Briefly:

(October 10, 2003) Entrepreneurs have less stress and have better balance between their home life and work than other people think, according to a study conducted by Decima for CIBC.

“People underestimate the benefits of being an entrepreneur and overestimate the hard work and potential risk factors,” said Rob Paterson, CIBC’s senior vice-president of small business banking. “Yes, most entrepreneurs work more than employees, but they have the freedom and flexibility to work when and where they want — not on someone else’s schedule.”

The study found employees misjudged the lifestyle of people who own their own business. Sixty per cent of small business owners said they have at least as much family time as when they worked for others, while 61% of employees said they expected the opposite to be true of entrepreneurs.

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Mutual fund assets soar

(October 9, 2003) Mutual funds received a massive boost in assets in the second quarter of 2003, as worldwide assets grew by 10.3% to $12.36 trillion US, according to the Investment Company Institute.

Net flow of new cash into funds was $109 billion US — a substantial boost from the $12 billion US in new investment in the first quarter. Total assets grew largely because of the revival of equity markets around the world, with the value of equity funds growing by 18.4%.

These gains were compounded by the conversion to the devalued U.S. dollar from their home currency for this statistic.

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RBC combines U.S. services for snowbirds

(October 8, 2003) RBC Financial is offering a new snowbird package to Canadians, which includes banking, insurance, credit card and mortgage products for those who annually flee winter for warmer latitudes.

“Many long-stay snowbirds fall in love with property in the U.S. but have trouble getting financing because they lack credit history in the United States,” says Paul Smith, vice-president of client strategies with RBC. “RBC Mortgage lets our clients take their Canadian credit history with them and avoid that hassle.”

RBC is offering the services through its U.S. subsidiaries, which include Chicago-based RBC Mortgage Company, RBC Centura bank branches and the RBC Dain Rauscher brokerage.

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CI closes Synergy deal

(October 7, 2003) CI Funds has completed its $116 million acquisition of Synergy Asset Management, first announced in August. CI is also in the processing of taking over Winnipeg-based advisory firm Assante. Synergy founder Joe Canavan is staying with CI to run the firm’s new distribution arm.

As of yesterday, Synergy’s staff relocated to CI’s Toronto office, with the exception of the transfer agency, which will move in November.

“CI has moved quickly to integrate the operations of Synergy and realize the financial benefits of the transaction for CI and for the securityholders in the Synergy funds,” says CI president Bill Holland, adding that he expects the consolidation of the two firms to reduce MERs on Synergy funds by 50% within a year.

CI will add 24 Synergy mutual funds to its lineup, although it’s expected some of those funds will eventually be merged with similar CI products. Assante shareholders will vote on the CI takeover bid on November 7.

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Small businesses getting poor service from banks: Survey

(October 7, 2003) Canada’s big banks are getting a failing grade in service from the country’s small business owners. A Canadian Federation of Independent Business study of more than 9,000 small- and medium-sized businesses concludes that banks have not demonstrated their ability to better serve their small business clients.

“To the contrary, business owners have not seen any improvement in banking competition during the past three years,” the survey says.

Credit unions were rated highest in terms of servicing the small business market. Business owners said they preferred full-service local branches for accessing service, a model the banks have been moving away from in favour of automated tellers. The study also found that the rate of rejection for small business loans rose to 16% this year, compared to 10.5% in 2000.

The study rejects the idea of bank mergers and instead recommends that the federal and provincial governments focus on increasing the level of competition in the financial services sector.

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Home values still rising, buyers more careful

(October 6, 2003) Housing prices continued to rise in the third quarter, due to low interest rates and positive consumer sentiment, according to a report from one of Canada’s largest realty firms. But supply is starting to catch up to demand, at least in some markets.

“Demand shows no signs of abating, but buyers are now taking more time to carefully consider their purchases,” said Phil Soper, president of Royal LePage Real Estate Services. “Consumers have seen strong, consistent activity in the housing market over a period of years and are confident they can benefit without making hasty decisions.”

The Maritimes and Vancouver showed the strongest growth, while home appreciation seems to be slowing in the Toronto, Edmonton, Ottawa and Halifax areas. In Calgary, the supply of homes for sale has turned the city into a buyer’s market.

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Bank watchdog tables report to Commons

(October 6, 2003) The Financial Consumers Agency of Canada (FCAC) has tabled its second annual report to the House of Commons today, outlining the complaints it has received over the past year.

The agency said that of the 991 compliance violation cases it investigated, 89% had been closed. The most common violations involved failure of institutions to properly file paperwork required by the agency, resulting in 375 investigations. There were an additional 374 cases of violations of consumer provisions and 242 cases involving codes of conduct and public commitments.

The top complaint the agency received was that consumers were unable to open a bank account. The agency received 302 filings regarding the closing of branches, which is required if a federally regulated financial institutions plans to scrap a location.

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Indian bank approved for deposit insurance

(October 6, 2003) A subsidiary of India’s second largest bank has been approved by the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC), making ICICI Bank Canada for deposit insurance.

ICICI Bank plans to establish a retail banking presence in Canada. The parent bank offers banking through traditional branch operations and ATMs, as well as telephone and Internet banking.

CDIC membership now stands at 87 banks, trusts and loan companies.

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(10/06/03)