Sterling Asset Management 20th Anniversary 2001-2021

By 2010, the prices of these assets had skyrocketed and our clients and ourselves were recording great returns. We exper ienced a simi lar phenomenonwith the COVID-19 crisis. The market turmoi l presented very attractive buying opportunities for investors. There have also been trying periods - particularly in 2006- 7 during the “Reign of Ponzi Schemes”. Wesawlargeoutflows of cash from client funds go into these schemes andwe struggled to grow our asset and client base. Thanks to our prudent management, we were able to meet the liquidity outflows and ride out the instability. These episodes usually don’t last very long and the end of that ‘era’ took us almost directly into the global crash of 2008-09 and the resumption of significant growth. Wewereable topull throughonall thoseoccasions largelybecause we have developed a culture of putting our clients’ interests first and managing our balance sheet in a very conservative way. We are lucky to have found very talented, dedicated, and loyal team memberswho share the Sterling vision. We havemaintained a generally flat internal structure, not hierarchical -- my own door is always open, we are on a first name basis. Elisa, our Office Administrator, says we treat our clients like family, that is a guiding principle here. I would, at this juncture, like to commend our advertising agency (PrismCommunications) who worked with us from the very beginning. They were critical to the building of our brand. As a small start-up, we relied on their brand positioning advice and advertising strategy. That positioning helped to bring high-value clients to us and enabled us to focus on providing great service. Likewise, our technology partners, Innovative Corporate Solutions, started in business around the same time that we did. They have enabled us to use IT infrastructure to significantly boost our productivity and thus manage a substantial number of clients and a large quotient of Assets Under Management (AUM) with a very compact team. Twenty years may seem a long time in some respects, but I think I speak for all of us here when I say that the business still hasmore room to grow. Many of our clients have families and we do have members of the younger generation joining us as our clients and looking to Sterling’s response to the competition BOND A BOND B BOND C BOND D BOND E 14.1% 14.6% 13.1% 12.9% 8.22% build their own nest eggs for a comfortable retirement. Our clients are our most important asset and it is to their loyalty and confidence that we owe our success. For myse l f , I ’m f ocused on continuing to bui ld the organisation. We have a fantastic team ,I’m enjoying the work we do here and retain a huge sense of optimism for the future. We’ve been tested, we’ve held firm, and I think our foundational strength and the vibrancy of the people that comprise this organisation will be more than sufficient to see us through the next 20 years and beyond. Thank you all. Our investing philosophy has benefitted many Sterling clients.