Products

Industry

Leaving home in a global world

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

Products

‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ mindset hurts ETFs

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

Products

Educating clients on ETFs

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

Industry

VenGrowth’s abandoned merger leaves GrowthWorks hopeful

VenGrowth is still on the market. At a fairness hearing last Friday in Toronto both the court and the Ontario Securities Commission rejected Covington Fund’s bid for the firm, largely due to poor disclosure practices, forcing the boards of both companies to terminate the acquisition agreement. The decision is a boon for David Levi, president […]

By Sheila Avari |December 22, 2010

3 min read

AlphaPro Fiera bond fund to convert to ETF

AlphaPro Management has announced the Horizons AlphaPro Fiera Tactical Bond Fund will convert into an open-end exchange traded fund and be renamed the Horizons AlphaPro Tactical Bond ETF, effective the close of business on December 31, 2010.

By Staff |December 15, 2010

1 min read

Horizons launches S&P ETF

Another ETF has joined Horizons BetaPro’s stable of funds. The S&P 500 Index ETF (BetaPro S&P 500 ETF or HXS) is now trading on the TSX. HXS is the second BetaPro ETF that will track an index already available to Canadian investors through another TSX listed index-tracking ETF. HXS offers a low-cost and tax efficient […]

By John Powell |December 1, 2010

1 min read

Actively managing beta risk

Exchange traded funds have emerged as important instruments for investors and advisors. That’s not surprising, but the way they’re being used might be: once touted as the ultimate buy-and-hold vehicle – buy the stock market for the equity risk premium and forget about individual stock volatility or manager underperformance – ETFs have become another tool […]

By Scot Blythe |November 5, 2010

4 min read

ETFs crashed by flash

When the flash crash hit U.S. markets this past spring—the Dow was off 1,000 points intraday, a reminder of the October 1987 plunge—many suspected market manipulation, or a least a changing market structure that exchanges and regulators were ill-equipped to handle. On May 6, between 2:40 and 3:00 p.m., mere pennies could buy some blue-chip […]

By Scot Blythe |November 2, 2010

4 min read

Raising RRSP returns with ETFs

In today’s environment, many expect they’ll need ways to supplement the income they’ll earn from pension plans with other investments. In doing so, they’re increasingly recognizing that the benefits of ETFs — low cost, transparency, liquidity and easy diversification — also make them an ideal part of a well-diversified retirement portfolio. ETFs are growing rapidly […]

4 min read