Market Insights

ETF, ETN listings top 200

Helpful Tools and News in Advisor.ca’s ETF Centre. The number of exchange-traded products (ETPs) listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange has topped 200. These products include 187 exchange traded funds (ETFs) and 14 exchange-traded notes (ETNs). The number of listed products has more than doubled in the past two years, bringing the total market cap […]

By Melissa Shin |June 1, 2011

1 min read

Market Insights

Sipping on the beverage sector

Everyone drinks non-alcoholic beverages, and investors are thirsty for information about the companies that sell them. The non-alcoholic beverages industry includes makers, bottlers, and distributers of sodas, bottled water, juices, energy drinks, and bottled coffees and teas.

By Chip Brian |June 1, 2011

3 min read

Market Insights

The true cost of beta

There are two components of an active portfolio’s return. Beta is passive and stems from simply being invested in the market. The other, alpha, stems from a manager’s skill in selecting investments that will add return above what the market gives on its own.

By Guy Lalonde |June 1, 2011

9 min read

Market Insights

Feds act to legitimize covered bonds

More financial institutions are interested in covered bonds, thanks to increasing regulatory capital requirements, the need to re-establish acceptable capital levels in the short term and declining interest in securitized loans.

By Richard E. Austin |June 1, 2011

3 min read

Replacement for RHU rolled out

As the drive for accreditation ramps up, advisors wanting to add more letters to their business cards now have another option. The Institute for Advanced Financial Education will offer the Certified Health Insurance Specialist (CHS) designation starting September 1, 2011. This new designation is meant for advisors looking to specialize in the field of living […]

1 min read

Mackenzie boosts fixed-income expertise

Effective June 1, Mackenzie Investments adds Putnam Investments as sub-advisor to several Mackenzie high-yield corporate bond funds. Putnam will assume portfolio management responsibilities for Mackenzie Sentinel Corporate Bond Fund, Mackenzie Sentinel North American Corporate Bond Class and Mackenzie Sentinel Registered North American Corporate Bond Fund, as well as becoming one of the managers on the […]

By Staff |May 31, 2011

1 min read

Retirees offer advice for boomers

Canadian retirees are largely happy with the way their post-career lives are working out, but they admit they wish they'd received more advice before they stopped working. Now they're offering the advice they wish they'd gotten.

By Staff |May 31, 2011

2 min read

Global bonds reduce risk: Russell

The Bank of Canada may have held the line on monetary policy on Tuesday, but the spectre of rising interest rates continues to hang over Canadian bond investors. Eventually, the Bank will make its move, wiping out billions in capital value. Fixed income investors should look further afield to protect their portfolios, as global bonds […]

By Staff |May 31, 2011

2 min read

Commodity prices soared in April

The price of Canada’s main export commodities soared 6.1% in April, marking 60.4% increase from cyclical lows in April 2009, according to Scotiabank. The spike in the bank’s Commodity Price Index reading was largely attributable to the energy sector, as the price of Edmonton par price (light oil) jumped more than US$16 per barrel. That […]

By Staff |May 30, 2011

2 min read