Investments

Overreaction or reality check?

We will not sugar coat today’s market situation as performance since April, and the last couple of weeks in July in particular, has been terrible. Not only have many market indices, such as the TSX Index and the S&P 500, corrected so too have many commodity prices which does not bode well for the Canadian […]

By Gareth Watson |August 9, 2011

9 min read

Industry

Managing volatility: Inside one wrap

When volatility spikes, even your best clients are bound to get a little nervous. But that’s why they engaged your services in the first place, not to mention those of the professional money managers you deal with. Over the past decade, managed solutions, or wraps, have proven popular with financial advisors because they allow a […]

By Staff |August 9, 2011

2 min read

Products

New small cap index launched, ETF to follow

S&P Indices and TMX Group have launched a new index to track the performance of smaller-cap Canadian Stocks trading on TSX Venture Exchange—the S&P/TSX Venture Select Index. The index has been licensed Blackrock Inc., which will create an ETF based on the S&P/TSX Venture Select Index. “With the launch of this Index, investors will have […]

By Staff |August 8, 2011

1 min read

Industry

Downgrade sparks gold, bond rally

The U.S. government’s credit downgrade has added more fuel to the fire which swept the equity markets last week, burning a massive hole in portfolios around the world. Money managers say the downgrade might not have been expected on Friday night, but it certainly didn’t come as a surprise. “This debt didn’t just suddenly appear […]

By Staff |August 8, 2011

3 min read

Currency markets shrug off U.S. downgrade

The historic decision by Standard & Poor’s to downgrade the U.S. credit rating may have created scandalous headlines, but currency markets were quick to price it in—shockingly in favour of the greenback. And that trend may continue, according to industry participants in the Canadian financial market. From a currency standpoint, the first-ever downgrade of the […]

4 min read

Brace for a bumpy ride along the bottom

Notwithstanding better-than-expected U.S. job data, fears continue to grow that the U.S. economy is slipping back into recession. Coupled with the untamed Eurozone debt crisis, that fear is weighing on the global economy. As the curtain came down on America’s manufactured debt default drama, the veil lifted on a slew of grim global economic data. […]

4 min read

Soft confidence threatens U.S. recovery

The U.S. government has bought itself some breathing room on its financing, but the debate and brinkmanship leading up to the deal has crushed the nation’s already fragile consumer confidence. Slightly more than half (54%) of Americans say the debate weakened their confidence in the economy, according to the RBC Consumer Outlook Index for the […]

By Staff |August 4, 2011

2 min read

Stick to gold and equities, avoid bonds

While there’s always a chance of catastrophe, the odds of an all-out financial Apocalypse are pretty long, according to Jurrien Timmer, director of global macro research and portfolio co-manager of the Fidelity Tactical Strategies Fund. In a recent webcast, he explained why he’s overweight equities and precious metals at the expense of investment grade bonds. […]

4 min read

Weekly Pulse: Running Out of Time

The weather around here has been pretty hot lately but it’s been even hotter in Washington, D.C., where Democrats and Republicans have been locked in a pitched battle over the debt ceiling, the credit cap that Congress puts on the national debt. In what is normally a mundane legislative process worthy of C-Span television coverage, […]

5 min read

Tactical asset allocation

Should investors chisel their portfolios onto granite and wait them out for the long haul, regardless of what happens in the markets on a monthly, quarterly or yearly basis? Or should money managers take a more flexible approach to the way they slice up their clients’ asset class percentages? Two top portfolio managers answer this question by explaining the difference between strategic and tactical asset allocation, and how and when to employ the latter.

7 min read