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(July 20, 2006) Rice Financial Group has reached a deal to purchase the right to service and the revenues generated from Victoria-based life insurance provider Sawyer & Sawyer’s clients in Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

The agreement gives Sawyer & Sawyer’s clients access to an advisor who can work on all their financial needs, the two companies said in a joint release. The move will also allow Rice Financial to expand into life insurance products.

“The well-established distribution system in these provinces re-assured me that client needs will be met by advisors who are in closer proximity to them,” said Sawyer & Sawyer president David Sawyer of the agreement.

Clients affected will be contacted personally by their new Rice Financial representative to help ensure a smooth transition.

Rice Financial operates a network of branch and associate offices from B.C. to the Ontario/Quebec border. The firm serves more than 85,000 clients and administers assets in excess of $3.9 billion.

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Berkshire and Invis to offer new mortgage product

(July 20, 2006) Berkshire Securities and Invis, Canada’s largest mortgage brokerage and an affiliate of HSBC Group, have formed a partnership to create a mortgage referral program.

The program, which only available to Berkshire advisors, will allow them to offer clients mortgage expertise, access to over 50 lenders and access to hundreds of mortgage products at rates that are attuned to each client’s particular financial and lifestyle needs. Advisors will receive a client referral fee as compensation.

Geoffrey Charlton, Berkshire’s executive vice-president responsible for business development says this will allow Berkshire advisors to compete in the mortgage product space with the big banks.

Regulatory restrictions prevent advisors in Alberta from taking part in this program, although the company notes the program should expand to that province in October when regulatory changes that come into effect.

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Canadians heed warning, invest abroad

(July 20, 2006) Canadians increased their purchases of foreign bonds and direct investments abroad in the first quart of 2006. Statistic Canada says net foreign debt fell 8% to a record low share of gross domestic product.

Last year Canadian firms concentrated their direct investment abroad in the United States (46%) and Europe (25.6%). But despite media and economists touting the investment opportunities in low-wage countries like Mexico, China and India, Canadian are not investing any addition money there. These countries host only 0.9% of Canadian direct investment abroad, the study says.

Canadian investment in China held steady last year at $1 billion, while India remained negligible at $200 million. During the same time investment in Mexico has fallen.

Australia, a country more similar to Canada, is the largest destination in Asia for Canadian investment at $8.2 billion.

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Blackmont and Oriel form partnership

(July 20, 2006) Blackmont Capital has entered into a strategic venture with London-based Oriel Securities to help Canadian companies access the London Stock Exchange and the Alternative Investment Market.

The two firms will advise Canadian companies looking to raise money in the UK, specifically mining, energy and technology companies. There are currently, 121 Canadian or North American companies listed on the LSE or AIM. As of June this year, there were 42 dual listed Canadian companies on AIM, with a market cap of C$18.5 billion accounting for 12 per cent of its total value.

As Canadian-based Blackmont’s president Gerald Throop notes, the AIM has increasingly become attractive to Canadian companies as both an alternative and addition to the Canadian stock exchanges.

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“Baby-bonus” cheques in the mail

(July 20, 2006) The July Canada Child Tax Benefit cheques are in the mail. The Canada Revenue Agency issued the payments totaling more than $837 million to about three million Canadians on July 20.

The Tory government’s plan, announced in the federal budget earlier this year, provides $100 per month for each child under the age of six.

Anyone who is expecting the benefit and have not received it by July 27 should contact the CRA at 1-800-387-1193. In order to receive the child tax benefit, recipients and their spouses or common-law partners must file a tax return.

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