Industry News

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Briefly:

The new federal minister of finance is asking Canadians what they want out of his first budget. In a press release, Jim Flaherty said the Conservative government will stick to its five key platform issues, but that keeping these promises would require cuts elsewhere in the budget. “Canada is enjoying one of the longest periods […]

By Staff |April 3, 2006

16 min read

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Money managers looking offshore

The Canadian equity rally may be losing steam, if sentiment among investment managers is any indication. In its quarterly poll of managers, Russell Investment Group found only 28% remained bullish on Canadian equities, down from 48% in the previous quarter. “The reason for this increasingly negative view is clear — they have a decidedly bearish […]

By Steven Lamb |April 3, 2006

3 min read

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Would you like a car with that mutual fund?

Advisors don’t generally recommend things they know will decrease in value. Then again, there are not many financial planners like Peter Ameli who help clients decide their next car purchase. Ameli is a planner with Berkshire in Toronto who sees giving advice on things outside of finance, including where to buy a car, as just […]

By Mark Brown |April 3, 2006

3 min read

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RBC announces massive fund overhaul

Inclusion of U.S. equities in the RBC Blue Chip Canadian Equity Fund, which will be renamed the RBC North American Dividend Fund; Allowing foreign investments in the RBC Balanced Growth Fund, giving it a global mandate. This change would bring the fund in line with the objectives of the RBC Global Balanced Fund, so RBC […]

By Steven Lamb |March 31, 2006

3 min read

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Active management: a fool’s paradise?

If you’re selling mutual funds, pushing equities or recommending some other actively-managed product then you are a fool — at least according to a consortium of top-fee only advisors in the U.S. The group, led by Mark Hebner, founder of Index Funds Advisors of Irvine, California, has dubbed April 1 as Index Funds Day in […]

By Mark Brown |March 31, 2006

2 min read

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Tough budget choices ahead for Tories

The next federal budget should expose how much of the Conservative party’s election platform is motivated by “populist” promises that either cannot, or should not be implemented, John McCallum, the liberal finance critic, said in a breakfast speech at the Economic Club of Toronto on Thursday. Ottawa is expected to report a surplus of as […]

By Mark Brown |March 30, 2006

3 min read

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Running the occasional deficit okay, says the C.D. Howe Institute

Remember the battle cry of the former federal government that it will avoid deficits “come hell or high water?” The C.D. Howe Institute is calling for an end to that practice, saying it has resulted in massive in-year spending hikes at the expense of long term planning. The conservative think-tank says the practice has resulted […]

By Mark Brown |March 29, 2006

2 min read

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Morningstar to create its own fund categories

Morningstar Canada is withdrawing from the industry association that sets mutual fund categories and will set up its own set of standards, following industry consultation. In making his decision, Morningstar president Scott Mackenzie called the Canadian Investment Funds Standards Committee “complacent,” arguing that it moves too slowly on fundamental questions on categorizing funds or breaking […]

By Gavin Adamson |March 29, 2006

2 min read

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StatsCan book reveals the new face of retirement

With the coming wave of retiring baby boomers, the decisions women make will probably have the greatest impact on the shape of retirement in the future, according to a new book released by Statistics Canada. Many of the book’s themes will be of particular interest to advisors: self-employment numbers are expected to grow and more […]

By Kate McCaffery |March 28, 2006

3 min read

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Mortgage holders warned to weigh options

Ah, spring — when a young couple’s fancy turns to thoughts of real estate. Springtime has long been the most active season for real estate transactions, but the past several years have come with the bonus of historically low interest rates. While central bank rates have been steadily creeping higher since bottoming out at 2% […]

By Steven Lamb |March 28, 2006

3 min read

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