Briefly:

Previous Brieflies this week: | MON | TUE | WED | THU |

(May 13, 2008) Saxon Financial has announced the resignation of its president and CEO, Allan W. Smith, who cited “personal reasons.” Smith’s resignation is effective immediately.

He has been succeeded by a more familiar name, Robert Tattersall, co-founder of Howson Tattersall Investment Counsel, Saxon’s investment management subsidiary. Tattersall is also the executive vice-president and a director of Saxon.

“The board of directors wishes to thank Allan for his many contributions to the organization and to wish him well in his future endeavours,” the company said in a short press release.

• • •

Drop LSIF tax break, think-tank says

(May 13, 2008) The tax credits associated with labour-sponsored investment funds (LSIFs) are out of date and need to be done away with, according to an economic note published by the Montreal Economic Institute.

“[LSIFs] are derived from an obsolete model of intervention since venture capital requirements have changed,” says Jean-Marc Suret, a professor at Université Laval’s school of accounting.

In Quebec alone, LSIF tax credits are estimated to have cost the government $2.7 billion over two decades, ending in 2003. Nationwide, the estimated costs soar to $5.4 billion.

Not only are they costing the government, but returns tend to be low, and fees high, the report says. Between 1992 and 2002, returns averaged just 2.5%, according to the report. Meanwhile, management fees run from 4.2% to more than 4.5%, compared to 2.6% for other small-cap funds.

• • •

M&A activity slumped in Q1

(May 13, 2008) The Canadian mergers and acquisitions market continued to slow in the first quarter, along with the rest of the market, according to Financial Post Crosbie: Mergers & Acquisitions in Canada.

There were just 338 new deals announced in the first three months of 2008, compared to 523 deals in the same quarter a year earlier. The value of transactions plummeted as well, from $62 billion in Q1 2007 to $24 billion in Q1 2008.

There were just seven so-called mega-deals — those in excess of $1 billion — in the quarter, with a combined value of $14 billion. The three largest deals were all cross-border transactions, including the takeover of CHC Helicopter by U.S.-based First Service ($3.7 billion Cdn); TransCanada’s purchase of Britain’s National Grid plc ($2.8 billion US); and Barrick Gold’s acquisition of a 40% interest in the Cortez Joint Venture from Rio Tinto plc ($1.7 billion US).

What strength there was came from the energy and industrial sectors, which made up almost half the transactions and 40% of the total value of deals.

(05/13/08)