Products

Decorative pattern

Dual dividends

Cheryl Crowe has a unique job. As SRI specialist with Assiniboine Credit Union in Winnipeg, Crowe researches the social investment world, provides internal training and develops sales tools for the company’s 49 advisors. “We’re positioning ourselves as experts in this area,” Crowe says. The strategy appears to be paying off. In 2007, Assiniboine added more […]

By Doug Watt |December 12, 2008

8 min read

Decorative pattern

Buyer beware

Recent years have introduced a host of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that let investors access asset classes in cheap and novel ways: iShares (Barclays) introduced funds of ETFs, Claymore launched a fundamental index fund, and Horizons BetaPro (Jovian) gained popularity with its leveraged bull and bear funds. Investors have poured billions into ETFs. At the end […]

By Al Kellett and Esko Mickels |December 1, 2008

4 min read

Decorative pattern

Prime hedge fund worries

The collapse of Lehman Brothers didn’t just take down the whole investment banking model of Wall Street; it also put the squeeze on a significant number of other investments, including principal-protected notes and hedge funds. Lehman’s PPNs, while notionally powered by various stock indexes, were actually senior unsecured obligations for a company now in bankruptcy. […]

By Scot Blythe |November 26, 2008

5 min read

Decorative pattern

ETFs push competitive bounds

ETF products just got more complex — to make investing simpler. Barclays Global Investors Canada has launched four fund-of-funds portfolios that are intended to go beyond balanced investing. Heather Pelant, the head of iShares for Barclays Canada, says there are two reasons for the new portfolios. Not only is it difficult for individual investors to […]

By Scot Blythe and Mark Noble |November 18, 2008

5 min read

Decorative pattern

Hedge funds face image problem

If you mentioned the names Bear Stearns, Ospraie and Sowood to investors a year ago, their eyes would likely have lit up with dollar signs flashing across their retinas. These hedge funds were powerful players, making big returns and helping investors get rich. But utter a word about these companies to investors today and you’ll […]

By Bryan Borzykowski |November 7, 2008

6 min read

Decorative pattern

PPNs fall out of favour with investors and issuers

When Desjardins Group announced Monday that it was closing two lines of its principal-protected notes (PPNs), it was just another nail in the coffin for the once-popular investment vehicle. Over the last few years it seemed as if everyone was offering PPNs, but lately that hasn’t been the case; Sun Life, for one, hasn’t issued […]

By Bryan Borzykowski |October 31, 2008

6 min read

Decorative pattern

How things work

"Is there a bear in your portfolio?" screamed the ad with the picture of a mean-looking grizzly. It sure got my attention. Bear or inverse ETFs are a new breed of leveraged instruments, which move opposite to the direction of a given market or sector. Offered in Canada by Horizons BetaPro, these bear-market versions are […]

By Marc Lamontagne |October 1, 2008

3 min read

Decorative pattern

Fundcos offering ETF access to MFDA advisors

(September 2008) The idea that exchange-traded funds can be used within an active investment portfolio is getting a big push from some of the country’s best-known actively managed mutual fund firms. Some fund companies believe ETFs are the most efficient way to offer some alternative asset classes, and by offering them within a mutual fund […]

By Mark Noble |September 18, 2008

4 min read

Decorative pattern

Where the money is not

It’s a money trail that leads from Nassau to Montreal and Minnesota – a trail of tears said to have evaporated $1.5 billion or more in investor money and shareholder assets. And it all started with a secret $4 million offshore investment. Whether there’s any money left for investors to claim – beyond a paltry […]

By Scot Blythe |September 1, 2008

12 min read

Decorative pattern

AIMA to launch fund of hedge fund guidelines

(July 2008) Due to the growing popularity of fund of hedge fund products, the Alternative Investment Management Association said it will publish the world’s first global guide to sound practices for fund of hedge fund managers. Fund of hedge fund products are a rapidly growing segment of the alternative investment space. They are increasingly the […]

By Mark Noble |July 8, 2008

3 min read

← Previous 1 … 133 134 135 136 137 … 139 Next →