Industry News

Briefly:

While Europe struggles with sovereign debt problems and the U.S. faces monster debts of its own, there is growing confidence in the emerging markets that global trade will improve, according to the latest HSBC Trade Confidence Index. The survey of more than 5,100 trade-oriented small and mid-market companies, asked their opinion on a variety of […]

By Staff |May 5, 2010

3 min read

Industry

Gold funds shine once again in April

Precious metal funds posted best returns in April as markets see-sawed over the Greek debt crisis, according to preliminary performance data released by Morningstar Canada. “Government debt and related currency concerns helped boost the price of gold and other commodities,” said Esko Mickels, fund analyst for Morningstar Canada. With 12.2% return, Morningstar Precious Metals Equity […]

By Vikram Barhat |May 4, 2010

2 min read

Industry

Briefly:

AGF Investments has launched three new funds, along with a few changes to existing mandates. The new funds include AGF Traditional Income Fund, AGF Global Aggregate Bond Fund and AGF Pure Canadian Balanced Fund. “At AGF, we are committed to having the right products that are right for the times,” said Blake C. Goldring, chairman […]

By Staff |May 3, 2010

3 min read

Industry

Canadian financial confidence up

Increased economic growth and stock market gains have pushed the Russell Financial Health Index (RFHI) to its highest level since the fourth quarter of 2008. Based on an online calculator that gauges the overall financial health of Canadian investors, the RFHI is currently up to 51.1 points from its low of 47.9 points in the […]

By Jody White |May 3, 2010

1 min read

Patient Prospector

An entrepreneurial spirit and a desire for work-life balance drew Terri Szego from a career in mining engineering to be an investment advisor and associate portfolio manager at BMO. She took an interest in business at a young age and made the decision to go into mining engineering, noting financial outcomes are a driver of […]

3 min read

Keeping those tax deals confidential? Be wary.

There was no mention of it in the Federal Budget Speech, but there is a very important proposal in the Budget Plan that could have serious implications for wealth advisors, particularly those involved in sophisticated tax planning. It has to do with requiring the reporting of certain tax avoidance transactions that fall outside existing tax […]

May 1, 2010

4 min read

The Coach

As a financial advisor with RBC, I am able to take a holistic approach with clients. I work on both sides of the balance sheet, assisting with investment and savings needs and credit/debit management. This enables me to better understand all the complexities of a client's financial picture. My goal is to help set up […]

3 min read

Assessing Trustee Liability

The Ontario Superior Court case, Hicks v. Hicks, 2003 CanLii 2132 (ON S.C.), presents some interesting issues regarding trustee liability in situations where a trust incurs a loss. Anne Marie Hicks is the widow of Charles Hicks. Charles left an estate valued at approximately $15 million. He left a $9 million spousal trust and a […]

5 min read

Universal Truths

The market has seen more than its share of trouble lately. This isn't news—nor is the fact that the instability has affected clients' investment portfolios in their personal and corporate non-registered accounts, as well as their RRSPs, RRIFs and TFSAs. However, it might surprise some that the market issues have also affected the investments in […]

4 min read

Estate planning for women

No one likes talking about estate planning. It’s fraught with emotion and can be uncomfortable—after all, it anticipates someone’s death. And women are traditionally even more reticent on the topic than men, preferring to leave the unpleasant details to a spouse or partner. But this is changing, fast. Estate planning is more complex than ever, […]

6 min read