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(January 14, 2008) The Financial Planners Standards Council has announced the results for the November 2007 sitting of the CFP exam. Of the 815 candidates who wrote the test, 365 (or 45%) passed.

The pass rate was slightly higher for first-time writers of the exam, at 52%. The November 17 examination was held in 51 centres across Canada.

“Congratulations to the successful exam writers who have completed this very important step in attaining CFP certification,” says John Wickett, vice-president, standards and certification for the FPSC. “This was the first examination blueprinted to FPSC’s newly revised Professional Competency Profile for CFP Professionals. FPSC’s standards of competency and ethics for CFP professionals are rigorously set and enforced to ensure Canadians have access to qualified financial planners.”

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AGF offers Highstreet to the masses

(January 14, 2008) AGF Funds has announced the launch of three new retail funds to be run by Highstreet Asset Management, AGF’s institutional and private client subsidiary.

“We are thrilled to provide our clients with a choice of products that offer the consistent, transparent and impartial style of investing that Highstreet has used successfully in managing funds for some of its biggest Canadian and international institutional clients,” said AGF Funds president Randy G. Ambrosie.

The new AGF Canadian All Cap Equity Fund, AGF Global High Income Fund and AGF Global Balanced High Income Fund will be managed using quantitative analysis.

The Canadian All Cap fund will invest in “a small number of Canadian stocks,” with an emphasis on strong earnings growth. The Global High Income fund will focus on dividend-yielding securities to achieve a tax-efficient stream of monthly distributions.

The Global Balanced High Income fund will follow a similar equity mandate for 60% of the portfolio, with the remaining 40% invested in higher quality fixed-income securities.

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Mackenzie rolls out guaranteed target-date funds

(January 14, 2008) Mackenzie Investments has announced the launch of Mackenzie Destination+ Funds, a lineup of target-date funds. The first set of funds on offer have target dates of 2015, 2020 and 2025, and also offer a guaranteed maturity amount.

The funds start out with a 100% allocation to equities and provide exposure to emerging markets. Destination+ Funds are a portfolio investment made up of several underlying Mackenzie offerings.

“Mackenzie Destination+ Funds help investors plan for future events with confidence,” says David Feather, president, Mackenzie Financial Services Inc. “Once an investor chooses the destination date that is closest to his or her financial goal, we take it from there — managing everything from asset allocation to rebalancing investments.

The funds also include a daily lock-in feature, which preserves investment gains by resetting the guaranteed amount, if held to maturity. The principal investment is guaranteed to maturity from the outset.

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ING DIRECT offers global balanced fund

(January 14, 2008) Discount virtual bank ING DIRECT has rolled out a new low-fee global balanced mutual fund made up of index-tracking investments.

The Streetwise Fund allocated 40% of assets to track the DEX Canadian bond index, with the remaining 60% evenly split between the S&P/TSX 60, the S&P 500 and the MSCI EAFE international index.

The bank describes the fund as “the only fund investors need” but offers a Streetwise Balanced Income fund with a 70% weighting to fixed income, as well as the Streetwise Balanced Growth fund, with a 75% allocation to equities.

The fund charges a 1% MER and carries no sales charge.

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Seniors Money outlines expansion plan

(January 14, 2008) Reverse mortgage provider Seniors Money Canada has announced the expansion of operations into Western and Atlantic Canada. The Ontario-based company plans to expand into Quebec later this year.

“Canadians are recognizing the value of a reverse mortgage as a thoughtful retirement tool to enable them to remain independent,” said Nick DiRenzo, president & CEO of Seniors Money Canada. “The establishment of Seniors Money in Western and Atlantic Canada will encourage healthy competition in the industry, offer consumers more choice, and raise understanding of the responsible role of the reverse mortgage as a retirement product.”

The company points out that there are more than 2.3 million homes owned by people over the age of 60 in Canada, and that 60% of these homeowners are mortgage free.

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CLHIA pushes for more trade pacts

(January 14, 2008) The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA) has called on the federal government to press for multilateral trade agreements that would give it better access to foreign markets.

In its submission to the Competition Policy Review Panel, the CLHIA also called on the feds to provide support to Canadian companies operating abroad through appropriate staffing of foreign missions.

“Life and health insurers are one of Canada’s most visible and successful players in the global arena, and solid public policy to ensure that the industry remains competitive both internationally and domestically is critical to its ongoing success,” said Frank Swedlove, president of the CLHIA.

Also on the CLHIA’s wish list were a reduced regulatory burden, fewer internal trade barriers, lower taxes, and a ban on business methods being patented.

“With Canadian life and health insurance companies operating in more than 20 countries around the globe and deriving 56% of their worldwide premiums from outside of the country, governments must strive to ensure that Canadian companies can continue to operate on a level playing field within an increasingly competitive global environment,” Swedlove said.

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IDA fines Montreal advisor

(January 14, 2008) The IDA has levied a fine of $30,000 against Karl Mansour, an approved person with the Montreal branch of Jones, Gable & Company, after he admitted to acting at the behest of a third party without the consent of his client.

He also failed to inform his firm that he had trading authorization over four accounts: two with the firm and two at another IDA firm. Mansour also engaged in discretionary trading in two foreign client accounts and gave instructions on an account at another Member firm without a proper trading authorization from the client.

Fortunately for both his clients and himself, there were no client losses or client complaints about the discretionary trading, which the panel took into consideration. On top of the fine, Mansour must pay $7,500 in costs and disgorge $6,116 in commissions. He must also rewrite and pass the Conduct and Practices Handbook exam.

The IDA also found Louis-Philippe Séguin guilty of failure to co-operate with an IDA investigation. Séguin, a former approved person at the Montreal branch of Jones, Gable & Company, faces a penalty hearing on February 14, 2008.

(01/14/08)