When your business and portfolio depend on the same customers
With Ontario business owners, our conversation usually starts with the portfolio statement, but it is rarely where the risk sits. For many owners, the company, the commercial property and the investments all answer to the same cross-border demand.
In 2025, the U.S. share of Canada's merchandise exports fell to its lowest level since the early 1980s, according to Global Affairs Canada. Even so, it was still 72.5 per cent. Export Development Canada's chief economist told Reuters that companies are starting to think seriously about diversification. The trade headlines will change. The structure underneath them is what I want you to look at.
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The overlap most owners do not map
Picture a hypothetical Ontario owner whose manufacturing company sells mainly to U.S. customers. Their family balance sheet holds the company's operating revenue, the salary and dividends it pays the owner, its commercial building, and a portfolio weighted toward Canadian industrials and financials.
On paper, that is four assets. In practice, it may be one exposure. If cross-border demand slows, revenue and the owner's income fall, the building potentially becomes harder to sell or refinance, and the portfolio feels the same pressure. No single statement will show you that.
A recent CFA Institute analysis of human capital notes that an owner whose revenue rises and falls with the economic cycle already carries stock market exposure through the business and should generally hold less in equities than a salaried employee with the same savings.
Liquidity while the business is still active
Being wealthy and accessing your wealth within a quarter are two different things. Business equity and commercial property are often the largest assets, and the slowest to sell.
That is why concentration usually becomes a liquidity question before a valuation question. Cash availability needs tend to coincide with the slowdown that makes selling unattractive, when the business needs working capital or a lender tightens terms. Knowing which assets you can reach quickly is worth settling early.
Diversifying by economic driver, not by fund count
I encourage owners to look through their funds, equities and assets to the exposures underneath. Ten funds tied to North American industrial demand offer less diversification than their number suggests. A smaller mix spread across different drivers, such as global industries, other currencies and fixed income, may offer more.
Home bias can deepen the overlap. Canada is only 2.9 per cent of the MSCI ACWI Index, a common global benchmark, as of Sept. 30, 2026. If most of your equities are Canadian, you lean on a small slice of the world's companies.
Then I apply the same test to the business. Who are its customers, and where do they sell? Does the portfolio add to that exposure, or offset it?
Steve’s Advice.
Count your exposures, not your holdings.
One conversation, not two
If the business is your family's main income, your insurance should reflect that, including key-person coverage if you drive most of the revenue. Funding registered accounts and reserves in strong years can also cushion weaker ones.
As a dual-licensed Investment Advisor, I review both sides together. I do not provide tax or legal advice, so I work alongside your accountant and lawyer on anything touching your corporate structure.
Book a complimentary concentration and liquidity review
If your business, your property and your portfolio may depend on the same customers, I invite you to book a complimentary review. Together we can map where your wealth is actually exposed, not just where it is listed.
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If you are a client, thank you for taking the time to read this and I look forward to our next conversation. Please feel free to share this with your friends and family who may be in need of another viewpoint.
Sources
- Canada Revenue Agency. "Line 25400 - Capital gains deduction." Government of Canada, 2026. https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/about-your-tax-return/tax-return/completing-a-tax-return/deductions-credits-expenses/line-25400-capital-gains-deduction.html
- IE Staff. "Essential tax numbers: updated for 2026." Investment Executive, 2026. https://www.investmentexecutive.com/industry-news/essential-tax-numbers-updated-for-2026/
- O'Sullivan Estate Lawyers. "Update on the capital gains exemption and qualified small business corporation shares." March 2026. https://www.osullivanlaw.com/2026/03/update-on-the-capital-gains-exemption-and-qualified-small-business-corporation-shares/
- Canadian Federation of Independent Business. "Over $2 trillion in business assets are at stake as majority of small business owners plan to exit their business over the next decade." January 10, 2023. https://www.cfib-fcei.ca/en/media/over-2-trillion-in-business-assets-are-at-stake-as-majority-of-small-business-owners-plan-to-exit-their-business-over-the-next-decade
- MNP LLP. "What you need to know about the alternative minimum tax." https://www.mnp.ca/en/insights/directory/what-is-the-alternative-minimum-tax-and-why-am-i-paying-it
- Canada Revenue Agency. "Claiming a capital gains reserve." Government of Canada. https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/about-your-tax-return/tax-return/completing-a-tax-return/personal-income/line-12700-capital-gains/claiming-a-capital-gains-reserve.html
- Doane Grant Thornton. "What is the Canadian Entrepreneurs' Incentive?" 2025. https://www.doanegrantthornton.ca/insights/whats-the-canadian-entrepreneurs-incentive/
- McBride, Steve. The Retirement Blueprint, Vol. 2: Protecting Wealth. McBride Wealth Management / Ventum Financial Corp., 2025.
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