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(May 29, 2007) RBC Direct Investing will offer a new lower-pricing option on certain RBC funds for do-it-yourself investors. The online arm of RBC has filed a prospectus for over 40 RBC funds that will be available exclusively at RBC Direct Investing in a new Series D.

The Series D units will be for investors who want to include managed money as part of their portfolios but do the investment research and decision-making themselves, RBC says. The management fees of Series D units will range from 0.60% to 1.25% with a minimum investment threshold of $10,000 per fund.

“We’re excited to be at the forefront of this new move in self-directed investing,” said Doug Coulter, president and CEO, RBC Direct Investing. “This pricing option should make RBC funds, already some of the industry’s most competitive mutual funds, even more attractive for investors who choose to manage their own portfolios.”

Series D units of the RBC funds will not be available until the relevant securities commissions issue receipts for the simplified prospectus.

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BoC holds rate but warns of hike

(May 29, 2007) The Bank of Canada announced Tuesday that it is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at 4.25% but says that inflation has been much stronger than anticipated and may require a rate increase in the future.

In April, both total CPI inflation, at 2.2%, and core inflation, at 2.5%, exceeded expectations. The bank estimates that the economy has been growing at a rate of 3.5% in the first quarter of this year, a full percentage point higher than what it initially predicted.

There is an increased risk that future inflation will persist above the 2% inflation target, the BoC says. This may require the Bank to increase the target “in the near term” to bring inflation under control.

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Desjardins targets HNW families with new service

(May 29, 2007) Desjardins Securities has launched a new service aimed at high-net-worth families and business owners.

The new service will be based on the multi-family office model, which offers an integrated and highly personalized approach to all aspects of wealth management for high-net-worth families.

With the help of its private counsel group, Desjardins says its advisors have the ability to manage all of their clients’ investments but also to take charge of financial and tax planning, business transfer, succession planning, trust management, family governance, cash management, budgeting and more.

“High-net-worth families, investors and business owners will be impressed by the extent of the expertise provided to them by the Private Counsel Group. It will be as if they have a private chief financial officer at their service,” says Yves Néron, Desjardins Securities’ senior vice-president and head of private client services.

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IDA fines negligent compliance officer $15,000

(May 29, 2007) A former compliance officer based in B.C. has been fined $15,000 by a hearing panel of the Investment Dealers Association for allowing an unregistered advisor within his firm to trade securities.

In March, another hearing panel determined that between November 2004 and May 2005, Thomas Edward McLellan knowingly permitted a person in his firm not registered for the province of Ontario to maintain and advise investment accounts in that province.

The IDA says that in order to maintain an Ontario registration, the advisor was required to successfully complete the Canadian Securities Course and the Conduct and Practices Handbook Course within a prescribed period of time. The advisor failed to take the courses and had his Ontario registration suspended. The IDA says McLellan knew this but allowed him to keep trading anyway.

McLellan, who is no longer with an IDA firm, has been fined $15,000, is required to pay $5,000 in costs and is prohibited from re-approval by the IDA for a period of three months.

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CIBC appoints new director

(May 29, 2007) CIBC has named Leslie Rahl as a member of its board of directors. Rahl, who is also a member of the board of U.S. sub-prime mortgage lender Fannie Mae, is president and founder of Capital Market Risk Advisors of New York, a consulting boutique that specializes in risk management, hedge funds and risk governance.

Rahl had previously occupied positions at Citibank N.A., culminating as co-head of derivatives in North America.

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(05/29/07)