News and resources for Canada's top financial advisors
The crisis of 2008-09 sent investors on a mad search for safety and a huge number of them sought refuge in bonds. Fixed income led mutual fund sales since the crisis, driving the price of bonds higher and yields lower. Some have suggested fixed income poses a threat as the next bubble.
By Steven Lamb |January 11, 2011
5 min read
The U.S. economy has been walking around in a daze since it fell off that cliff in 2008, but if America can get its mojo back, 2011 could prove to be a turn around year.
By Brenda Craig |January 11, 2011
4 min read
This past year has been a wild one for commodities — gold reached all time nominal highs, oil climbed from around $70 to almost $90, while natural gas bas barely budged from a low $4. Fortunately for investors, the outlook for 2011 is less volatile; commodity prices should be on their way up.
By Bryan Borzykowski |January 11, 2011
4 min read
It might be the riskiest financial forecast of all: currency. The stakes are a huge. Get it wrong, and your foreign content allocation can implode. Get it right, and you'll enjoy a multiplier effect on those out-of-county assets.
By Al Emid |January 11, 2011
3 min read
It's the time of year when investment experts get busy writing commentaries and fashioning forecasts. With one eye on the road ahead, and the other looking in the rear view mirror, here's their vision of Canadian equities for 2011.
By Vikram Barhat |January 11, 2011
3 min read
Just a warning to the IIROC-licensed advisors out there whose clients held onto their income trust holdings: You might get some confused phone calls the next time client statements go out. No doubt you explained to clients long ago that most of their income trusts would convert to corporate structures by January 1, 2011. Less […]
By Steven Lamb |January 7, 2011
1 min read
Soaring commodity prices helped drive Canadian equity funds higher in 2010, marking a second consecutive year of gains, according to data from Morningstar Canada. In fact, all but two of Morningstar’s 44 fund categories ended the year with positive returns. The top performing fund category was the Precious Metals Equity Fund Index, which gained a […]
By Steven Lamb |January 5, 2011
2 min read
Studies consistently show if investors stay in their comfort zones—their home countries—they’re sacrificing returns.
By Scot Blythe |January 5, 2011
6 min read
Twenty-one years ago the Toronto Stock Exchange launched the world’s first exchange-traded fund, the Toronto 35 Index Participation Units (TIPS). The advantages that ETFs offer have since been well chronicled. Support for low-cost, passive investing is broad and includes big names such as Warren Buffett, Peter Lynch, and Charles Schwab.
January 1, 2011
3 min read
When we made the decision to incorporate ETFs as a core in our advisor business model, we knew the changes we were proposing were major. Clients weren’t yet well versed on the new instruments. They also had to struggle with new nomenclature, a new portfolio structure, transparency of fees and index-based management.
By Guy Lalonde |January 1, 2011
6 min read
Notifications