News and resources for Canada's top financial advisors
Magazines have a long lead time. When we agreed to do this article, the GTSX was over 14,000 points and rising, and it was expected Canada might skirt the U.S. recession with minimal damage. A 40% decline in stocks worldwide was on no one’s radar. Good-quality stocks that paid a 3% dividend a year ago […]
By David Christianson and Daryl Diamond |December 1, 2008
10 min read
Gerald Coleman, Morningstar Canada’s 2008 Manager of the Year, is in a buying mood. The founder and head of the Harbour team of managers at CI Investments Inc. has a long history of letting cash pile up when he can’t find any investment opportunities to his liking. But increasingly, the price is right for Coleman, […]
By Diana Cawfield |December 1, 2008
3 min read
Hanif Mamdani, lead manager of PH&N High Yield Bond, attempts to mitigate the inherent peril of high-yield bonds by focusing on the area of the credit spectrum where “junk” meets “investment grade.” There are significant risks in the fund right now, stemming from the point we’re at in the credit cycle, and the nature of […]
By Al Kellett |December 1, 2008
3 min read
One of the key highlights from this downturn may very well be the performance difference between portfolios modelled after a traditional asset allocation mix, and those that emulate an institutional asset mix. Advisors may have to take a hard look at their client asset allocation and consider emulating institutional portfolios. For almost 30 years, the […]
By Mark Noble |November 18, 2008
5 min read
After years of strong returns, the commodity sector has taken a serious beating the last few months. Crude prices in particular have been hit hard, with a barrel of oil falling from a peak of $145 in July to around $58 in mid-November. With one of Canada’s most prized growth areas suddenly stalling, what’s going […]
By Bryan Borzykowski |November 14, 2008
6 min read
Energy and commodity prices reached unprecedented heights only a few short months ago; now their rapid decline has value investors kicking the tires. A new report from Merrill Lynch in the U.S. issues a buyer-beware warning on these sectors, calling them value traps. Traditionally a term used to refer to individual stocks, “value traps” are […]
By Mark Noble |November 10, 2008
4 min read
According to the recently released Russell Active Manager report, 65% of large cap Canadian equity active managers beat the benchmark during the extreme volatility of the third quarter of 2008. According to the report, this is the highest rate of outperformance since the first quarter of 2007, with the number of active managers beating the […]
By Romana King |October 29, 2008
3 min read
The Royal Bank of Canada’s February announcement that it had agreed to acquire Phillips, Hager & North Investment Management Ltd. (PH&N) was a bombshell that took even the savviest members of the mutual fund community by surprise. PH&N had been rejecting overtures from various financial institutions for years, so more than a few eyebrows were […]
By Brian O'Neill |October 28, 2008
4 min read
(October 2008) Everyone knows that market volatility and retirement preparation can make for an unhappy combination. It’s bad for the advisor, but even worse for clients. However, the unfortunate fact is that we are in a period of extreme market volatility, and no one knows exactly how long it will last. When markets are as […]
By Peter Drake |October 22, 2008
5 min read
(October 2008) Flip through any travel magazine and you’ll see bright, glossy photos of a majestic Dubai, one of the Middle East’s most sought-after tourist destinations. The port city, which is part of the United Arab Emirates, boasts a population of about 1.4 million, but it’s the local tourism industry, which attracts about 5 million […]
By Bryan Borzykowski |October 17, 2008
6 min read
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