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(December 6, 2006) Believe it or not, sometimes people will not accept free money. That’s the finding of an Environics poll commissioned by H&R Block Canada, which found that more than half of Canadians are unaware of new tax credits included in the first Conservative budget.

“More than 80% of full-time-employed Canadians polled said they were not going to claim the Canada Employment Credit even though every Canadian who was employed at some point during 2006 is entitled to it,” says Cleo Hamel, a senior tax analyst with H&R Block Canada Inc. “It means more than 11 million Canadians will be missing an easy deduction.”

More than half of respondents said either that there were no new tax laws or that they did not know of any new tax laws.

Despite the high profile of the reduced GST, only 28% were aware of the cut, while awareness of the Universal Child Care Benefit was at only 17%. The Canada Employment Credit, Public Transit Credit and Textbook Tax Credit had less than 5% awareness.

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BCSC fines Costa Rican firm

(December 6, 2006) A brokerage firm in Costa Rica has agreed to a settlement with the BCSC, after admitting to unregistered trading for B.C. residents. The firm admitted to opening accounts for 32 residents between February 2005 and March 2006.

Wellington Trading Group, S.A., based in the capital of San Jose, has agreed to pay the British Columbia Securities Commission $7,500 and will not seek or accept any clients from the province. The firm has also agreed not to trade securities or exchange contracts for B.C. residents until it has registered with the commission.

Wellington provides clients with foreign currency and energy option contracts trading services.

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VenGrowth I reopens to existing investors

(December 6, 2006) VenGrowth Asset Management has announced the reopening of the VenGrowth I Fund to existing investors in Ontario. The fund was capped to both new and existing investors back in 1999 to allow the companies in its venture capital portfolio to mature.

Reopening the fund allows eligible investors to “roll over” their original investment and generate the opportunity for immediate new tax credits of 30% federally and provincially.

“Over the past five years, the portfolio of private companies held by the Fund has continued to strengthen and mature, to the point that the average annual revenue per company is now in excess of $40 million,” said David Ferguson, VenGrowth managing general partner. “With an improving technology environment, we believe the Fund’s portfolio companies are well positioned to be exited over the next several years by way of sale to strategic industry players or going public on a stock exchange.”

The fund had net assets of $256 million and over 65,000 shareholders as of November 30, 2006.

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AGF names new fixed income manager

(December 6, 2006) AGF Funds has announced changes to its fixed income lineup, appointing Jean Charbonneau as senior vice-president and lead portfolio manager on AGF Global Government Bond Fund and AGF RSP Global Bond Fund.

The appointment is effective immediately and the 23-year veteran will also co-manage the AGF Canadian Bond Fund.

“Jean shares a similar philosophy and style with AGF’s current fixed income team, which includes Tristan Sones and Tom Nakamura,” said Martin Hubbes, CIO and executive vice-president. “He is a welcome addition to our group and has a long and extensive background working with international fixed income funds that will help us build even greater internal capacity.”

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(12/06/06)