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(October 10, 2007) Clients who own their own businesses may sound ideal, but if a client’s enterprise is still a start-up, he or she may put the business first and let personal finances slide, according to one survey.

The survey of self-employed Canadians found that 80% of respondents had made some kind of personal or financial sacrifice, including 57% who said they had sacrificed retirement savings. Forty-six per cent said their retirement savings were less than planned, while 11% said they had no retirement savings at all.

The lack of retirement savings was greater among women entrepreneurs, with 48% saying they had not saved enough and 20% saying they had no savings at all. Only 7% of male respondents said they had no retirement savings.

“The self-employed are a critical segment of the Canadian workforce, so it is unfortunate that they’ve had to make substantial personal and financial trade-offs in order to run their businesses,” said John Schipper, president of Mortgage Intelligence, sponsor of the survey.

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SEAMARK enters retail fund business

(October 10, 2007) SEAMARK Asset Management has announced the launch of its own family of mutual funds, starting with three offerings. The company will follow a conservative investment style, placing an emphasis on capital preservation before asset growth.

The SEAMARK North American Equity Fund will use a bottom-up selection process to create a concentrated portfolio, and will be offered in both a currency-hedged and -unhedged format.

The SEAMARK Canadian Equity Fund will also be a concentrated portfolio, with a long-term investment horizon.

The SEAMARK Dividend & Income Fund will provide a monthly income stream with a distribution target of 200 basis points over the yield of the Canada 10-year bond. The distribution will be paid from realized capital gains, dividends, other income, or a return of capital.

“We have a successful 10-year track record as a mutual fund manager and an even longer track record as a manager of pension and other institutional assets,” said Stuart Raftus, president and CEO. “With the launch of our own family of funds, we are able to offer our expertise as an institutional manager to the Canadian mutual fund investor across a broader variety of mandates.”

Until now, SEAMARK has operated largely as a sub-advisory firm and is perhaps best known for its past affiliation with Clarington Funds. When Clarington was bought by Industrial Alliance, the relationship with SEAMARK was severed, dramatically reducing the Halifax-based firm’s assets under management.

In a separate release today, SEAMARK announced that it has ended the third quarter with an estimated $4.21 billion in assets under management.

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Updated tax guides available

(October 10, 2007) Ernst & Young has announced the release of new editions of the firm’s tax guides: Ernst & Young’s Complete Guide to the Goods and Services Tax and Ernst & Young’s Annotated Federal Income Tax Act.

“Financial executives and tax professionals alike will find these tax guides an ideal and practical resource when filing this year,” said Gena Katz, FCA and executive director of Ernst & Young’s tax practice. “Ernst & Young’s tax guides offer a comprehensive and user-friendly way for practitioners to stay current with the ever-changing regulations and policies of tax filing.”

The newly revised guides mark the fifth edition for the Annotated Federal Income Tax Act and the fifteenth edition of the GST guide.

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BMO expands retirement council

(October 10, 2007) BMO Financial Group has added another high-profile name to its advisory council on retirement. Jacques Nantel, secretary general of HEC Montréal, has joined the group.

“On behalf of BMO, I am pleased to welcome Dr. Nantel to our advisory council,” said Kris Vikmanis, head of retirement market, BMO Financial Group. “Our council looks beyond the financials of retirement to explore issues like health and wellness, professional and career development, elder care and philanthropy to ensure we are coming up with creative ways to meet the broader needs of our clients.”

The council includes Dr. Michael Baker, Don Coxe, Allan Gregg, Elena Hoffstein, Moshe A. Milevsky and Pamela Wallin, and is chaired by Mel Cappe, president and CEO of the Institute for Research on Public Policy.

“I am very enthusiastic about participating with such a dynamic group and working with individuals from a wide range of backgrounds,” said Dr. Nantel. “I have been tracking consumer behaviour since the start of my career, and I look forward to sharing my findings, in particular those related to the baby boomer generation, which has so marked our society in the last five decades.”

(10/10/07)