Investments

Saxon manager vows to stick with value

(December 2005) Ever since the collapse of the technology bubble, value investing has enjoyed a renaissance, as investors rediscover the beauty of companies that have earnings and are trading at a discount. Knowing the fickle nature of the investing public, some have suggested that value investing may once again fall out of favour, ushering in […]

By Steven Lamb |December 22, 2005

4 min read

Market Insights

Foreign revelations

(December 2005) Federal government policy is not usually known for being well timed, but the recent lifting of the foreign property rule (FPR) for RRSPs marks a departure from this truism. Just as our currency and stock markets are approaching three years of strong appreciation, the government has opened the door to unlimited foreign content […]

By Dan Hallett |December 9, 2005

5 min read

Products

Are GICs securities?

(November 2005) Regulatory worries about the proliferation of principal protected notes (PPNs) may well spill over into the Guaranteed Investment Certificate market, at least index or market-linked ones, which have hitherto been exempt from securities rules. At issue is what might be called a series of “K’s” that follow from the Know Your Client imperative […]

By Scot Blythe |November 28, 2005

6 min read

Market Insights

Global funds suffer from Canadian optimism

(November 14, 2005) While the mutual fund industry has enjoyed strong sales throughout 2005, Canadian investors have consistently demonstrated a preference for domestic equity, preferably with an income component. To date, such a strategy has proven quite profitable for investors and managers of these favoured funds. Foreign equity…not so much. “The whole global species is […]

By Steven Lamb |November 14, 2005

3 min read

Beyond 60/40: Pension plans rethink their asset mix

(October 2005) For many years during the 1990s it was conventional wisdom for plan sponsors, big and small, to follow a certain pattern for investing. Generally, plans took a traditional approach whereby 60% of investments went into stocks and 40% went into bonds. But the times are changing for pension plans and they are increasingly […]

By Scot Blythe |November 1, 2005

8 min read

Going with the flow

(September 2005) While income trusts have dominated the headlines for the past three years, a more obscure resource play has been performing quite well throughout the commodities rally: flow-through shares. It’s a vehicle that allows investors to convert regular income into capital gains, using a perfectly legal strategy. Moreover, it’s a tax break the government […]

By Steven Lamb |September 20, 2005

6 min read