Products

Sovereign Debt: Waiting to blow

As the global economy completes is latest weak lap around the track, worries abound on different sides of the stands—on one, concerns focus on deflation; while the other side frets about inflation. But the real worry may be that policymakers are treating a solvency problem like a liquidity problem. Liquidity means central banks are injecting […]

By Scot Blythe |October 27, 2010

4 min read

Products

The anti-benchmark

Market-cap weighting is the most efficient and cheapest way to tap an economy’s growth has long been under attack. First, it was in the seminar rooms of business schools, where persistent anomalies — the value, small-cap and momentum effects — defied the so-called market portfolio. Then it hit opposition on the ground, at least for […]

By Scot Blythe |October 18, 2010

5 min read

Products

The dirt on clean tech

Generally, the alternative energy and solar sectors tend to do less well when the economy is slow. This is mainly because oil-based energy is cheaper and less in demand, so people aren’t as inclined to care about alternatives. We all remember when oil hit $140 per barrel — solar, wind power, and other alternative-energy companies […]

By Chip Brian |October 1, 2010

2 min read

Industry

Keep ETFs simple

I met a broker from Rochester at breakfast on the second day of an ETF conference in Albany, New York. I was a speaker on the first day and a moderator on the second, and was curious about the audience’s knowledge level and how the message was getting through. “Do you use ETFs in your […]

By Mark Yamada |October 1, 2010

4 min read

Target date funds not a cure-all

This Advisor.ca Special Report is sponsored by: Left to their own wits, employees often exercise the same acuity in investing as they do in boosting their favourite hockey team. The stakes are chump change in a hockey pool. With a retirement fund, however, they are the stakes of a lifetime. With a defined benefit pension […]

By Scot Blythe |September 14, 2010

4 min read

To hedge or not to hedge?

As the yen skyrockets to 15-year highs, despite the confirmation of an almost zero-rate interest policy by the Bank of Japan, it’s fairly clear that currency management isn’t a predictable business for investors with international assets. Currency management was the topic of the most recent Canadian Investment Review debate. Is active hedging the answer? Thanos […]

By Scot Blythe |September 3, 2010

2 min read

Using ETFs for portfolio building: Part 3

Reader Alert: This is the final installment of a three-part series on how ETFs can help control costs when constructing core portfolios. After the past couple of years, investors not only know about volatility, they likely have the scars to prove it! Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are well known for their low cost, tax efficiency and […]

By Mark Yamada |September 1, 2010

3 min read

ETFs: More growth ahead

ETFs have seen incredible growth over the last few years, attracting investors and managers alike with low fees and index-tracking performance that more often than not beats the returns of costlier actively managed mutual funds. And as the variety of asset classes has increased to include everything from equities, bonds and preferred shares to commodities and currencies, it’s now possible to build complete, well-diversified portfolios using only ETFs.

By Guy Lalonde |September 1, 2010

7 min read

REITs make a comeback

The aftermath of the Great Recession has seen the rise of income-generating securities as the investment of choice. Whether it’s bonds, convertible debentures, preferreds or high-yield equities, investors are gravitating towards income for safety, stability and returns.

5 min read