate Limited Partnership
The Nicola Value Add Real Estate LP generates returns through investments in multiple projects using “value-add strategies.” The LP acquires existing commercial, multi-family residential, and / or development sites in conjunction with partners who add significant value by implementing a major refurbishment / repositioning of the asset and / or re-development of a new product for resale.
Nicola Real Estate LPs allow our clients to own properties diversified across several categories including geography, market, building type, and tenant.
VIEW A MAP OF OUR REAL ESTATE HOLDINGSOur History with Real Estate
When it comes to investing in hard asset real estate, Nicola Wealth has substantial experience and a long history.
Nicola Wealth x Blackwood Partners
In addition to our team of in-house real estate specialists, we are proud to have a strategic relationship with Blackwood Partners (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nicola Wealth).
The integration of Nicola Wealth and Blackwood adds value to our clients by creating a stronger unified platform.
Blackwood’s reputation, network and executional expertise provides Nicola Wealth and our investors with access to quality “off market” real estate investment opportunities across various property types and risk spectrum.
Private Equity & Private Debt
Diversifying beyond stocks and bonds is fundamental in our approach to protecting and building wealth. By sourcing institutional-grade investments that are not correlated to the stock markets, we are able to mitigate volatility while giving our clients access to often inaccessible opportunities.
Nicola Private Equity LP
The Nicola Private Equity (PE) LP is a unique investment in the industry, as it essentially creates a “pooled fund” of existing PE investments. This provides diversification across industries, strategies, styles, objectives, and maturation dates.
Nicola Private Debt Fund
The Nicola Private Debt Fund combines a fund-of-funds approach and direct investing in private debt opportunities to earn an attractive premium above public market fixed income yields and returns.
Nicola Infrastructure and Renewable Resources
Nicola Infrastructure and Renewable Resources LP is an investment providing access to a diversified portfolio of farmland, infrastructure, timberland and other real assets globally.
Nicola Structured Finance Investments
A real estate investment vehicle in partnership with associates who have considerable experience in developing real estate globally.
Nicola Opportunities LP (NOLP)
NOLP is a limited partnership investment in Maxam, a private investment firm created during the 2008 Market Crash to capitalize on suddenly tight markets, creating a private pool of equity for well-run businesses needing access to capital to continue successful operation. (This investment has wound up and is no longer available.)
Nicola Interactive LP (NILP)
NILP provides clients with access to VanEdge, a private investment firm developed by some of the gaming and electronics industry’s most established executives with a mandate to find and develop businesses who can benefit from their industry knowledge, connections, and experience. (This investment has wound up and is no longer available.)
Commercial Mortgages
Adding private mortgages as an alternative strategy helps diversify our clients away from public markets, where valuations may be more expensive and volatility due to price movements tend to be more pronounced.
If we can get paid a higher risk-adjusted return by investing in private markets, we will do so. That said, we exercise caution in not having an excess amount due to liquidity constraints.
- Private market liquidity premium — most other asset classes are not being paid a liquidity premium.
- Secured lending with identifiable underlying assets — many of our other fixed income products are unsecured.
- Less volatility in terms of pricing, which is expected to dampen overall volatility in a diversified portfolio.
Nicola Primary Mortgage Pool
Nicola Primary Mortgage’s principal objective is to provide a stable level of interest income while preserving capital by investing mainly in loans secured primarily by first mortgages on Canadian commercial property.
Nicola Balanced Mortgage Pools
Nicola Balanced Mortgage is designed to provide a high level of interest income while also seeking to preserve capital by investing mainly in loans secured primarily by second mortgages on Canadian commercial property.