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(July 22, 2008) A new poll by the Toronto Chartered Financial Analyst Society reveals that 89.4% of CFA charterholders think inflation has become a greater concern than it was six months ago.

Many respondents also said that North America has the best near-term values, thanks to its investable oil reserves.

The survey also reveals that more than two-thirds of CFAs think oil will be priced between $100 and $150 in the next six months, while 58% think the Canadian dollar will close out 2008 at or above par.

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303 potential CFPs pass exam

(July 22, 2008) Usually, certified financial planner hopefuls are hard at work, studying for the designation’s exam, but not this week. On Tuesday, the Financial Planners Standards Council announced that of the 759 people who wrote the exam on June 14, 303 (40%) passed.

“Congratulations to all successful examination candidates. The CFP Examination is a critical component of the CFP certification eligibility requirements,” says John Wickett, vice-president of standards and certification for the FPSC. “These candidates are now one step closer to earning the certification mark acknowledged throughout Canada and internationally as the highest standard for competence and ethics in financial planning.”

Although these people have passed, though, they’re not yet CFPs. Education and work experience are also required before being awarded the designation.

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Scotiabank becoming more environmentally friendly

(July 22, 2008) The environment isn’t important just to Al Gore; it’s also becoming a priority for Scotiabank. The company has revealed a number of initiatives to help support sustainable forestry practices and cut back the bank’s environmental footprint.

Kaz Flinn, the company’s vice-president of corporate social responsibility, says the bank plans to become more efficient with its paper products, and it will start buying paper from “environmentally sustainable and ethical sources.”

“Scotiabank is actively promoting paperless banking options to customers where appropriate,” adds Flinn. “The bank has also made a commitment to purchasing multifunctional office equipment — which combines devices such as photocopiers, printers and fax machines into single units — in order to enhance energy efficiency and reduce the consumption of paper.”

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Women more worried about retirement: survey

(July 22, 2008) A survey by the Hartford Financial Services Group and the MIT AgeLab finds that American women worry a lot more about many aspects of retirement than men.

Results show that women are well aware of the specific retirement risks they face and they out-worry men in every category except concern about being bored in retirement, where men slightly outpace women.

Top concerns fall into three areas:

Inflation: Women worry about their purchasing power in retirement. Eighty-three percent surveyed are very or somewhat concerned that the general cost of living in retirement will grow faster than their income, versus 69% of men.

Health: Seventy-five percent of women are very or somewhat concerned about declining health. And concerns about health go hand-in-hand with concerns about the rising cost of health care, with 87 percent of women worried.

Longevity: Longer life means greater inflation risk. Sixty-four percent of women are very or somewhat concerned about outliving their retirement assets, versus 46% of men.

“While our research shows that men worry more about having enough to do in later life, aging is a woman’s world,” says Dr. Joseph Coughlin, founder and director of the MIT AgeLab. “She is likely to outlive her male counterpart, remain active longer and be responsible for caring for him and others—so it only makes sense that she is more worried about how she is going to live than about what she is going to be doing.”

Researchers conducted telephone interviews with nearly 1,200 pre-retirees and retirees between the ages of 45 and 74. A retirement concerns scale gauged men and women’s level of concern.

(07/22/08)

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.